[Focus on Life Week 29] Routine showers with Mr. Water

It's Week 29 at Ms. Sally Russick's Focus on Life and this prompt is:  ROUTINE.

"Week 29: Routine

Do you have a daily routine?
A routine that you look forward to each day.
The morning cup of coffee, the runners high, what ever it may be
and even though it may be a small part of your day its a comfort,
a time to unwind just a little.
This week focus on the beauty and comfort of your
every day routine."

Meet Mr. Water.

Isn't he cute?

Mr. Water migrated to the USA from the "land down under," Australia.  He was one of my souvenirs during our visit there.  There was a drought that time and people were reminded to conserve water by watering their yard on designated days for a specified time and to take quick showers, etc - oh, there was also a small blue hourglass with rubber attachments so you can stick it on your bathroom tile  but I lost it.

It's been 2 years since but he still keeps me smiling every time I take my routine daily shower.

Speaking of taking a bath - it doesn't take me long to finish:  from shampoo, conditioner, lather with body gel and rinsing.  In fact, my husband takes a longer time and oh my sister... no one can beat her (I love you, sis!)  I trained myself to move fast when I was a young student because I've always wanted to close my eyes a little longer in the morning - until I am fully awakened by my dad or mom's voice saying "Let's Go!"  and off to the shower I go!  Oh, fun times!

Please don't stay too long in the shower.  

Be kind to Mr. Water and conserve water.

Let's head over to The Studio Sublime to see what others' routines are.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!  

It's the Bead Hoarders Blog Hop tomorrow so do come back!  See you soon!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Blog Hop] Bead Hoarders Blog Hop 2013 is coming soon!

Welcome back!

We are 5 days away from the annual Bead Hoarders Blog Hop hosted by Ms. Lori Anderson.

Bead Hoarders Blog Hop 2013

I have accumulated a lot of beads from previous bead soup parties and personal purchases.  Oh yes, I am a hoarder, a pack rat or whatever but it's in times like this that my being "that" comes in handy. LOL.

The variety of beads and stones on the platter looks so pretty but instead of putting them in a safe place like I usually do, they will serve its purpose this time.. hopefully.

I have finished the base for the pendant and will be working on the accents and trimmings in the next couple of days.

Do come back and visit on Saturday and party with us!  

See you soon!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Baking] Pinipig Cookies / Immature Glutinous Rice

We are halfway through July and that means summer is almost over for those in school.  I have fond memories of summer.  My mom is a professor in the college of nursing so summer meant that she was also on vacation.  Yay!  

One of my fondest memories is baking Pinipig Cookies.

Pinipig is immature glutinous rice that is harvested and pounded into what look more like light green flakes.  It can be eaten raw but it is most often toasted.  A friend of ours gave this to me when we had our 4th of July barbecue where she served a Filipino dessert called halo-halo (more about this next time) that used pinipig as one of the toppings.  

Pinipig / Immature Glutinous Rice

I have been craving for Pinipig Cookies and I finally got the chance to bake it tonight!  I was invited to have dinner with friends and since I didn't have anything thawed to cook and bring, I decided to bake.  This took me 50 minutes to make and that included the time spent with google. 

Pinipig Cookies

 I used the recipe from Apple Pie, Patis Pate'.  

All of the ingredients were readily available in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Pinipig (you can find this in Asian stores) - lightly toasted and cooled

1/2 cup All purpose flour

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/8 tsp Salt

1/4 cup Unsalted butter

1/3 cup Sugar

1 Large Egg

1/4 tsp Lemon zest

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 175C or 350F.

Combine the dry ingredients:  APF, BP and salt.  Set aside.

Beat the soft butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated. Add the lemon zest (*or 1/2 tsp of lemon extract - edited by me).

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 175C or 350F.

Combine the dry ingredients:  APF, BP and salt.  Set aside.

Beat the soft butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated. Add the lemon zest (*** or 1/2 tsp of lemon extract - edited by me).

Carefully add the dry ingredients and mix well.  The mixture will be sticky then add the pinipig.

Gently scoop the pinipig mixture into the cookie sheet - I didn't line mine because I used a coated cookie pan.  I used a round measuring spoon (1/2 TBSP size) and dropped the cookies in the pan.

Pinipig Cookies

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the base is lightly brown.  Transfer in a cooling rack to cool.  

I was able to make 20 cookies.

Nothing tastes better than freshly baked homemade cookies.  My hosts said it was good and I thought so too.  Try it - it's soft with bits of crunch and this particular recipe is not sweet at all.

Bon apetit!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Color Chalenge] Color Challenge Reveal Day!

Hello Friends!

I just wanted to share with you the Color Challenge Reveal hosted by BrandiGirl  to celebrate the launch of her book Understanding Color

  You can read about my entry HERE.  The color palettes are so rich and the challengers did a wonderful job in bringing them to life.

