Cut 'n Paste

On the mend

February has been a busy month for Rick and I. The end of January saw us heading to Puerto Rico with some friends for a short holiday in San Juan before taking a Caribbean Cruise. Cruising is one of our favorite vacations for simply relaxing, and this one was no exception. There is nothing like trading the grey, rainy, cold days in Vancouver for the sunny skies of the Caribbean. It was heaven!

Upon our return, I have taught some local workshops, done a few newborn photoshoots, and earlier this week had surgery. I am doing really well and on the mend but do feel like laying low for a few more days.

Almost exactly 2 years ago I shared with you the news about our ectopic pregnancy. It was a very traumatic event for Rick, myself and our family. As we have continued to go through this journey of infertility, some days/weeks and months are good, and some are bad. This week was a good one. We had the best possible outcome from my surgery and once again, I feel like anything is possible...

Love, love, love...

(Supply List: Patterned paper: Strictly Business (PA406), Adopted Ancestors (PA408), Red Chevron from the Countdown to Christmas 6x6 paper pad. All patterned papers by Melissa Frances • Charcoal, White, Pink and Kraft cardstock by Bazill • Vintage ledger page and paper • Sewing machine and white thread, Silhouette Cameo Electronic Die cutting machine)

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching I was challenged to make a Valentine's card to be featured on the Melissa Frances blog. I wanted to make something that was still vintage and pretty, but that I could also give to my sweet heart for the holiday. I don't know that he will particularly care for the little Victorian boy - in fact, originally I didn't have him on the card. But at the last moment - after everything else was glued down in fact, I just couldn't resist adding him.The beautiful "February" is from an antique ledger that I have in my stash. I just tore out one of the pages that had a Feb. date on it.

I have always had a love affair with paper. I love combining patterns from different collections and juxtaposing very modern and clean design with vintage. This card is a pretty good example of that. It was inexpensive to make, because the supplies are all paper. But by adding the stitching it does give it depth so that it is not 'flat'.

I hope you enjoyed my Valentine greeting.

Istanbul Eats Culinary Backstreets Food Tour Review

Rick and I visited Istanbul at the beginning of December 2012. This post is a review of our favorite day in the city.

If you had told me before we left for Istanbul that my favorite day in the city would include eating a pickled plum and sweetbread and intestines, I would have been very skeptical. You see, I am a very timid eater. But believe it or not, that's exactly what happend.

While doing my research for our visit to Istanbul I came across Istanbul Eats, Culinary Backstreets Walking tours on tripadvisor. They had excellent reviews, so I clicked over to their website to read more about them. As soon as I read their introduction, I felt certain that they were the company for us. They said:

"Eating locally and authentically has become the easiest and most satisfying way to get a sense of a place’s real culture and traditions. It also happens to be the tastiest way to do this. Our culinary walks are designed to lead visitors on an eating binge through a city’s lessser-seen historic side streets and authentic markets, taking in countless hard-to-find culinary gems and, in between bites, a select number of untouristed monuments."

The morning of our tour, Rick and I walked from our hotel to the tour meeting point to meet our guide Angelis. As soon as we met him, I knew that we'd have a great day. He was super personable and a ton of fun. We were lucky enough to be his only guests, so our group tour became a private tour!

I have decided not to go into the exact itinerary of our tour, so that anyone else who is planning on taking the tour can be surprised as the day unfolds. But, here are just a few parts of our day in pictures:

(While our guide was purchasing some cheese for our breakfast, the man in the shop next door was washing his freshly caught squid.)

(I don't drink coffee, but Rick does, so he braved a try of the 'thick as mud' Turkish coffee. While he wasn't a fan, at least he can say he tried it!)

(Breakfast eaten in a 'secret' passagway. The honey over the cheese was just beyond awesome! The meat here has pistachios in it. If you like nuts in general, and pistachios specifically, Istanbul is your town. They are used in SO many dishes.)

(A streetside vendor selling sweetbreads wrapped with intestines. Yes, we did try it. When in Rome and all that...)

(A Pide vendor. Pide is commonly refered to as Turkish pizza, although it does not have a tomato sauce base.)

(Quite the mustache, eh?  If you're a viewer of the Amazing Race, this guy was shown in the episode from this season when they were in Istanbul. Rick and I actually taped this season to watch later and were watching the Istanbul episode a few weeks ago. All of a sudden we did a double take and quickly rewinded it to see if our eyes had decieved us. Sure enough, it's 'our' mustache man who gets his close up in the episode!)

