Patterson House Jewelry Inspiration

Last summer I visited the Ardenwood Historic Farm (and Patterson House, located on the property) in Fremont, CA. If you live in the bay area and haven’t been here yet, I recommend it! This place is pretty awesome. They have various gardens and animals (sheep, goats, etc.) as well as an on-site blacksmith. Throughout the year they hold various events and festivals, depending on the season. It’s a great place for kids, but I’m an adult (sans kids) and I had fun too.

 

The highlight for me was the gorgeous Victorian Patterson House, the focal point of the property. This home was built by George Patterson in the mid 1800s, and underwent various additions and renovations throughout the remainder of the century. Let me tell you – this place is GORGEOUS. They have a lot of the original furniture, which thankfully has stayed with the family, and the architecture of the building is just beautiful. Each room in the house has so many historical nooks and crannies, you could spend all day in there. I took a guided tour with a dear friend of mine, but to be honest, we ended up ‘lagging’ behind everyone else, because we couldn’t stop photographing everything we laid eyes on!

 

By the time we finished the house tour, I was inspired. I knew this house was going to be influential in my designs, especially for bridal. I already completed an entire Spring Bridal Collection based on this amazing Art Nouveau chandelier in one of the bedrooms:

 

 

Stunning, isn’t it? It’s not only one of my favorite pieces from the home, but one of my favorite chandeliers of all time. Ever. Seriously.

 

Anyway, every time I look at the pictures from this home, I get inspired all over again. Here’s a few favorites that inspired some new pieces in my shop..

Front partial view of the Patterson house. Check out the gorgeous molding!

 

I would love one of these benches for my patio!

 

One of the guest bedrooms, with a wedding gown from one of the family members’ weddings. (Love the ruffles on the hem!) Not to mention the elaborate bed frame!

 

Antique undergarments. So pretty!

 

This bustle frame was seriously amazing and elaborate!

 

The lace on the gloves! Omg! I love everything that’s in this photo, right down to the rose wallpaper. Can you believe this was a guest bedroom?!

 

This was in a closet. Actually there was a technical term for this room, but I forgot what it was. (It was sort of a dual purpose washroom and closet.)

 

This would not be complete without a pair of pointy toed ribbon topped shoes! So darling!

 

Can you see why I was inspired?

 

Here’s a couple of new designs I made based on my Patterson House guest bedroom inspiration..

 

 

Hand formed white clay rose, white freshwater pearls, brass chain and creamy ivory satin ribbon tie closure.

 http://www.etsy.com/listing/99495719/white-rose-and-white-pearl-ribbon

Peachy pink hand formed clay rose, white freshwater pearls and a tiny brass locket, on brass chain.

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/99494344/pink-rose-and-white-pearl-locket

That’s all for today. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Mother’s Day Edible Flower Lollipops

Sometimes an introduction is best done with a photo rather than words, and this is one of those times!

I recently made these edible flower lollipops for my mom for Mother’s Day, as my mom has a green thumb and loves flowers! She lives 3,000 miles away, but thankfully with modern day technology I was able to watch her open them via video chat. Needless to say, they were a hit!

The recipe I used came from this blog post at Sprinkle Bakes. Since this recipe is so quick to put together (the candy heats quickly and the candy cools just as quickly!) I wasn’t able to get any tutorial photos of my own.. thankfully she has a step by step photo tutorial on her blog already, and I highly recommend it!

If you have someone to assist you in making these, I’d recommend it – FYI, this isn’t really a kid friendly recipe due to the high temperature of the candy, but feel free to invite a crafty friend to come help! I encountered a little bit of trouble making these..

I think my first problem is that I was using a kitchen thermometer instead of a candy thermometer (my candy one kicked the bucket) and I accidentally let the mixture heat up to a couple of degrees hotter than it needed to be.. My candy mixture ended up cooling REALLY quickly! I’m pretty sure that it cooled faster than it would have, had I heated it to the correct lower temperature to begin with. Hotter heat = quicker cool down? Possibly. I’m not sure. I might try these again sometime and heat them to the correct temperature and see how much longer I can work with the candy before it hardens. I only was able to make 8 before the mixture hardened around my spoon!