This color palette makes me feel happy and reminds me of a warm, sunny, breezy and "easy" day.   

This palette is feels more"formal" to me.  Take a look at the gorgeous beadwork and stringing that these ladies did. 

 These are fun too!

Oh, Erin's bracelet really brought the palette to life in this one.  I have a limited variety of beads and she inspires me to stock up more in different shades and types.

I have never worked with this particular color palette and Cindy did a great job.  I love the nest.

And now for my favorite color palette.  Oh, I love the stones, the beadwork and construction of all these projects.  So fresh and calming.

  

Thanks to BrandiGirl for hosting the Color Challenge.

Have a wonderful day, ya'll.

♥  michelle  ♥

[Focus on Life] Week 28: Pretty Patterns

It's the weekend again, time for Ms. Sally Russick's Focus on Life.  

It's Week 28 and its all about Pretty Patterns.

Let me share with you the card that I made for a friends special birthday.  My friend has a nice garden with different kinds of roses, hibiscus, and fruit bearing trees that her mom planted when she visited from the Philippines a few years ago.  It's her birthday and I wanted to make her a card full of flowers.

What do you think of this card?  Isn't it pretty?  I used a from Hero Arts rubber stamp H5481 Classic Bloom that I bought during last week's trip to the craft store.  I stamped the image using Versafine in Onyx Black several times on a piece of yellow cardstock to make a pretty pattern of happy flowers.  

Hero Arts H5481 Classic Bloom Rubber Stamp

I colored the petals with a combination of yellow and orange colored pencils and the center with shades of brown.  The sentiment is from TPC Studio's "Everday Greetings Stamp" that I heat embossed using Versamark and Judikins black opaque embossing powder.  

Finally, I added Mod Podge Dimensional magic on 2 of the flowers to add a little interest.  I love the gloss!

Did you notice the chevron pattern on the background of the photo?  

Can you guess what that is?

It's the car seat cover.  We were running late for our birthday surprise so I took a last minute shot of it.  Pretty pattern, right?

Thanks for stopping by to see my pretty patterns.  Let's head over to The Studio Sublime and check out other pretty patterns.

Have a wonderful weekend ya'll!  

See you soon!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Color Challenge] I Love Greens!

Welcome back.

I discovered a new colorful blog:  Brand Girl Blog.  Her blog is so much fun especially if you love color.  BrandiGirl  hosted a Color Challenge where we had to choose from several color palettes and make something out of it. Today was the last day of submission and I made it just in time.

  

There were 6 color gorgeous palettes to choose from and I chose palette #1.  I love greens remember?

The pendant is polymer clay made with the Rocky Path  technique.  The photo doesn't show it but there are gold flecks peeking in between the shades of green.  I added glass beads that dangle along the chain and a pair of cream agate round beads.  I love how it turned out.

I am planning to take another photo tomorrow so do come back to check it out.  

Have a wonderful and colorful day!

♥  michelle  ♥

[Jewelry Challenge] The Studio Sublime's Black and White Challenge

Hello friends!   

Today is the day for the Black & White Challenge at The Studio Sublime, hosted by Ms. Sally Russick.  "The objective of the challenge was simple - to design a piece of jewelry using black and white color palette. Participants were also able to use base metal colors or crystals as accents."

 Most of my pieces are pretty much colorful hence, joining the challenge was really a challenge.  You know by now that I work with polymer clay and I love floral themes so, I made my first black and white cane.  It was a task to cleanly combine black and white polymer clay but it turned out nice.  What do you think?

I made a large focal pendant with 2 smaller flower beads on the side -  I attached a tube bead behind the flowers and stringed them using flexible beading wire.  Black wooden round, disc, beads, white square beads and a toggle clasp were added to complete the necklace.

The necklace measures 22 inches and drapes nicely on the neck.

Please pardon the poor photo quality.  It was a challenge to take photos at night using white light bulbs.  Well, that is another story.

Time to head over The Studio Sublime to see other black and white lovelies.  Thanks for stopping by Cabby Craft ♥!

List of Participants

Sally Russick

Monique Urquhart

Patti Vanderbloemen

Veralynne Malone

Duane Clark

D Lynne Bowland

Michelle Buettner

Pam Sears

Therese Frank

Dawn Doucette

Nicole Rennell

Cynthia Machata

Alice Peterson

Carolyn Lawson

Evelyn Shelby

Ailsa Cordner

Michelle Escano --- YOU ARE HERE!

Mischelle Fanucchi

Jess Green

Adrienne Berry

Lynsey Brooks

Kashmira Patel

Ann Schroeder

Marlene Cupo

Susan F.

Susan Kennedy

Kathy Lindemer

Paula Kramer

Lisa Johnson

Sandi Volpe

Donna Bradley

Karin Slaton

Jasvanti Patel

Stefanie Teufel

Liz Engriser

Christine Altmiller

Have a wonderful day!

♥  michelle  ♥