My guilt has finally gotten the better of me again and here I am blogging once more. what I have been doing(I always feel like I am starting my "what I did over my summer vacation" speech) in my away time is spring cleaning like there is no tomorrow. Spring is a very small window where I live. It goes from too chilly to have the house open to so freaking bloody hot that it is like having a giant hairdryer blowing in any open windows. So, in that glorious window of time I am cleaning to beat the band(whatever that means).

I rid my house of many pieces of superfluous furniture and repurposed many others. The main bone of contention was my craft area which is actually the small dining area. I have too much crap and not enough space. I kinda got in the zone and tossed a ton of stuff which I may regret later but, I am so happy for now. I had a swap going with a fellow Etsian for a hand crocheted grocery type bag-which I love and I was giving her an assortment of destash supplies. Well, her box ended up becoming a 16X16X16 mass of craft supplies that I hope she has room for:) WooHoo for destash and swaps!!

The boy's room did not escape my cleaning and redecorating. They got a full move around of furniture and a new coat of paint-to cover the sharpie and gaping holes that had been there forever-yay Autism! They both took to it very well and as you can see we had time to make paper hats and tear down all of the books Mom had nicely shelved to read loudly from them, which secretly delighted me :) The pics are of the end result of half of my craft area(craft den, lair..nest?). Some of my extensive collection of Tchochkes are on display including among them are many Etsy created creatures that I treasure.

On the very top you can see the Yeti and Mercat and you can see wonderful amigurumi creations Oswald(Heart!) and pear and the awesome LuchaCat with his incredible wrestling moves he keeps all of the Matryoshka in line. Ilove these "toys" I say I am buying them for my kids but, we really know whats up ;) My etsy shop has also undergone a flood of listings as I am destashing my house, I am trying to offload books and mags to some lucky buyer. Check it out!

My inability to blog expeditiously leaves something to be desired. Even though I may not physically be blogging, I am mentally blogging things that I see that are awesome that everyone in the world needs to see and be in awe of. From my mental blogbanks comes my latest entry under the title "Boys I like, whose mighty talent I Stand in awe of".

I somehow stumbled upon Steve Morris's treasure trove of incredible graphic artwork on etsy. I was, to say the least, hooked. I love the bold colors and subject matter (has flashback to every art docent ever listened to-sorry Steve:). What also peaked my interest is that he has been published- Ahhh greatness! I love to see achievement outside of the insular world of Etsy! Mr. Morris was kind enough to graciously answer the senseless questions I pestered him with- Thanks Steve! So, without further sycophantic ado, here are the five question:

1. What character(s) or person(s) living, dead or fictional strikes fear into your heart?

A: Captain Howdy from The Exorcist, he's got the type of face that just sticks with you. Conversely, I specifically remember have one of my best nights of sleep, ever, after seeing that movie...so I really don't know how to square that.

2) What are your top music choices at the moment? Ever?

A: The new album from Royal Trux, "JJ Got Live RaTX". Although I find myself leaning towards "smooth jazz" (my secret shame), when I'm working, it's relaxing and makes me feel like I'm living in a Lexus commercial.

3) Do you need to set a mood when you are drawing?

A:There are definitely things which put me in the right from of mind, like flipping through an art book and clearing blocks of time so I can focus specifically drawing. Also, cleaning my work space often has a positive effect on my productivity.

4) If you could do one thing effortlessly, what would it be?

A: Drawing. There are rare times where it flows free, but more often than not it's allot of work, and when I get done, I'm not even sure how I managed to do it lol.

5) Rank the following in any personally significant order: zombies, pirates, vikings, ninjas, bears.

A: Viking, pirates, ninjas, bears, zombies. Viking come first since I'm half Danish.

There it is, all of the pertinent questions answered. Damn! Should've asked where babies come from! Oh well next time. Check out DarkHorse comics for more on His graphic novel :"Blessed Thistle", and check back in his Etsy shop for information on any forthcoming material. And for God's sake, purchase a print! It will instantly make you that much cooler. Many thanks again to Steve Morris!

I am always amazed at the amount of talent on Etsy! So many incredible artists and ideas! Today's post is dedicated to a few of my favorite items. Should I ever create an Etsy wishlist- that should totally be a sight feature. I would include these items post haste! At wove I spied this incredible willow playhouse that I would have lived in as a kid. Who am I kidding, I would live in it now. I would want it exactly where it is in the pic. What with the mists of Avalon blowing the flags and all. Meaning that I would have to negotiate a land rental agreement with the owner. Which opens up questions regarding whether they will let me hold Medieval reenactments there. So, it may just be easier to swoon from afar.

Maybe I will just see if I can squeeze into this spectacular metal dollhouse from fluffyflowersvintage. How awesome would this be to have on display. Ohh for another girl in the house so I have an excuse for a dollhouse. Do I need an excuse? Hmmm

And lastly some art from Morrisetsy to decorate my dream castle or dollhouse. I am entranced by the colors and , well, everything about this piece. I may need to base the rest of my life on it. Peruse my shop favorites and see if you can find your next life altering piece of vintage or art.

