Make Your Own Bubble Bath

I used the recipes here:

http://www.realsimple.com/m/magazine-more/inside-magazine/ask-real-simple/ask-real-simple-make-own-bubble-bath-00000000014088/

They were a starting point for me to make my own bubble bath.  Luckily I had a small travel bottle of gentle, organic liquid soap (which I had bought for the trip to Asia) which was lavender scented. I added honey, peanut oil and an egg white to make the mix.  

I added it to the running water in the bath tub.  It smelled great but there were absolutely no bubbles.  Like there were tiny bubbles for about 5 seconds and then - cricket cricket - nothing.  

The good news is the smell was great and the oil made my skin really really smooth.  Overall, I still enjoyed trying to make my own bubble bath but I would like to actually bring the bubble to life!  

Abstract Cherry Blossoms with Acrylics

1. Blank Canvass

2. Mix white, black and silver to subtlety coat canvass

3. Draw whimsical tree skeleton

4. Observe ominous warning on oil paint you won't actually use 

5-8: Paint (in thick strokes) white cherry blossoms; use modge podge to affix rhinestones to center of flowers; cut glittery leaves on cameo; generously glue leaves to picture 

9. Lay flat to dry

10. Replace unwanted wall art with abstract cherry blossoms

11. Enjoy

October Craft Night at Etsy Studio

The Etsy studio, located in Dumbo, has a free craft night once a month.  This month they had letterpressed Day of the Dead paper dolls to color (with watercolor pencils) and put together with brads.  You see my finished product above!

I wish Iived here to craft 24/7 ;)

Entrance to etsy studio!

All Star Invites

These are simple invitations I made for a perfect attendance breakfast for high school students.  I used the cameo silhouette to cut stars and used my "You're Invited" stamp from paper source - with embossing powder and a heat tool!

Halloween Cakes and Decorating

These are the first spherical cakes that I ever attempted to make.  I have to admit, this was a little stressful.  It was mainly because I didn't leave enough time to get the job done and these round cakes take longer to cook.  Next time I will read up on tips, allot myself lots of time and, perhaps, make a cake flavor that is LOVED by all - something like chocolate, perhaps?  This time I made pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese icing.  While appropriate for my family's "Pumpkinpalooza" theme, i realized that not everyone fights over pumpkin cake.  Chocolate, yes... there is fighting.  Devil's food it is next year.  Still appropriate.

 These are a medley of the carvings my family did at the Pumpkin carving contest at Pumpkinpalooza.

 This is the novel I decided to read for the Halloween season.  I'm still plowing along somewhere in the high 300's.  I'm not halfway done though.  I am, however, getting way familiar with this fabled clown.

I "found" this "find" on the Gowanus canal - the 9th Street Bridge at "Find," a used furniture store.  I like adding little pictures to my home chalk board, so I snapped a shot. 

This is just at a level beyond my artistic ability, but I saw this outside a coffee shop in the East Village - somewhere on Avenue B north of 9th street, I believe. 

This is my homemade "SPOOKY" Halloween door banner, made on the Cameo.  I got the template from the Paper Source on Smith Street in Brooklyn, though any Paper Source would supply it.  It was simple and it makes me happy when I come home.  (Yes, it's still up - I'll switch soon for the next holiday). 

Now, this is my level of artistic ability.  Note the wolf (or long haired chihuahua) howling on the bottom left.  This is on my chalk board at home in my kitchen.

Oh, how I love Halloween!!!

Dog Halloween Costumes Made on Cameo!

So I kind of love Halloween and I definitely more than kind of love my dogs - so dogs plus Halloween is like incredible fireworks display of amazing in my heart.

Since my dogs' names are T-Bone and Pork Chop, I thought it would be kind of perfect to dress the dogs up as their namesakes.  My friend is a skilled artist and drew the T-Bone and Pork Chop on my Cameo software.  From there it was a cinch to cut them out.

What was not a cinch, however, was effectively attaching the paper costumes to my chihuahuas.  I laminated the T-Bone and Pork Chop (the paper ones, not the chihuahuas) and bought velco pads to stick on to the dogs' sweaters.  The other velcro side would go on the laminated meat products and I would stick it to the dogs.  Well, this lasted about two seconds.  Pork Chop shook off her pork chop in two shakes of a chihuahua's tail.

