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Urban Comfort made it onto Babble's Top 50 list again this year, which is exciting news! But I share this with you because I'm in good company, with 49 other wonderful blogs, some of which you may not be familiar with. Definitely take some time to check them out.
In the meantime, I'm busy crafting, trying to earn my place on the list! If I don't make it back here tomorrow, have a great weekend! I'll be back next week, hopefully with some fun projects to share.
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Easter's almost here and I haven't done one thing to prepare (that's what happens when you've already dyed Easter eggs in January). But I still have time and this is what's inspiring me this year:
I love the freshness and brightness of this table, the way the touches of nature elevate the more whimsical elements. Pretty! (BHG)
Love! I'd keep this in my home throughout the spring. (Roy Joy)
Why not forego the Easter baskets and give your guests Washi decorated matchboxes instead? (Martha Stewart Weddings)
Baskets made from lunchbags - simple, easy, and pretty. (Martha Stewart)
Washi tape cocktail stirrers (Martha Stewart Weddings)
A crepe paper flower garland - whimsical and ethereal (Oh Happy Day)
Coffee filter flower bowls - irresistable, easy, and inexpensive to make. (Martha Stewart)
I've used washi tape on eggs before, but these eggs inspire me to break it out again - the polka dots, especially! (Lovely Indeed)
Without a doubt, this is the cocktail I'd serve at my brunch or Easter luncheon. The Gran Gala Fizz is a cocktail that my husband created for Gran Gala and it may very well be my favorite drink of all time!
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It suddenly got quiet around here - again. Sometimes I get busy with my job and its deadlines, but lately I've been in a more introspective mood, stepping back from the day-to-day as much as possible, slowing down enough that I can hear myself.
I've learned that creative recharging isn't just about taking time out because you've run out of ideas (I've got plenty of those clanking around in my head), but sometimes about prioritizing, defining what you really want to create, which path you'd like to take. For me, puzzling out those answers is about retreating to a quieter place.
At any rate, I was home alone, organizing (which is required for me when I'm in retreat), and I ran across this little wide + macro lens that I'd purchased for my cell phone camera. The accompanying directions were mostly in Japanese (and the English translation didn't make much sense to me), but it seemed easy enough to use. The wide angle lens worked exactly as I expected. But when I screwed off the macro lens and tried to use it in the same way, I noticed that everything became distorted. At first I tried to figure out what I was doing wrong, but then I decided to just play with it the way it was.
Long story short, for less than the price of a movie ticket, I had several hours of creative fun. Some of the photos didn't quite work enlarged - I learned that high contrast objects were best, as well as strong shapes and patterns. But I'm going to continue experimenting. I still don't know if the problem is with the lens itself or user error, but I had a lot more fun making mistakes than I would have just shooting in standard fashion - a fitting end to my self-imposed refueling.
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Visit me on Momster today for tips on using Rit Dye for eggs, along with a dozen color formulas. You can also find an additional 14 formulas in this year's Easter egg story in Family Circle (in the April issue of the magazine or online, at Family Circle.com).
UPDATE: The Momster link doesn't appear to be working at the moment. See below for color recipes:
Easter egg projects using Rit dyed eggs (from Family Circle):
Photo by David Prince
(On a personal note - a big thank you to my friend Korey for helping me blow out more than 300 eggs! I owe you.)
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I was working on classic Easter egg designs for Family Circle this year when I hit a stumbling block with one of the ideas I was supposed to execute. I'm glad I did because it led me in a new direction that was really fun for me and incredibly easy to do. I started with patterned hosiery, wrapping squares of it around eggs, then securing it with a rubber band in the back and dipping it into a dye bath. I was surprised at how clearly the intricate designs showed up on the eggs, even when they were done in pastel shades. So I went back and tried some other items. I used pieces of patterned lace fabric and tulle, hosiery in different patterns, and cheesecloth. All of them worked well and were equally easy to use. So if you're looking for eggs that look intricate but are really simple to do, this is the technique for you.
Here's how to do it:
Materials:
Boiled eggs
Dye bath in preferred colors
Patterned hoisery
Cheesecloth
Lace fabric
Rubber bands
Scissors
Paper towels
Directions:
1. Cut squares of fabric approximately 5-6 inches. If you're using pantyhose, cut a 5-inch tube. (You can either cut along the seam of the tube to create a square or keep it as a tube.)
2. Place a boiled egg in the middle of the fabric square or tube and gather tightly, securing the excess fabric with a rubber band, at the back or bottom of the egg.
3. Holding the excess fabric as a handle, dip the egg into the dye bath until the desired color is reached.
4. Remove the egg from the dye bath and blot dry with paper towels. When the egg is dry, snip the rubber band open with the scissors and gently remove the fabric. Blot dry again, if necessary.
Tips:
1. If you want to reuse your fabric pieces, rinse them out while the dye is wet and blot dry.
2. Blotting your eggs dry with paper towels helps with consistent coloring as it prevents the dye from pooling in certain spots. It also gives you cleaner, more detailed designs.
3. Look for any kind of open weave fabric to create your designs. Also, play with the orientation of the fabric, placing some designs horizontally, some vertical, and some diagonally.
Resources:
Jessica Simpson hosiery (lots of patterns available, sometimes multiple patterns in the same pair of pantyhose)
Lace fabrics and tulle were purchased from Jo-Ann Fabrics
Cheesecloth can often be found in groceries and kitchen supply sections of stores.
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Last spring I had lunch at Coquette in New Orleans, a lunch that ended with the nicest combination of goat cheese, fresh strawberries, tuiles, and wild lavender honey. I've been thinking about it ever since, and finally decided to make it for myself. I know it's early for most everyone else, but our local strawberry season ends next month, so I indulge while I can.