(Would you like a banana?)

(Chicken pudding. It was AMAZING. No joke!)

(Cheers! We were taken to this store, which dates back to the 1800s and serves Boza, a fermented wheat drink.)

(And here we are at the end of the day with Angelis.)

I'll be completely honest. When I first contacted the company, while I loved the reviews and what they said on their website, I found their price higher than what we have paid for other, similar tours, so I waffled a bit on signing up. However, Rick really loves food tours, so we decided to go for it.

My emails to the company were replied to very promptly and professionally, and within short order Rick and I were registered to take their "Culinary Secrets of the Old City" tour. I want to be sure to mention just how great the company was to work with. Due to our canceled flight, the original tour date we booked ended up being the day after our new expected arrival in Istanbul. Due to the 10 hour time difference between Istanbul and our home, we emailed them to ask if there was any possibility of shifting our reservation to the next day, so that we could be more alert. We were really pleased when they replied that it was no problem, and they would shift our reservation (with no fee for doing so).

As we were reflecting upon our time in Istanbul the night before heading home, both Rick and I agreed that the food tour was our favorite thing that we did. If we return to the city we will definitely sign up for another tour (or two!) with them.

Please let me know if you have any questions, I'd be pleased to share more about our experience with you.

So happy

This is the final layout I made for the Melissa Frances trade show booth. The photo is one of my favorites taken of Rick and I from our holiday in Tuscany last May. And the patterned papers are all from the new "Classic Elegance" collection.

Here is the paper collection again. Do you have a favorite design?

My newest necklace creation - 2

Over the past few years I have become more and more interested in jewelry making. Every time I pin a new jewelry project onto my Pinterest board, I feel my creative fire being stoked. In each antique store that I visit, I take a peek at their jewelry case just in case they have something that I could use for a project. Jewelry making has become a major form of creative expression for me.

I made this necklace over the Christmas holiday. It features the same photo of my mom and her sister that I used when I made this necklace for my mom. I soldered it in round glass, and as there is a button on the other side of the photo, it made a deep bezel. For the chain I used some sterling silver chain that I had custom made in Istanbul, parts of a mother of pearl rosary, some pink quartz, fresh water pearls, some vintage pink lucite bead and some rhinestone rondelles. And, as I've always loved mulitlayered necklaces, I decided to make this one a double strand.

You can see me wearing this piece in the photos near the bottom of this post. I love it so much, and look forward to wearing it for many years to come.

Yummy in the Tummy

Over the past few weeks we have made some great recipes off Pinterest. I pin so many dishes, and it is always good to hear feedback from those who have already tried to make it, so that you know if a recipe is worth buying ingredients for and making. So, today I thought I would share our recent Pinterest recipe successes with you.

This Balsamic Beef recipe was easy and YUMMY! Rick was at home on the day I made it and for the last 3 hours of cooking the smell was driving him crazy. The addition of Red Pepper flakes in the recipe gives it a bit more bite than any of the other Balsamic meat dishes I have made before. If you love Balsamic, give this one a try. And, if you happen to have any Balsamic glaze on hand, try drizzling it over the meat before serving, it adds a burst of rich flavor and the perfect finishing touch.

Source: addapinch.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

 

We made this Vanilla Swirl Bread one lazy Sunday afternoon. It was so yummy. The vanilla was not overpowering, and gave it a really nice, sweet touch to the loaf. I adjusted the recipe by adding a wee bit of Vanilla paste to the dough so that I would get a little bit of the vanilla bean flecking throughout the bread. Then, after rolling out the dough and before adding the milk and sugar, I spread more vanilla paste onto it. I think that without the extra vanilla paste, it would have been hard to taste the vanilla. It would have simply been a sweet bread.

Source: bakingdom.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

 

Finally, I made this desert during the holidays. I have made a plain version of it before, but the mint was a refreshing touch and was well liked by all who ate it.

Source: marthastewart.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

 

So, have you had any recent recipe successes from Pinterest lately? If so, please share them in the comments.