I then had to submit myself - and the chihuahuas - to packing tape.  Don't worry, all was super humane (though it felt odd to tape things to my chihuahuas).

I was a zombie butcher for Halloween, to fit in with the entire theme.  I was the butcher and the dogs were meet - sick and sort of cute.  I didn't wear the full face of makeup to the Thompkin's Square Park Dog parade, but I did wear my apron.  Pork Chop also had a leash made out of hot dog links - which I thought was awesome.

Overall, a good time was had by all.

We are already trying to brainstorm costumes for next year - any "couples" ideas, send them along ;)

Happy (belated) Halloween!

Halloween Invites!

These are the invitations I made for our yearly "Martini Pumpkinpalooza," a family weekend of pumpkin picking, carving, baking, eating and partying.  Halloween is pretty much my favorite holiday so I was itching to get started on these.  So I began in - ahem - early August.

I used my cameo, washi tape, a Martini stamp, hand painted paper (for the envelopes) and glitter, obviously, for the invitations!!  The intricacy of the spider web is definitely my favorite!!

Morley Walk!

Today was this really cool event sponsored by The Melville House that celebrated the independent bookstores of Brooklyn.  It was called The Morley Walk.

 (info here:  http://morleywalk.tumblr.com/) 

Booksellers, publishers and readers came together to walk to six literary locations in Brooklyn and also to read Christopher Morley's novella "The Haunted Bookshop."  The novella is set in Brooklyn and it opens with the line: "If you are ever in Brooklyn, that borough of superb sunsets and magnificent vistas of husband-propelled baby-carriages, it is to be hoped you may chance upon a quiet by-street where there is a very remarkable bookshop."  I couldn't believe that this line was written in 1919 since it soo describes Brooklyn today!

My friend and past book club leader, Molly, and her mom also came on the walk and it was really a lovely day with gorgeous, breezy weather, which made it very easy to enjoy the quaint streets of Brooklyn.

We started at the Lark Cafe on Church Street near Prospect Park.  The cafe was really nice and it was started by two women in the neighborhood who became moms and realized there were no cafes in the hood to hang and enjoy.  The Lark has many events for children and moms, and has recently started selling books!

Here is the walk beginning in front of The Lark:

Then we walked for a while through Prospect Park to Terrace Books.  Of course, my flip flop broke on the way so I did a drive-by of the bookstore and headed to the 99 cent store to buy a new flip flop.  They were less than sturdy, let's say - so I bought two different pairs, in case the plastic bedazzled three dollar pair broke....haha.

Next, we walked to 8th Avenue.  By the way, read alouds of "The Haunted Bookshop" went on throughout the entire day, while we were walking as well.  Here was my favorite book store of the walk - Powerhouse on 8th.  This is great, actually, because this store is the closest one to my apartment!!

Yay!  I have a new favorite book spot in the hood!  They have an extensive children's collection.  I was so excited to see a book group for the "middle grades."  I would have loved something like that when I was younger!!  So  cute.  I wound up buying a book here - The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman - because:  1. I had been wanting to read it  2. the book group I am not yet a member of in my building may or may not be reading in this in some unidentified month 3. I just took a picture of the cover on my phone cause I had been wanting to buy it  4. It was AUTOGRAPHED  5. I was inspired on the walk  6. I wanted a souvenir!

Next - we walked to the Brooklyn Library in Grand Army Plaza.  I am embarrassed to say that I have not been in there yet... yeah, I know.  But before I headed in there to check things out, I had to check out the Food Truck Rally in Grand Army Plaza.  There were like 15 food trucks parked there - one of which was the Kimchi Taco Truck - heart heart heart.

Here is the Brooklyn Library:

Next was "Unnameable Books," a used and new bookstore that had that lived in "bookstore" smell.  Mmmmm:

The last stop on the tour was the Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene.  Here is the group finishing up "The Haunted Bookshop" in Greenlight.  This store was neat, clean, big and had a great selection.  If i lived closer I would hit it up more often.  But, at least now I know it's there!  

It was a great day and it was inspiring to see people who are so dedicated to the literary life.  I really enjoyed the company of Molly and her mother and appreciate that I got to spend my Sunday learning even more about my borough <3.

