New Look New Items!!

So I'm going to be playing around with the layout of my blog in the next couple days (just to warn you). I've been needing to redesign my blog & personal website for a while, but haven't had time. I like this layout (for now) but still need to tweak it!!

Also just wanted to share some new items that I am listing in my shop this morning!!

Felted Tiered Cakes w/ Cherries on Top!!!

Here are some yummy new Sweet-Felted-Treats that I have available in my Etsy shop! They are super cute & fun 2 tiered cakes with accenting frosting & a bright red cherry on to!!! Please stop by and see them in all their glory... in my shop.

Cooking on a Budget...

So yesterday was the first (of many I'm sure) Job Hunting Days. Yep, being poor sucks, and with movie production in Los Angeles down like 20% in the last year, my prospects of landing a great paying Union Gig are next to nothing. I'm okay with that I guess, it's been 10 years of hard work and ups & downs, but I think it's time for a new stage in my life... We'll call it the "FeltedChicken Era". But since my little felting business can't support me right now, I've been learning to shop on a budget & need to find a day-job to help pay the bills.

So I'm willing to share some of my secret tips to cooking on a budget (which you probably already know, but I'm slowly learning).....

• Even though it's pretty gross, roasting a chicken at home is pretty cheap & delicious!! We used to buy the store roasted chickens, but for the same price I can get twice as much chicken! I was surprised to have to pull the guts out of the chicken, but it's well worth saving the few dollars.

• Stock up on FROZEN VEGGIES!!! This is my favorite cause I can beef up any meal by just adding a couple cups of mixed frozen veggies to anything. I add them to tacos, chili, pasta, roasted meat, etc. And they might not have quite as many nutrients as the fresh ones (slightly) you can get pounds of them for a couple bucks!

• Make Tofu your friend. Tofu is a great protein substitute that is comparatively cheap. I use Tofu in my taco & lasagna. It's a great filler coupled with some frozen veggies, that costs only a couple bucks.

• Shop the "Bulk / Discount " stores. We don't have a membership to Costco or anything, but we have a local bulk grocery store called "Smart & Final", some places have "Sack 'n Save", "Food for Less", etc. They don't have the widest selection, but you can get meat cheap, buy gallons of Soy Sauce (which runs like water in my house), and one of the best things I've gotten there, a giant box of Mashed Potato Packs. I got like 12 for $8 & they are super fast & easy to make in the microwave. OH, also got like 2 pounds of whole-wheat pasta for like $5.

So those are a few of my cheap eat'n tricks. If you live, or have ever visited California you know that the "cost of living" is slightly above average here. Gotta watch those grocery ads & learn how to cook. I personally HATE to cook, but am slowly learning cause it's the best way to eat healthy & watch your wallet. If my boyfriend had it his way, we would order Take Out (preferably steak) every day. At $50 a meal, that's really why I'm kinda in control of the house-hold finances!!!

*Went to Home Depot yesterday & am going to start building the mechanical parts for the Koi & Frog today!!! I'm no carpenter, but I can use a circular saw & screw gun, so it shouldn't be that difficult!!!

** Totally just jinxed myself....

*** OOHHH!!! And I don't care to hear what your Political views are, or tell you mine, but remember to watch the "State of the Union" speech tonight. It's everyone's responsibility to be informed on what's going on in our nation. The more we all know, the stronger we will be. I never miss it, been watching it for like 10 years, it's kinda like my SuperBowl!!

.

More New Work!!!

Just wanted to share some more new work that I have finished off. I'm starting to work on more than one project at a time. This way I can jump back & forth while the other's drying or I'm sick of looking at it. It's working out pretty well. I've also found a new SUPER AWESOME technique that I will share with you tomorrow. I think it might be a way to really up-the-pace of my needle felting. I think that is one disadvantage that we, as felters, have against the competition. We have to charge so much for our labor intensive work. I may have found a way to speed things up... just a little bit.

New pieces!! Here are some new needle felted pieces that I will be listing in my shop in the next couple days. They are super cute & ready just in time for Fall!!! They are super cute mini pumpkins!! They are about 2 1/2" in diameter, needle felted with white Romney wool, then airbrushed with orange fabric & acrylic paints!! They will be listed in my Etsy shop for a very affordable price - probably around the $15 range!!!!

Good Morning!!!

Hope everybody had a great weekend! I got alot done this weekend, work-wise, but still need to take pictures, so I'm a big-fat-liar about posting picts of the JellFish. He's sitting here on my kitchen table staring at me... almost done... I think.... maybe just a little bit more work... So hopefully I will take picts of him today, or finish him & have picts tomorrow.

But in the mean time I thought I'd do one of the BlogCarnivals that the Etsy team I'm apart of loves to do. They are fun cause the topics are interesting & force me to share more personal information about myself, instead of just the regular old crafty stuff that I usually stick to. So today's topic is...

"Your favorite food. What is it and why? If it's something you make please share the recipe."

My favorite food has pretty much always been Biscuits. Yep, like the yummy buttermilk kind you get at KFC. They melt in your mouth kinda like peanut butter.

BUT...

In the last year I have a new favorite...

SPAM MUSUBI!!!



Ok...
Do you like sushi?
Do you like salty meat like bacon?

Then PLEASE PLEASE search out your nearest Hawaiian BBQ restaurant and order up some Spam Musubi.

OMG...