The other problem, as you can see, is the air bubbles. When I stirred in my flavor oil and food coloring, the air bubbles did not all dissipate as the candy settled. I have a sneaky feeling that this was also due to the temperature of the mixture!

All things aside, I kind of prefer the organic shape of these pops versus a perfectly round circle, especially with the flower center.

The flowers I used came from my grocery store. They had a small selection of edible flowers near the fresh herbs. I chose to use all pansies for these, but you can use any flower that’s edible and pesticide free. Some of the flowers were a little bit too squished to use whole, so I used some of the petals in a couple of the pops. I think they’re just as pretty!

I packaged up the lollipops in tissue paper to match the card I was sending, and tied them up with one of the same purple ribbons used on the pops wrapping. The flower on top is a cardboard die-cut that I affixed with double stick tape. Pretty, no?

One of the great things about this recipe is that it all comes together fairly quickly, so you can make these in an afternoon and have them ready for gift-giving the next day! (Their cooling/hardening time will vary based on your climate. Mine were ready to handle within a few hours.)

Happy Mother’s Day!

1000th Sale Milestone – Shop Sale and $50 Gift Certificate Giveaway!

Happy Monday!

I am excited to announce that I have reached a milestone – 1000 sales in my shop on Etsy! I am so thrilled and grateful for all of your support in helping me reach 4-digits, and wanted to celebrate with you!

Now through Sunday May 13th, I’m holding a shop-wide sale for 10% off any purchase. The discount has already been applied to the listings, so there’s no need to use a coupon code or anything else.

I’m also holding a giveaway for a $50 gift certificate to my store! To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and let me know which of my designs is your favorite. It can be something you have already purchased, or something you would like to own! I’ll use Random.org to choose a winner at random from all of the entries. Leave your comment on this post before Monday May 14th at 11pmPST. Comment entries are now completed for this giveaway. Thanks to all who participated! The winner will be randomly selected on Tuesday the 15th and will be announced here!

Now it’s time to hold a sweet little celebration of my own..with a pint of my favorite gelato on this gorgeous sunny day!  :)

 

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The winning number has been selected! Congrats, Lillea!

Lemon Curd Stuffed Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and Coconut

I’m going to go ahead and admit right now that I get cupcake cravings. Often. Maybe it’s the single-serve portion size, the frosting-to-cake ratio, or simply the fact that there’s so many varieties and decorating options, but I just love them!

Recently the craving hit again, but we were out of a few key ingredients to make what I originally wanted..s’mores cupcakes! Excitement took over as I remembered that we still had some lemon curd in the freezer, leftover from a previous brunch recipe. (Homemade lemon curd topped pancakes with fresh raspberries and a dusting of powdered sugar. To answer your question – yes, they were delicious!)

Then my brain starts thinking.. hmm.. lemon curd.. what’s in our cupboards that I can combine with this? Well, more lemon of course, and coconut! Perfect for a springtime cupcake recipe.

Since there’s just two of us here, I only made a half batch of these. I still had a LOT of extra lemon curd, but not enough butter to frost more than a half dozen or so cupcakes. Like many, I’ve been on the hunt for the ideal vanilla cupcake recipe, and I think I may have found one that’s pretty close.. although I added lemon zest to the recipe, so I’ll have to make them again without the lemon at some point before I can really make a decision. The recipe used oil instead of butter, which I think might be the key to keeping them moist. (Have you noticed how many white cake recipes are really dry?!) My favorite chocolate cake recipe – the Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake – also uses oil, so I think that might be the key!

