Pumpkinpalooza Part 2 - Finally

Last weekend I finally found the time to make the Pumpkin Chocolate Covered Raisin Muffins (recipe here: http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2007/09/03/a-rant-and-a-muffin/). The change that I made is using a total of 2 teaspoons of pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices. I really would have liked to have used ginger but I didn't have any. These are moist and keep for several days (I ate the last one on Thursday and it was pretty much as good as the one I had on Sunday). They don't rise very much so feel free to fill the muffin cups up pretty much to the top.

Fall Leaf Project

I like to collect things. I collect pebbles from the lake shore. I collect shells from the beach. And I collect leaves in the fall.

However, I don't really care too much about the collection once I have it; it's the act of looking and sorting that I enjoy. I have recurring dreams where I am sorting through a pile of junk and find some kind of treasure in the bottom. My biggest thrill in life! What does that say about me? I don't know for sure, but I sometimes feel like I should be one of those people who is satisfied to just take a picture or just look and appreciate. But, no - I want the physical object itself. Maybe it is pure greediness, but I like to think it is my attempt to hold on (literally, I guess) to those fleeting moments of beauty - so startling in everyday life, kind of electrifying really.

Anyway, some of you probably did this little project in elementary school but I didn't discover it until after college. It's pretty simple. All you need is:

Fall leaves
2 sheets of wax paper
An iron
Some newspaper

Lay down a sheet of newspaper to protect the table or surface you are working on. Put down a sheet of wax paper on top of it. Arrange your leaves on top of the wax paper - taking care to leave some space between the leaf and the edge of the paper (maybe an inch?). Place the other sheet of wax paper on top and another layer of newspaper over that. Then iron the whole thing for a few seconds. The wax will melt together and seal in the leaves. They still won't last forever, sadly (but if they did, then we wouldn't appreciate them so much probably). They will last a few weeks. I hung mine in my windows to allow the sun to shine through the leaves. I would think that this probably contributes to their eventual decay, but it seems to be the best way to display them.

PumpkinPalooza!

Just a quick post to show one of the things I've been working on this week - when I really should be painting. I'm trying to improve my carving skills so I can do more complex relief prints. I have to keep muttering, "the carved part is the color of the paper, the carved part is the color of the paper". The technique is opposite from drawing with ink or pencil and I can't seem to get used to it. Anyway, I bought the blank bookmarks at Michael's (50 for about $3). The linoleum to make the print block cost about a buck. Add in the ink (maybe another $5? I bought it a while ago), carving tools (about $10 and you only need to buy them once) and this is a pretty cheap and easy project. After I printed the black outlines, I colored the pumpkins yellow and orange with pencil. The tassel is some embroidery floss I had left over from some other project. That's the nice part about having so much random crap - if you can find it in all the boxes and drawers, of course.

Fall Fun

As usual, I have tons of projects that I am working on and tons more that are still in the planning stages. I will get around to posting all of them soon!

I have been taking a continuing ed class at MCAD(http://www.mcad.edu/) on Saturday mornings. The class is focused on papermaking and relief printing with a little basic bookbinding thrown in. This Saturday is the last class and I will post some pics of my finished projects as well as a bookbinding tutorial. The people in the class are really cool (with just a couple exceptions) but I do wish the class itself was a little more stuctured. It's been a good opportunity to become familiar with the campus - especially since I'm considering applying to their post-baccalaureate program.

I am also supposed to be working on two watercolor paintings. One is a commissioned piece for someone at work. The other is a donation to a silent auction benefiting breast cancer research. I am hoping to have time to work on those tonight.

In addition, I am starting to plan Christmas present projects. I'm determined to make gifts for the majority of the people on my list this year. There are a million other things I'm planning - including a bunch of baking experiments. There aren't enough hours in the day. It might help if I stopped obsessively watching Food Network and those design makeover shows on TLC and HGTV.

Iron Fork

This looks like a really cool event for those of use who just can't get enough Iron Chef (http://www.citypages.com/ironfork/) Plus - the proceeds go to Second Harvest Heartland (http://www.2harvest.org/).

I would really like to go but am torn because I am supposed to be budgeting my money and I have a million projects going on right now. Tickets are $30 in advance, which seems pretty reasonable. Hmm....we'll see.

The Man in Black

Here he is! The Man in Black, himself - well, tiny and made out of fondant but still Johnny Cash. My friend Laura has been a huge Cash fan for years - even before the movie came out and made him so popular with the kids these days. So, for her birthday, I made a simple round cake decorated with a chocolate record. I made the record label and the figure out of fondant.

"I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I went down,down,down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns,burns,burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire."

Here is a close up of Johnny. I was worried that he looked a little bit too much like Fat Elvis, but oh well. The Sun Records label could have been smoothed out on the side (dang camera catches every little imperfection) but I just ran out of time.

This was my first time working with fondant. It was fun but I definitely need more practice :)

The cake was a hit, anyway, and we had fun playing Karaoke Revolution until 2 AM.

Happy Birthday, Laura!

My Own Glove Monster!

I saw the tutorial for this cute little guy on CraftyPod (http://www.craftypod.com/?p=256) and knew right away that I had to make my own.

Luckily, the stores are under the impression that it is winter already so I easily found the needed stretchy gloves. I bought four pairs of gloves for $4 and will use the stripey ones for more monsters and the plain black to keep my hands warm this winter. These cheap gloves are perfect for people like me who lose several pairs each winter.

Anyway, this was a fun project and great for people who don't really know how to sew. I didn't follow the tutorial exactly (as you can see) but I think it turned out well, nonetheless.