I crave this stuff now. It's soooo delicious. I really need to get on top of buying myself a rice cooker & learn how to make this at home. The key to making some good sushi is the rice. So if you ever want to try your hand at it, be sure that you only buy "CalRose Rice" It's the one with the red rose on the package, it's Japanese Sticky Rice. You can also use it to make yummy food filled rice balls. This little tip from the lips of my boyfriend's Hawaiian Grandmother. She made spam musubi a couple weekends ago, and we ate all the left overs the next day.

This is also a great Baby-Step for those of you that are kinda scared of taking the jump into traditional sushi. The spam is cooked & there isn't that much seaweed. And if you are one of those stuck-up snobs that thinks Spam is beneath them... Get over it! Why deny yourself one of the most delicious foods in the world cause the meat comes in a can?

Have you ever actually tried Spam?

It's YUMMY!!!

Here's a link to a simple Spam Musubi Recipe. Maybe I'll look into trying this out this week....

I'm Not Gonna Lie...

I didn't work on the fish yesterday. I had some stuff to do, and just didn't get around to it. I plan to spend the day felting & cleaning & cooking, though. We have a family pot-luck to go to tomorrow, and I have to say the one of the bonuses of being with a guy who if half Hawiian & half Japanese is the food at the family get togethers!! Hawiian BBQ, Sushi, rice, Mochi - AWESOME!!! Since I've been looking for an excuse to make these, I thought today would be great! My cousin had some at her wedding a couple years ago & I've been dreaming of them ever since!! They sound a little weird, but trust me, they are tiny bits of Creamy Minty Heaven!!!

Cream Cheese Mints:
(recipe from About.com)

Cream Cheese Mints feature a delicious combination of cream cheese and pure peppermint flavoring. These popular candies make perfect favors for baby or bridal showers, weddings, and holiday parties. They can be decorated to suit any color scheme, and also work well as a molded candy. This recipe yields approximately 4 dozen 1" mint patties.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces softened cream cheese
• 1 tbsp softened butter
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp mint extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• Food coloring (optional)
• Granulated sugar or colored sprinkles

Preparation:

1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil or waxed paper.

2. Place the softened cream cheese, butter, corn syrup, and mint extract in the large bowl of a stand mixer (alternately, a hand mixer can be used). Beat until the mixture is smooth and homogenous.

3. With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until the candy is well-combined. Taste the candy and adjust the flavoring to suit your taste. If you want to make different colors of mints, divide the candy into separate bowls and work the desired coloring into the portions of candy.

4. Using a spoon, scoop walnut-sized balls of candy and roll it between your palms into a ball. Roll the ball in granulated sugar or colored sprinkles. Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet, and use the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass to flatten the ball into a patty. If desired, you can instead press down on the mint with the tines of a fork to create a pretty cross-hatching pattern on the mint. Repeat with remaining candy until all of the mints are formed.

5. Alternately, you can mold this candy by pressing small balls of the mint mixture into candy molds. After you have firmly pressed the candy into the mold, quickly pop it out and repeat with remaining candy.

6. Store mints in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. These mints are good straight from the refrigerator, or at room temperature.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

It's great that there is no actual "Cooking" involved!!! I hope I don't eat them all before the party tomorrow. Hope everybody has a great weekend & will post more progress picts on Monday!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

So like I posted, I didn't do anything with the Angler fish yesterday because it is still drying. I knew it would take a day or 2 for it for dry out, so hopefully by tonight, or even tomorrow I will be ready to start Needle-Felting him. I'm going to miss how there has been a visible progression so far in the piece, but I know it'll slow to a snail's pace once I start to poke. Needle-Felting is such a slow process that it won't look like I've done anything for a while. But I will keep you posted.

Anyone have any fun plans for the weekend? I don't think we are doing much, I might stop & get some hotdogs for the grill, maybe we will find a place to see some fireworks, and work on a custom job that I just got for a felted Skull & Crossbones. I'll post picts of it when I finish!

A Summer Recipe for You!!!

With the infinite number of family BBQ's going on this weekend I thought I'd share one of my favorite BBQ recipes with you. The pasta salad is a staple at many a family gathering, and this is my version (which I totally made up myself!) It's super simple, crazy delicious, fairly good for you, & really colorful!

Pasta Salad

1 Package of Mulit Colored Spiral Rotini Pasta
Choice of Balsamic Vinegarette Salad Dressing
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
Pepperoni Slices
Pine Nuts
Sliced Mushrooms
Italian Flavored Shredded Cheese
Misc. add-ins (I usually add chic peas, but you could also add black olives, roasted garlic, squash, fresh basil, corn, cherry tomatoes, beans, etc)

1. Cook up spiral Rotini. I usually make this right before serving it, so you could either let it chill in the frig for a while, or I just rinse mine in cold water to cool.
2. Chop up all veggies, I keep mine raw. You could roast your veggies & let them cool off, but I like the crunch of fresh bell peppers!
3. Roast the Pine nuts in a small pan. Keep it dry so that they brown. Roasted Pine Nuts add a yummy nutty flavor.
4. I like to slice my Pepperoni into bite-sized pieces.
5. Add all pasta & veggies & add-ins & shredded cheese into a giant bowl. Pour in desired amount of Balsamic Vinegarette Dressing. Toss to coat.
6. Best if chilled before serving.

I know you probably don't need a recipe for this, but I love it so much that I wanted to share. You can customize the ingredients to you own taste. I can eat this stuff all day! Man, I was only going to grab a package of Hotdogs for the weekend, but I think I talked myself into making pasta salad!!!

Have a Fun & Safe 4th of July Weekend!!