To  make these cupcakes, I simply mixed up a half batch of the vanilla cake recipe (below) and added zest from one lemon to the batter. After I baked the cupcakes and let them cool, I put a few large spoonfulls of lemon curd into a pastry bag with a wide tip, and filled the cupcakes with about a TB of lemon curd. Stick the pastry tip about 1/2-3/4″ into the cupcake and then gently squeeze the filling into it. You’ll see the cupcake top “rise” as it is filled! Then I frosted them with a basic white frosting, and topped them with some untoasted/unsweetened coconut flakes. (The same kind I used for the Samoa Cake, but untoasted.)

Here’s a few recipes:

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe by Glorious Treats

Yields- 15-16 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

1/2 cup buttermilk

(or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)

Directions-

* Preheat oven to 350*F.

* In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.

* In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat.

* Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down the side of the bowl.

* The batter will be thin.   Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners.  Fill liners about 2/3 full.

* Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.

* Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.

* Frost as desired when fully cool.

———————

I’ve been using this recipe for years!..I can’t even begin to tell you the various uses for lemon curd.. For example, we’ve used it as a topping for pancakes (instead of syrup,) as a filling for stuffed braided bread, incorporated it into whipped cream frosting for a lemon whipped cream frosting, and now to fill cupcakes! Don’t be afraid to make the full batch here, and use it for other recipes besides a cupcake filling. Last time I made it, I froze half of it to use later.

Lemon Curd

Gourmet  | January 2001

yield: Makes about 1 1/3 cups

active time: 20 min

total time: 1 1/4 hr

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits

Preparation

Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour. (Can keep chilled in the refrigerator 1 week.)

—–

For the frosting, I just used a basic ratio.. for every 1 cup of powdered sugar, I added: 1-TB softened unsalted butter, 1-TB milk,  1-tsp vanilla extract, and then mixed all ingredients together until smooth. Easy!

There you have it, lemon cupcakes stuffed with lemon curd, topped with vanilla frosting and coconut flakes. My only regret is that we don’t have any left!

Honeybees and Honeycomb

The arrival of springtime usually makes me a little bit nostalgic, as this is the season when I start seeing honeybees buzzing about, pollinating those pretty spring flowers and tending to the fields. You see, for many years of my childhood, my dad was a beekeeper and my mom ran a little shop in the town we lived in, selling honey and beeswax candles, among other beehive related items. I can still remember the sweet smell of fresh honey overwhelming our home whenever dad was processing a new batch of honeycomb, and watching in awe as he tended to his bees in the fields.

Even after all those years with hives right in our back yard, I’ve never been stung by a bee a single time in my life. Honeybees don’t actually want to sting you, because unlike wasps, hornets and other stinging insects, they need to be provoked (frightened or angered) before they sting – and they typically die after they’ve stung you. Honeybees almost always lose their stinger in the body of the recipient, and when that happens, it kills them. Those other stinging bugs do not (and can keep stinging you repeatedly if they want to!) Thus, the honey bee just wants to go about its business without any trouble. I see them as friendly little workers who make our lives better in so many ways.

I suppose it’s true when they say that your upbringing and life experiences help shape what you create, as I’ve had a slight bee and honeycomb obsession this spring. I’ve been making honeycomb shapes out of polymer clay, and fine silver metal clay – sometimes adorned by tiny little bees.

Here’s a few of my favorites (click on the images for more information)..

Fine Silver Honeycomb Necklace with Tiny Sterling Silver Bee

Tiny Gold Bee and Clay Honeycomb Brooch

Honeycomb Earrings on Sterling Silver Hooks

All of the honeycomb patterns were done individually by hand, one hexagon at a time. I made a tiny hexagon stamp, and pressed it into the clay repeatedly (both the metal clay and the polymer clay) to create the honeycomb pattern. As usual, I did not use any pre-designed molds or patterns! This leaves a slightly imperfect pattern. I think I prefer it this way, as it adds to the special handmade aspect of each piece, rather than a mass-produced item.