I used this recipe from Tartelette, with only a few minor tweaks to accommodate the sweetness of the honey. Making the mousse was a breeze and the tart shell wasn't complicated either, though you do have to allow time for the dough to chill, so make that ahead of time. If you're really short on time, you can whip up the goat cheese mousse in minutes and serve it with the berries and honey, alongside crisp cookies.
As an aside, thank you to everyone who has been voting in the Circle of Moms contest. I'm in the top 5 today, with a week left. If you're so inclined, you can vote every 24 hours until the contest is over.
Have a great weekend!
Goat Cheese Tarts
(makes 4)
For the pate sablee:
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Goat Cheese Mousse:
6 ounces heavy cream, cold
4 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
Juice and zest of half a lemon (almost 1 tsp. zest and a little over a teaspoon of juice)
2 cups fresh strawberries
Wild lavender honey (I found mine at Whole Foods)
Prepare the pate sablee:
Place almonds and 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are finely ground. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, ground nuts, and salt on medium speed until well-combined. Slowly add remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, and flour, and mix well. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Shape the dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours or overnight.
Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it out to about 1/8-inch thick. Cut out four 6-inch rounds and fit them into 4-inch tartlet rings, patting the dough together with your fingertips if the dough breaks while you're transferring it to the pans.
Prick the dough with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Place a piece of parchment paper inside the tart shells, fill with beans or pie weights. Bake the shells for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let cool completely on wire racks and remove the pie weights.
Prepare the Goat Cheese Mousse:
In the bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream to medium stiff peaks and reserve it in the refrigerator.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the goat cheese and sugar. Add the lemon zest and juice and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
Carefully fold the reserved whipped cream into the goat cheese mixture with a rubber spatula, folding until the mixture is smooth. Spoon it into the cooled shells (or pipe it into the tarts with a pastry bag).
Drizzle the tart with honey and serve with fresh berries.
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It's that time of year, that moment when I look around my house and realize I'm desperately in need of green. That desire won't be satisfied for a few weeks, but in the meantime, I've gathered some visual greenery - just in case you have the same needs I have.
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As promised, more photo textures to use with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. I should get more serious about this, however. New Orleans is the perfect place to capture texture, color, and patina of all kinds. I'll keep my eyes open! In the meantime, I hope you find something fun to do with these.
Click on the images for full size versions:
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I've been taking photographs of various textures for some time now, knowing that one day I wanted to be able to use them in Photoshop. But with all things technical I get a bit of a mental block, and it just felt like one of those things I'd learn one day, whenever I might find myself with a lot of time on my hands.
But as luck would have it, I happened to be in the company of the lovely Miss B. of Besotted Brand last weekend and she's a Photoshop whiz who also happens to enjoy teaching (check out her online photo classes, Souvenir Foto School). In the space of less than an hour I learned how to create my own Photoshop brush, make a png (an element that you can use as an overlay, like a strip of tape or a paper clip), and use textures in photographs. It turns out that none of those things are very difficult, which of course makes me feel silly for taking so long to dive in.
To test myself, I sat down yesterday and worked with a few of the moody textures I posted in the fall. I used a photograph of a pecan branch with a simple background and tried it out with various textures (see the bottom of this post for a tutorial link). It was just as easy as I remembered and a lot of fun to play with.
Original Photo:
Using Texture #3 (Overlay mode with 45% opacity)
Using Texture #5 (Soft Light mode with 100% opacity)
Using Texture #8 (Overlay mode with 100% opacity)
Pecans with Texture #9 (Screen mode with 39% opacity)
I didn't do any further editing with these photos - I just wanted you to see what could be achieved simply by swapping textures and adjusting the blending modes and opacity (by the way, the title image was used with Texture #6 - Overlay mode with 100% opacity).
If you want to learn how to do this yourself, I found a good tutorial for you from Digital Photography School. It will walk you through the process, step by simple step, and it can be used for all versions of Photoshop, as well as Elements.
Tomorrow, I'll post some additional textures for you to use. But there's an abundance of free textures already floating around (check Flickr) if you're looking for something in particular. And I promise you - If I can do this, so can you!
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I love paper flowers, perhaps as much as I love the real thing. It's possible to get so close to the realism of a natural flower, but I appreciate the intrinsic whimsy as well. They just make me happy.
I've got a flower project that I've been thinking about for Easter, so I've started gathering up inspiration. And what inspiration there is! I found so many beautiful examples that anyone can make, and most of them require little more than paper, a template or paper punch, and glue. Don't be intimidated, especially if your first flower takes a little while to make. It gets easier as you go and faster as you get used to the process - and it's absolutely worth it in the end!
DIY with Tutorials:
One day, I want an entire wall of these giant flowers in my workspace (in red!). I feel like they'd make me happier than happy. (from Ruche for Design Sponge)
Transform paper flowers into floral party hats (or perhaps an updated version of an Easter bonnet?) from Oh Happy Day
These structured flowers are made from 1-inch circles made with a paper punch (from Cotton and Brass for The Wedding Chicks)
Less realistic than some examples, but no less charming. Scalloped edge scissors and crepe paper streamers make up this ruffly flower from It's in the Details.
Here's my tutorial for crepe paper daffodils from a guest blog post I did for To Be Charmed.
Inspiring:
From The Green Vase (See lots of other beautiful examples on the site as well.)
Iceland Poppies via Emmaline Bride (a kit you can order)
Whimsy from Thuss+Farrell
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