Baby Boy layout

(Supply List: Patterned papers - all by Melissa Frances - Kraft Damask (PA392), Madonna Collage (PA393), Green Argyle (PA387), Green Honeycomb (PA389), Strictly Business (PA406), Black paper used on the hearts is from the Classic Elegance 6x6 paper pad (GN611) • Cardstock - Black, Teal and Cream by Bazzil • Jewel Button Assortment (GN591) by Melissa Frances • Large Kraft #8 tag by Ranger • Notebook paper edge punch by Stampin' Up! • Corner rounder • Silhouette Cameo for cutting title and hearts • Sewing machine and white thread)

This is another of the layouts I made for the Melissa Frances trade show booth. It uses a few of the newborn photos I took earlier this year for one of my husband's collegues. This layout is a little 'special' because I combined papers from 3 different collections on it, which I think is totally cool. I love that we have so many papers which will mix beyond their designated collection.

Have a great weekend friends. We have a family birthday party for 2 of my nephews, so it will be loud and fun I'm sure.

Local workshops in Langley, BC

I am really pleased to share that I have two workshops coming up at Clipper Street, one of my local scrapbook shops. I was happy to get the invitation from the shop owners and can't wait to visit with and meet some local paper craters during the workshops.

The store is running a discounted registration for the workshops until tomorrow night, Jan. 23. So if you were on the fence about registering, I'd urge you to sign up before the fee goes up to regular price.

The two classes I will be teaching are:

Simply Sweet Vintage Greetings - Feb.16, 11AM-2PM.

Description: Join Carolyn for this 3 Hour Workshop where you will create 4 greeting cards featuring the Melissa Frances Pearl Collection of rubber stamps and learn the secrets to Carolyn's favourite linear style of cardmaking. Class Kit includes products from October Afternoon,American Crafts,Bazzill and Carolyn's favourite,Melissa Frances. Your Class Kit is very generous and you will have lots of fun getting creative with your "leftovers"! Copics are used in Class but it is not a requirement to have your own.

The second workshop I will be teaching is:

Mastering Collage - Feb 23 - 11AM - 2PM

Description: In this fun, informative class we will explore ways to create fabulous vintage-styled collages.We will explore paints,papers,stamps and other mediums which can be used to design incredible backgrounds. Carolyn will also introduce you to her "secret ingredient", a supply which she thinks no collage/background maker should be without! While the class will focus more heavily on technique than a specific project,she anticipates that each student will be able to finish at least one collage. The really fun part of this class is that students will have the complete Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints collection by Ranger to share--meaning each student's collage will reflect their favourite colours! Class kits contain limited edition vintage products such as genuine antique wall paper and ledger papers.

Please visit the Clipper Street website here for more details and to register.

Home from CHA

On Thursday I arrived back home after a busy 9 days in Los Angeles for the Craft & Hobby Association trade show. This year I was in charge of the booth set up. It was both exciting and a little nerve wracking to have this responsibility added to my plate, but I was pleased with how it looked, and more importantly, my boss was pleased with it too. I wish I had taken some photos of the booth to show you, but somehow I forgot. (Update, Jan. 22: My friend Karin has some photos on her blog of our booth. You can check them out here.) I always love the trade shows for the opportunity it gives us to talk to our current customers and meet new ones. How gratifying to have retailers who visit us year after year to bring the Melissa Frances product line into their stores.

After the show, I staying in LA for an extra day to enjoy a creative day with some friends. It was nice to be able to talk shop with others who 'get it' - and to have the opportunity to 'play' and fill my creative well. Dear Pam and I go way back to our days teaching at the Silver Bella event together and it was great to connect with her again. (For my scrapbooking readers, Pam will be participating in Project Life this year. I can't wait to follow her progress on it as she comes from a mixed media background and so will bring an interesting spin to it I'm sure.)

This weekend I didn't do much more than veg out on my couch, and recover from a tireing, but fun, trip.

Pink Quartz Necklace

Hi friends, the CHA trade show finished yesterday and today I am enjoying a much anticipated creative day with some friends.

While here at the trade show, I gave my boss and friend Melissa Frances a necklace that I had made for her. I had already made and given her jewelry featuring green and cream, so I thought that she needed to round out her collection with something in pink.

I made this necklace using some beautiful pink quartz beads (some of which I bought while in Istanbul last month) vintage rhinestone rondelles, and pearls. For the focal point, I used a large, vintage rhinestone brooch which I found antiquing in Seattle a bit ago.

Have a lovely day...and thank you for visiting my blog.