Happy Spring! Be kind to those honeybees who cross your path. :)

Fabric two ways – Wool Coat and Satin Bolero

It may seem a little late to be posting pictures of wool coats, but here in the California bay area we’ve been having a lot of chilly, windy, rainy days this spring!

I’ve spent many winters on the hunt for the “perfect” wool coat, only to come up disappointed; usually I find something I sort of like, but it’s either too big, too expensive, or otherwise just not quite right. Now that I’ve made pattern blocks (basic pattern templates) in my own clothing size/made to my measurements, I finally sat down and made myself a coat this winter! (Let’s ignore how long it took me to find the perfect shade and thickness of grey wool fabric.. and how when I found the “perfect” fabric, it ended up being $200 per yard.. which meant I now had to find the *second* best, because clearly I wasn’t spending over $300 on fabric for my coat!)

Okay, so the first step was coming up with the coat design. I sort of have an obsession with designing princess seams on coats and blouses, which is amusing because it requires additional pattern pieces and thus additional work. Sometimes I think I’m a glutton for punishment when patterndrafting and sewing. Oh, what, did you say that pattern is going to require over 50 pieces and take a full day to sew? Bring it on! *Ahem.*

I’m also very indecisive.

Needless to say, I had multiple variations of a jacket design happening, and finally chose one. I drew up a “technical flat” for it (quite literally a technical drawing to show all seams and hems/sewing lines of a garment) before I got started on the pattern, so I’d have a better idea of what the finished product should look like.

Here’s my technical flat for my coat design:

The specs, for those who know what I’m talking about: My design is a long wool coat with front and back princess seams, a waist seam, two-piece sleeves, asymmetrical peter pan collar, belted waist, and a double breasted front placket (one row is workable buttons, the other is just for appearance.) There are hidden pockets at the side seams. It is also fully lined, of course! The bow at the collar is just for decoration, as you’ll see below..

I sewed up a sample before sewing the finished garment to make sure I liked the fit, and then sewed it in the grey wool. Here’s some photos of the finished coat!

Here's the coat with the belt, accented with a dupioni silk flower brooch I made.

 

Here's the coat shown without the belt (you can see the waist seam now) accented by a fabric sash/bow!

 

These buttons were sent to me by my mom - she has a HUGE button collection and always has whatever I am looking for. For this coat, I told her "no plastic!" and so she happened to have the most perfect beautiful black glass faceted shank buttons! (8 large ones for the front, and one smaller one up at the neckline below the collar.)

 

The coat is fully lined with a teal blue satin (one of my favorite colors!)

 

At first, I was a little disappointed in myself for waiting until February to make the coat. Then I remembered that we have chilly nights here year round – and fairly un-typical weather other months – and I have actually been wearing this coat frequently, even this month. I’ve been accenting the front closure/collar area with an assortment of sashes, fabric flower brooches, and large vintage enamel brooches. It’s a lot of fun to dress up this coat!

Now as for my title, “Fabric two ways”.. I typically buy more fabric than I need, just in case something goes disastrously wrong and I need more fabric. Better to have too much, than not enough. I still have wool left over, but also had plenty of that beautiful blue teal satin! Feeling creative one night, I made two boleros. (The second one I will show you later, in another Fabrid-Two-Ways post!) For now, here’s the teal satin bolero..

 

I really got into the design on this one.. I made a single bolero pattern and used it twice (for an unlined bolero, and a lined bolero.) This is the unlined bolero. One of my favorite aspects is the petal sleeves! This was my first time making a pattern for and sewing petal sleeves, and it was a lot of fun. They're much easier to make than I was anticipating, and are so much more feminine than a cap or short sleeve.

 

Oh, and.. uh.. yeah... princess seams again on the front and back. (Remember what I said earlier?!) I don't care, I love them and will continue to add more work for myself just for the sake of the design. :) Also, I cut strips of fabric on the bias to bind the edges, since I wasn't lining this one.