More bold home made book marks

The first home made book mark is Alice in Wonderland themed.  I downloaded the "Alice in Wonderland" font  from dafont.com.  

Some other fun, bright bookmarks!  These are smaller but pack a quick punch :)

Love playing with my Cameo Silhouette!

Happy weekend and happy reading.

<3,

Christina 

My Homemade Bookmark!

Hi!!

I have been reading a lot lately and realized I threw away all my book marks in some (ill planned) cleaning fest.  So I figured, why not whip one up on the Cameo?  I did, using Lori Whitlock's typewriter design, and I love it!!

I still need to laminate it and perhaps add some tassel flair, but here she is for now: 

A Walk in Clove Lakes Park

As part of my appreciation of my location - wherever it is, either close to home or far away - I wanted to do a little tribute to a lovely locale in my hometown of Shaolin - ahem - Staten Island.

Today I walked through Clove Lakes Park (CloveLakesPark) and I really enjoyed the beauty of the lakes, the waterfall (yeah, there's a waterfall!) and the wild life.  Here are some of the things I saw.

I need to figure out what this bird to the right is.  Another one is depicted below.

Right here I found a duck family near the base of the waterfall.  So adorable!!

These turtles reminded me of my chihuahuas, T-Bone and Pork Chop.  They always stay together ;)

Travel Blogging

Hi,

So today in the NY Times there was an article about travel blogging and how complicated it has become to secure advertisements and vie for endorsements.  The article can be found here: travelbloggingtodayiscomplicated

I found this interesting since I just came back from my (abridged) trip where I definitely counted on the posts of several travel bloggers - particularly those females traveling alone - in order to boost my own confidence and also to learn about my travel destinations.  I also used them to learn about Dengue Fever, which I thought I had when I got a sudden, high fever with pain throughout my body.  Some of the travel blogs I looked at were:

http://www.adventurouskate.com/  - Kate has really got the travel blogging business down pat.  I found it thinking it was just a cool blog by a girl like me - which, of course, she argues that she is - but in many ways, she is not.  Blogging is not just a fun, carefree pasttime for Kate.  She made it a career and certainly did abandon the "traditional" life and she made a go of it as a full time travel blogger.  What I learned from her blog and what was reinforced by the article today, is that you can make a living from travel blogging - if you aren't living in New York or another expensive Western city - or in some place like Australia.  Many of the trips are comped and travel bloggers write about them to help with campaigns for travel agencies, etc.

http://pearlsandpassports.com/tag/solo-female-travel/  - This lady certainly had a detailed description of her Dengue Fever experience and she said that getting through that while traveling alone sort of taught her that she could do anything.  This was inspiring and helped me realize that perhaps I wasn't going to die alone in a Thailand hotel....

So anyway, suffice it to say that now I have a more intensified interest in travel blogging.  Though I have no desire to travel any time soon after this debacle of a trip, obviously, I do have some interest in blogging - though I would like to blog about "crafting" myself - which can really be interpreted in many ways and crafts that I may make.

When I saw this travel blog today in the Times, I visited and I was really inspired by how this couple is crafting the beginning of a beautiful wealth of memories as they start their life together.  The blog is called "2 people, 1 life": 2people1life.  The couple has decided to get married over and over again around the world in different locations - with a tribe, in a plane, in Hawaii, as vampires, etc. etc.  Wherever they get married, they adhere to the customs of the locale.  It is really a cool idea.  The couple also has a beautiful love story they tell on their biography pages and, being a hopeless romantic, I was touched.

I have just been thinking about this cool blog today and how they are "crafting" their lives.  It just shows how anything one can dream up is certainly possible.... it is possible to abandon the 9-5 life and live by traveling around the world and it is possible to get married everywhere from Australia to Michigan and back again... if, of course, that is what you want. It is also possible to stay home in magnificent New York and breathe in the magic and wonder of every day on our 'ever unfinished' city.  (Not that I'm doing this as I'm still recovering from being ill and exhausted and run down from my abruptly ended trip in Southeast Asia... but I will be back and whole...soon). 

Airports - Bangkok and Japan

The Bangkok airport was like a party.  I enjoyed all the visuals, the stores, the bustle, the slick, modern things everywhere.  I didn't capture everything cause I was concentrating on getting home in one piece but here'a something:

Tokyo airport: