Navel orange
Label
Barcode
Sticker
Brand
One
Whole
Detail
Cropped
Copy space
Indoors
Nobody
Ingredient
Hmm… oranges… I really don’t cook with oranges much. When I do, I use them the same way I use lemons (sliced on fish or use the juice for a marinade). I have however, been eating oranges like mad since I had that cold during my first trimester. It’s not that I’m concerned about getting enough Vitamin C, I just honestly enjoy oranges a lot right now. We’re keeping them sliced in a container in the fridge, so when the day gets super hot and/or I need a little snack they’re ready to devour. So refreshing!
It’s been several months now since I took the time to look back at achievements and milestones reached with Bubblegum Sass. I fully intended to do this more frequently (just for myself) and post it in the sewing room, but then somehow that plan was forgotten. Given how low I’ve been feeling with the business lately, it seems high time to raise my chin a bit and give myself a small pat on the back. So here’s what has been achieved with Bubblegum Sass since January (and you really don’t need to read through the list… it’s definitely more for me to reflect on than the rest of the world):
With the Etsy shop
Reached 60 items listed for sale
98 people have favorited the shop
78 “hearts” for product listings
Been featured in roughly 55 or more treasuries
Spread the love, and created 48 or so treasuries
Had 11 total sales in the shop
Had my first order from someone who wasn’t a friend or family member
Shipped that same order down to sunny California, my first US order
Had one of my small doily purselettes featured on a blog, by the lovely Claudia also down in California
Posting a new wall announcement at least once a week (usually more)
Out and About
Participated in 7 craft shows or venues
4 of those venues were multi-day events
1 of those shows was in another city
Done craft tables by myself and collaborated with others
Had the chance to meet many Etsy team members in person
Participated in the 2nd Annual Etsy Craft Around the World party
Have applications to more craft shows waiting on acceptance
Started a plan for the coming fall/Christmas season
In the Sewing Room
Completed a line of product for Spring/Summer 2011
That product line consisted of 8 different items
Completed a few specialty products for roller derby
Sewed up custom orders
Organized and inventoried an insane amount yarn (37+ garbage bags)
Started making inventory for fall/winter
There’s probably some other small things that I’m missing, but I can’t think of them right now. Oh and I guess I’ve regularly posted to this blog too. No small task, but thoroughly enjoyed it! So that’s been six months of Bubblegum Sass. Of course, I’m not reflecting on life challenges here, which really eat up more than the crafty business, especially these days.
Thanks for coming along this journey with me over the past six months! Still have several more months to go. Not sure what will happen when baby arrives. It’s hard to paint a picture of that, yet.
Had an awesome time at derby on the weekend! Both games were fun to watch, my table was in a great location, and I made enough sales to sleep good that night. Now Looking forward to the championship game on August 13! I won’t be vending at the game, but cheering on my beloved Cut Throat Car Hops!!
But mostly for the hubby I love. This creation was made for hubby’s birthday at the beginning of the month. He has a love affair with bacon and since he’s a low-carb dieting man (for over a year now) I was trying to come up with something special for a birthday dessert. We’ve both tossed around the idea of making bacon crust pies for quite a while now and this was my first attempt at one.
It was inspired by the recipe found here with lots of the usual adjustments and tweaks I tend to make to anything I cook. First off, I didn’t do it in a cast iron pan. Instead I used a ramekin dish so that I could make smaller, individual-sized quiches. The tricky part with my choice of dish is that I had to keep drawing the bacon grease out with paper towels, as it didn’t have anywhere to drain off. The bottom of the crust never did get as crispy as desired, but the edges were great! I used eggs, cream, swiss cheese, and basil for the filling. It puffed up nicely almost like a souffle. Then I beat some cream cheese with milk to make a lovely spreadable topping. So delicious… or so I’m guessing. I didn’t actually try it out, but left it all for hubby to devour.
Next up are small ramekins of bacon crust pecan pie. Maybe it’s my prego hunger talking, but I think the sweet and salty combo would be delightful! Of course it’s not low-carb, so I’ll have to eat them all myself… darn, what a hardship.
Lemon
Whole
One
Yellow
Blue
Vivid
Sour flavor
Colourful
Close-up
Indoors
Still life
Nobody
Ingredient
Ways I like lemon best (especially in the summer):
thinly sliced and cooked on top of fish
juice or wedges in an ice cold glass of water or sun tea
freshly squeezed on jicama (as a salad or just jicama sticks for snacking)
my family’s Yummy Lemon Dessert recipe (yes, this just uses instant lemon pudding and not fresh lemon, but it’s so darn good)… The most similar recipe I could find online for this is here. We’ve never put add nuts to it though, but that sounds like a nice twist.
So I set off on a craft fair adventure last Thursday evening, dragging hubby along to his delight (he was a good sport about it). We drove up to Edmonton and got to watch a wicked storm along the way, plus an amazingly huge double rainbow! Felt like the trio was off to a good start. Found our hotel just fine and got checked in and then little miss prego promptly fell asleep. Friday was a bit of a long day for a couple of reasons. One, we needed to arrive at the venue around 8:30am to set-up. Two, the day was incredibly slow. We had maybe five people come through the show before noon, and then it never did pick up in the afternoon, so we actually shut-down about an hour early that day. I was ready for supper and set to crash in our hotel room, so closing early was okay for me.