 

I wish I were joking, but I was up working on these flower embellishments at 1am. Once I started sewing this bolero, I couldn't stop! I cut out dozens of fabric circles in various sizes and singed the edges (since the fabric is synthetic fibers) and then arranged them into a grouping that I liked. Once arranged, I stitched them all together onto the bolero, with some freshwater pearl accents at the centers. This was a fantastic way to use up all of the 'misshapen' pearls that I would not use in my jewelry designs, and were just sitting around!

 

Well, there you have it! Fabric two ways.. teal satin fabric used in completely opposite seasonal garments.. a winter coat and a spring bolero!

Giant Samoa Girl Scout Cookie Birthday Cake

It’s that time of year again… my guy’s birthday! We sort of alternate between “boring” normal birthday cakes, and creative/challenging cakes. This year entailed the latter.

Choosing the cake was up to me this year – sometimes that’s dangerous, because I’ll always pick something I’ve never made before, and it usually requires literally hours’ worth of preparation. No matter, I’m always up for it! We’ve been on a Girl Scout Cookie kick this year (Samoas and Thin Mints, of COURSE) and I was inspired by this blog post about making a giant Samoa cake. She had a great idea, but I wanted to make some variations on her idea to include more “cookie” elements, and of course frosting.

The end result was this:

The bottom layer consists of shortbread cookie, topped with dark chocolate ganache and salted caramel sauce. Above that is vanilla/white cake, covered in caramel frosting, and coated with toasted coconut flakes, drizzled with melted dark chocolate. To say it was delicious would be an understatement!

I used a variety of recipes here – some online, some from actual cookbooks..yes, people still use those! I’ll do my best to include any actual recipe I used for this, but for some of the steps I just eyeballed it with no recipe or real measuring. (Sorry!) Here’s the step-by-step process I used to assemble, followed by some recipes:

Giant Girl Scout Cookie Cake

*Notes: I made this a two-day process since I had class on his actual birthday, and would need more time to finish the cake. The first day I made the shortbread crust, made the salted caramel sauce, and toasted the coconut. The second day I baked the cake, made the ganache, made the frosting, and assembled it all together. This seemed to work out fine, and you could do them all in one day, but you would need to leave adequate time for cooling each part (caramel especially) which can take some waiting time. I’m posting the photos in the order I prepared everything and assembled the cake.

I started by making a half batch of a shortbread recipe (from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook.) Knowing ahead of time that I wanted to have a hole in the center of my cake, I used a large round cookie cutter as a place-holder, and smoothed down the cookie batter around the cutter. I removed the cutter before baking, of course, since it's plastic.

 

You can see the "hole" here where I removed the cookie cutter. I used a tart pan for this, to make removal of the shortbread easier.. the tart pan also happened to be the same width as my bundt pan for the cake! This is the shortbread pre-baked.

 

While the shortbread was baking, I made the salted caramel sauce. (The recipe was for regular caramel sauce, but I added sea salt and homemade vanilla extract!) This needs to cool for at least a few hours -plan ahead!

 

Here's the flaked coconut I bought for the topping - it's HUGE! Doesn't it look delicious? I bought raw unsweetened coconut from the bulk bin at my favorite grocery store (Berkeley Bowl!) I think this was a good idea to use (if you can find it) versus the shredded kind, because it looks more to-scale with the "giant" theme of the cake. Giant cookie, giant flakes of coconut!

 

I placed the coconut on a sheet of parchment and baked it in the oven for the last 10 minutes left of the shortbread's baking time. (350-degrees F.) If you're using sweetened coconut, check on it frequently as it will brown faster because of the sugar content.

 

Toasted coconut, removed from the oven. Yum!

 

Here's the shortbread fresh out of the oven! I suppose you could use a sugar cookie for this as well, if you preferred.

 

After the shortbread and caramel had cooled, I made a small amount of ganache. I simmered some heavy cream (about 1/4 cup) over a double boiler, and stirred in about 1/3 Cup Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa chips into the cream until they had melted, stirring until smooth. I spread a layer of ganache over the cookie, then drizzled some of the caramel sauce on top of that. You know, for good measure. :)

 

Next I baked the cake! I used a small batch recipe for vanilla/white cake and baked it in a silicone bundt pan. (About halfway full.) Well, supposedly you don't need butter or non-stick spray on silicone bakeware, but I beg to differ. It definitely stuck to the pan! Not to worry, the cake would be covered in frosting and coconut, so I really didn't care much about the appearance.

 

There were a LOT of crumbs in the process of removing the cake from the pan! Tasty crumbs.. :)

 

Once the cake was cool, I made the frosting. Okay, I didn't measure here. I tossed in one stick of softened butter (1/2 cup) and beat it with a whisk attachment until fluffy. Then I poured in some caramel.. probably about 3/4 cup, and blended them together. Then I added confectioner's sugar until it reached the consistency I wanted. I think it was somewhere around 2 cups, but add however much you like depending on how thick or thin you want the frosting to be. I also didn't want to lose too much of the caramel flavor by adding too much sugar, so I didn't go beyond 2 1/2 cups.

 

Mixing the caramel and the butter.. yummy. I would eat this as-is!

 

Checking frosting consistency.. this looked about right to me. Not too sugary or stiff.. good consistency for sticking coconut to it!

 

Yep.. another frosting shot.. can't resist!

 

Okay, time for assembly.. I used a GIANT spatula to lift the cake and place it on top of the cookie section. Did I mention how absolutely perfect the cake and cookie fit together?! I guess it pays to have a lot of bakeware!

 

.. checking the alignment of the hole. Yep, it matches up. :)

 

Frosting time! I coated the whole cake in caramel frosting, and then drizzled some extra caramel on top.. just because I can.

 

Okay, this part is messy. Just embrace it! I literally took handfuls of toasted coconut and pressed them against the cake, gently patting down to help them stick to the frosting. Don't be shy.. make sure you cover all edges inside and out!

 

Last step.. melted chocolate, drizzled across the top. (I used the 60% Cocoa Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips for this, too. They're my favorite, and they melt beautifully!)

 

The completed cake! I used TWO giant spatulas (one in each hand!) to move the cake off of the waxed paper and onto the cake plate. Thankfully this was made somewhat easier because of the cookie crust bottom, but I still wanted to be careful so that the crust wouldn't crack. Ta-da! I placed the whole cake in the refrigerator to help it set up properly, since it was a bit warm in here. Probably a good idea to do if you also have a slightly warm kitchen.

 

Here’s the recipes I used:

 

Shortbread

from Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook 1980 ed.

Minutes to Cook: 35

Number of Servings: 18

 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- in large bowl beat 1st 6 ingredients until well mixed, occasionally scraping the bowl

- pat down into 9 in round cake pan and with fork, prick well

- with spoon, sprinkle sugar over dough

Bake 30-35 minutes

- cut into wedges while warm, cool on wire rack, separate cookies

Serving Size: 18

 

***I used HALF of the shortbread recipe, since I just wanted a crust. I did not sprinkle with sugar, and I did not cut it into wedges.***

—

Caramel Sauce

Bon Appétit | April 2006

Mary Cech

Yield: Makes about 1 1/3 cupsIngredients 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup light corn syrup 3/4 cup whipping cream Preparation Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Carefully add cream (you may want to stand back — mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir sauce over low heat until any caramel bits dissolve and sauce is smooth. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium-low heat just until pourable, then let caramel sauce cool to room temperature.)

***After adding the cream and mixing the sauce, I removed it from the heat and stirred in about 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract and a dash of sea salt.***

—-

Toasted Coconut:

No recipe, but I wanted to mention I used unsweetened coconut, spread out on parchment over a cookie sheet.. baked it for about 10 mins at 350-F. Carefully watch and/or use less toasting time if you’re using sweetened coconut, as it burns faster than unsweetened.

—-

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

No recipe for this either, but I heated 1/4 Cup heavy cream over a double boiler, removed it from the heat and then stirred in about 1/3 Cup chocolate chips (Ghirardelli 60% cocoa) until they were melted and the mixture was smooth.

—-

Vanilla Cake:

Simple White Cake

by: SCOTTOSMAN (Allrecipes.com)

Prep Time:
20 Min

Cook Time:
30 Min

Ready In:
50 Min

Servings

Original Recipe Yield 12 cupcakes or 1- 9×9 inch pan

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

—-

Salted Caramel Frosting:

No real recipe for this either.. I softened 1 stick (1/2 Cup) unsalted butter, then beat it with the whisk attachment on my mixture until fluffy. Next I mixed in about 3/4 Cup of the salted caramel sauce until smooth. Then I gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar until the desired consistency. (About 2 1/2-cups. You may want more if you like a thicker frosting. I didn’t want the caramel taste overpowered by the sugar, so I kept it on the “less sugar” side.)

—-

And there you have it! The end result was a delicious combo of cookie and cake. I wouldn’t change a single thing! This is definitely not a healthy cake , and is best intended for special occasions.. like birthdays. :)

From Boston to San Francisco..

Have you left your heart in San Francisco? Or perhaps another city across the globe?

This morning I listed two new map locket necklaces – San Francisco and Boston – which got me thinking about my past California travels and the road I took to get here. I felt like sharing a little bit of my history with you, so here it is!

 

San Francisco Map Heart Locket Necklace

Boston Map Large Locket Necklace

I think it’s safe to say I left my heart in San Francisco, and came back to recover it years later. As a young child growing up in New Hampshire, I’d been out to the California bay area a couple times to visit our grandmother in Santa Cruz and aunts/uncles around the bay. This was always a big adventure, as we had to travel over 3000 miles to get there! One of my favorite memories was the year my older sister and I flew to visit grandma by ourselves..  With multiple packs of bubble tape in tow, we kept ourselves amused on the long flight across the country. I still remember when we landed at the terminal, and saw Grandma come running to us with outstretched arms!

My big sister and I, visiting Santa Cruz in 1990. (Before our younger brother was born!)

Many years later, I visited California with my sweetheart, and my love for California continued to grow. We spent 10 days traveling from the north San Francisco bay all the way down to LA.

Here I am visiting the Embarcadero in San Francisco on our adventure… very windy, but very happy! (2004)

It’s impossible to not fall in love with California’s giant Redwood trees. (2004)

On our return flight home, I think we knew in our hearts we’d end up back here eventually…

 

.. and we did!

In February of 2008, we packed up our apartment in the suburbs of Boston, and began our true journey to California. We drove across the country with all of our belongings in tow, and officially became California residents. I still can’t believe we have lived here 4 years already. It has definitely been adventure, but those stories will have to be shared in future posts!

Your home may be in one place, but where is your heart?

Weekend Jewelry Sale!

It’s finally March! I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely ready for spring time. (And summer ….. but I won’t push it!) I’ve been busy making a lot of new styles, and it’s time to move out some previous designs that will no longer be in stock. This weekend I’m having a 50% off sale on select designs! You can view which items are on currently on sale here.

Here’s a glimpse of what’s on sale! Click on the photo to go directly to the item listing. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

Peachy Pink Rose and Vintage Glass Necklace on Sterling Silver (Originally $55, currently on sale this weekend for $27.50.)

Sterling Silver Bee Necklace with Golden Honey Vintage Glass Beads (Originally $45, currently on sale this weekend for $22.50.)

Purple Amethyst Gemstone Necklace on Sterling Silver Chain (Originally $49, currently on sale this weekend for $24.50.)

Yellow Quartz and White Pearl Drop Earrings on Sterling Silver (Originally $50, currently on sale this weekend for $25.)

White Clay Rose and Dark Olive Pearl Drop Earrings (Originally $40, currently on sale this weekend for $20.)