Saturday morning we didn’t need to be there quite so early because the table was still set-up, but parking is bit hectic in the area so, we went down early and just wandered the Farmer’s Market (about a block from the craft venue). Lovely market! So much fresh produce to choose from! It was really difficult to keep from buying anything, but we didn’t think any of the veggies would survive a couple more days of travel. I did pick up some lovely fresh ginger snaps to nibble on throughout the day. The craft show was busier on Saturday, but I don’t think it was the numbers that the organizers had been expecting. I did sell a few bits and pieces. Folks seemed to really like the new floral pins, so I’m glad I whipped those up.
Upcycled paper goodies by Jo of 42 Things
As per usual, I didn’t make as many sales as necessary to cover the cost of the event. Though, as with other sales, it was really great to meet the fellow vendors and I swear I always learn new things from everyone I meet. So therein lies the greatest benefit to me at this point. Had an awesome time chatting with fellow Etsy teammates, Jo from 42 Things, Kristina and her daughter from Peacock and Lime, and Amanda from Kabukikreations. Great to finally meet each of you!
So the next venue I will be at is the roller derby double-header game this Saturday night. Doors open at 5pm, first game starts at 6pm. The season is almost over for derby, with the championships on August 13. Wish it lasted longer… I’ll be all set-up with my goodies through both games, so if you’d like to come say “hi”, watch some sassy gals with tattoos skate around and knock each other down, then definitely come out Saturday night to the Triwood arena.
Peach
Whole
One
Overripe
Wrinkled
Unfresh
Red
Ingredient
Forgotten
Close-up
Indoors
Still life
Nobody
I can’t think of anything better than cutting up an overripe peach and pouring cream over it. Mushy and sweet! Yum! Of course there are plenty of other options out there:
Tomorrow evening hubby and I will load up the car and drive up to Edmonton for this month’s Handmade Mafia event in conjunction with the Edmonton Art Walk. It will be my first out-of-town craft show and fingers crossed, all goes well. The event runs Friday, July 15th and Saturday July 16th from 10am-5pm at the Strathcona Baptist Church (8318-104 Street). I’ll have my usual bits and bobs with me: purses, floral hair combs, button magnets, my mom’s bookmarks and coffee cozies. I also whipped up some floral pins, after several requests from folks for those. So we’ll see how things sell up North. I’m quite keen to meet some more fellow Etsy Alberta Street Team members. There are quite a few of them in the Edmonton area who regularly attend the HMM events.
It’s a bit of an adventure, especially right now when my adventures have been limited to extra naps and trying to remember to eat & drink more regularly. Although we did take on that camping trip in June, which turned out interesting. Here’s hoping that this trip doesn’t involve anyone needing stitches. We’re going to spend Sunday hanging out at West Edmonton Mall. I’ve only been there once and I was just a little thing at the time. Mostly I remember splashing around a kiddy pool in the water park. Some shopping might be in order this time around.
Wish me luck. I’ll try to post about how things go at the sale and maybe even get some pics of fellow team members up next week. For now, I should get back to packing up all the craft show gear. Enjoy the rest of the week and weekend! If you’re in Calgary, you might be tempted to take in the last few days of the illustrious Stampede or at least score a random free pancake breakfast somewhere.
A confession so small that it currently only measures about 5cm in length. One of the main reasons I have been missing-in-action here on the blog is that my itty bitty secret has been keeping me too exhausted to do much the past several weeks. But here’s hoping that the coming months will improve. So what could be so small and yet have completely and utterly changed my life? You might have guessed it… I am indeed pregnant!!
Phew! That feels good to get off the chest. So hard to talk about anything on this blog without letting it slip. Everything revolves around that little baby, leaving not much else to post about. What books am I currently reading? Pregnancy books. What am I currently crocheting? Baby sweaters. What do I do in my spare time lately? Sleep. Why do I feel like crap and why can’t I get over this cold? Etc. And as, I said, not much energy to do more than the basics these days, so posting has gone out the window. Sorry. You’ll just have to be a bit patient with me.
Let’s see… I’m about twelve weeks along and due sometime in mid-January. The due date has changed no less than three times so far. Needless to say, I’ve given up obsessing over a date. We have a month, and that’s good enough for me (for now). The baby looks healthy and growing rapidly. We’ve already had a couple of ultrasounds done and it is truly amazing to see how things just develop along. A whole little human growing inside of me! We’ve been praying and praying along with friends and family for this moment for some time now and I don’t think I will ever be more amazed by anything else (except maybe meeting this babe in person). Truly great praise for answered prayers!
Oh and the random fruit posts that have been going up as part of the Keyword Story series… the baby’s size each week corresponds to the fruit. Sneaky, eh? Not so much. I know. I’m trying. Looks like we are currently on “plum” week.
PS – I made the baby bibs in the photo for a friend based on the pattern from Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. You can bet that there will be plenty more crafting for babelettes to come!
In the late summer, hubby treats me to a dinner of homemade plum dumplings. I think about eating them all year long, but the particular plums required are usually only available in mid-August to early September. Hubby’s recipe comes from his grandmother and is mostly in his head, so here is the closest one I could find online to share. So tasty! Bookmark it and look for the prune plums in another month or so. Two little tips: one, you can never make too much of the bread crumb topping, and two, add a bunch of cinnamon into the topping for super deliciousness!
Navel orange