Tiny Silver Bow and Rose Quartz Drop Earrings on Sterling Silver (Originally $32, currently on sale this weekend for $16.)

All of the sale designs are one of a kind pieces. Once they’re styles are sold, they’re gone for good!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

DIY Easter Chick Necklace

Now that Valentine’s Day is over, Easter inspiration will be popping up everywhere you look. I’ve decided to join in on the fun and offer a DIY tutorial on how to make your very own Easter chick necklace! The original little marshmallow treat these are inspired by are quite popular here in the United States – typically most people either love them or hate them. If you’re in the “love” group, you’re sure to enjoy the following tutorial! These instructions are for a necklace, but you can create the chick for any use (bracelet, earrings, or just to put on your desk!)

DIY Easter Chick Tutorial

Materials needed:

- Yellow Polymer Clay

-Brown Polymer Clay

- Flat end head pin

- Finished necklace chain

- Pliers (round nose and flat nose recommended)

- Waxed paper (for keeping your work surface clean)

- Aluminum foil (for baking the clay in the oven)

Step 1: Gather your materials (listed above.) As you can see, I like the Sculpey brand clay. I think it’s softer to work with than some of the other brands, but any brand of polymer clay will work!

Step 2: Break off a small piece of yellow polymer clay, and begin to knead and soften the clay. This is called “conditioning” the clay.

Step 3: Once the clay has been conditioned, roll it into a ball.

Step 4: Hold the clay in one hand, and use your other hand to gently make an “edge” around the entire perimeter of the bottom of the ball.

Step 5: You can see the “edge” along the bottom of the ball here. Make the edge a little longer on one end of the ball. This will be the “tail” of the chick.

Step 6: Working on the longer end of the edge, pinch the clay together to form a soft point. (The “tail”.)

Step 7: Working towards the tail end, gently pinch the clay upward from the round dome/top section (this will be the head.)

Step 8: Working with the head area you just formed, gently pinch the tip of it and fold it towards the front of the chick (to form the beak.)

Step 9: Keep pinching the “beak” section until it has formed a small point. You can then gently push the beak downward a little bit, if you so desire.

Step 10: Now it’s time for the eyeballs! Using a pin (or the pointed end of the headpin) press a small dot onto each side of the head where you’ll be placing the eyes.

Step 11: Using a VERY small piece of brown clay (smaller than you think you’ll need! Smaller than showing here!) make a teeny tiny round dot of clay for each eyeball.

Step 12: This is where the eyeball placement comes in handy. Gently press the tiny piece of brown clay eyeball into each side of the head. You can use your fingers, or the tip of the headpin to put the clay in place. Gently press down on the clay with your finger to set it in place and flatten it slightly.

Close-up of the completed chick (with eyes!)

Step 13: Starting from the underside of the chick, gently push the headpin through the clay, making sure the flat part is on the bottom. I like to angle the pin so it exits out behind the chick’s head, although you can certainly angle it any way you choose.

Step 14: Bake the clay in your oven according to package instructions. (Mine went in for 15 minutes at 275F. Your temp/times will vary based on the brand of clay and size of your chick.)

Step 15: Once the clay has baked and cooled, you’ll want to form a wire wrapped loop with the end of the head pin. Here’s an easy tutorial from Artbeads if you aren’t sure how to do that part already: http://www.artbeads.com/howtomawrlo.html

Step 16: Attach the chick onto your necklace chain/ribbon/etc. (I had pre-made my chain already. You can make your own chain, or buy a pre-made chain. You could also slip the charm onto a ribbon.)

Ta-da! Here’s the finished necklace!

You can make these in any color of clay you choose, and for any type of jewelry. This photo is an example of various colors I had made for earrings.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! I’ve been working with polymer clay for over 15 years. It’s really very fun, and those with any level of skill can create something! You can browse some of my other clay creations in my Etsy shop, Victoria Camp Designs.