OPEN LETTER TO MY BLOG:

Dear Blog,

It has been dog's years since I have blogged you with all of the daily drama that are the goings-on in my head. I am sorry for not being a more attentive blogger! I have been busy crafting, raising kids, getting tattooed and holding it all together. You'll have to forgive me. Here are some pics of what I did with my month. You can give me the silent treatment for a week if it makes you feel better Blog, I won't blame you :) The following is a thoroughly uninspiring bit of page filler- still trying to get back into the hang of things...

The stars on my left foot were done years ago and sadly(because it hurts like a MOFO) they need to be redone. I had been wanting my boy's initials for some time. The old tax return helped make that a dream come true!

I have been in a haze of crafting Etsy requests lately so, I have been busy. I love that I am busy but, I sometimes struggle to keep balanced with my kids and house-stuff. I am happy to do anything that keeps me home with my boys. I love being able to take my oldest to school everyday and I love the time I get with the baby. Finances being what they are, unless I get a major order or am featured in O magazine (Ha!) I will be throwing newspapers in the wee hours to make sure I can stay home. Then I get to figure out how to not be a Zombie- if it's not one thing it's another. Oh well. I am trying to get enthused and inspired to create more items and give you all something to give a crap about in this here blog. I was completely enthralled by this blog- ahhh to have the time and energy to do these!

Note to self: see if there are any foot fetish sites that like large, tattooed feet- CHAching!

So, the Kid crafty craft of the week was Homemade Crayons. We had a ton of crayons just calling out to be stripped nudie and boiled alive! This is a very kid friendly craft. It involves ripping paper and breaking things. Any person even slightly affiliated with the kid community will tell you that those two things are way up on the list of good fun.

Gather the following:

Crayons
any colors-different brands may melt at different rates-some not at all
Candy or muffin mold
you may want to use this only for this so buy a cheapy one at Target in the dollar section- that's where I got mine.
Baking sheet
you will place the mold on this- it will keep the mold stable because, hot wax+skin=Yeeouch!
Small children
preferrably your own, bribe them with the delights of crafting.

Do the following:

1) set oven to 350 degrees
2) strip all of the paper off of crayons- you can also leave it on and fish it out once the wax has melted but, not my favorite method.
3) break crayons into small chunks- kids LOVE this part, by far the most fun step
4) place bits of crayons in mold. Any more than 3 colors in each little cup and you may end up with muddy colored crayons
5) place mold on baking sheet and put in oven for 15 minutes or so. Different crayons melt at different times and sometimes not at all(usually the metallic colors or certain cheap brands seem to have trouble).
6) once crayons are liquid you can take the mold out of the oven- leave them in the mold and let cool for approximately 45 minutes on the counter. Or pop those suckers in the freezer and have crayons 10 minutes later- you can guess which way we went with this;)

COMMON SENSE:

Do NOT let children handle hot wax! A responsible adult should take care of the oven part.

I am back in the land of the living. After a week of sick kids and all of the laundry, sanitizing and sleeplessness that comes with that. I am back in action and have a veritable fount of ideas for the blog. I am sure it is the same with you that when it rains it pours. Two weeks ago I nearly had to set fire to myself to get anyone to check out my etsy shops. This week we are on the front page twice and had some items featured in a Storque article! What the Hell!? I am thrilled. But, as it goes too, I think we have officially shot our wad- that was our 15 minutes! We will probably be dusting the cobwebs away this time next week :) Thanks to http://www.littlepapoose.etsy.com/ for featuring both hubby and myself in her treasury! You doll!

As I type, the most ridiculously wonderful scent is wafting through my house. A perfect sunday scent. Fresh baking banana bread that makes me check it's progress much too soon in hopes that it may have warp baked so that I can slather it in butter and have my way with it..um, I mean eat it. Why all of the recipes and what's with the cooking and such..? Well, with the economic downturn we are trying (makes it sound like we have a choice huh) to be REALLY careful with our income. Because we are down to one.

Yep, that's right. I gave Starbucks the boot. After 12 years I had had enough. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the people that were in my store and had some incredible fun but, when a company is going tits up it becomes sinking ship scenario with upper management. They will claw and drown anyone else to save themselves. So, I left before I become completely embittered.

If you have ever had to leave a job that, good or bad was always your safety net, you know that even if you have good reason to go, it is still a huge decision and carries a lot of baggage with it. I am thrilled to be home with our boys and am trying to prepare for the challenges that present themselves to us now. Anyhoo, back to what I was originally rambling about. We are watching every penny so, I am cooking EVERYTHING at home. I am trying to keep as organic, low sugar, all around healthy as I can. The recipe I am gonna lay on you now is none of those things :) That is why it is ridiculously good!

SUNSHINE'S BANANA BREAD (yeah, that's my mom's name)

2 & 1/2 cup flour

1 & 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 & 2/3 cup sugar
1 & 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

mix above ingredients together then add:

2/3 Cup butter or margerine

1/3 cup milk

3-5 mashed bananas (recipe is very forgiving so however many is up to you, I used three for this batch)

beat two minutes then add:

3 eggs
1/3 cup milk

beat again 2 minutes then pour into two greased loaf pans or greased/ lined muffin pan. Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes for loaf and 23-28 minutes for muffins. May take a bit longer depending on how many bananas you've used. VOILA! You are now eating my mom's banana bread just like I have since I can remember.

Extra Tips:

• Don't throw away those black bananas!! They are full of sweet sugary banana goodness. As long as there is no mold on them they are perfect for making bread. You can use fresh ripe bananas but, in my opinion this always tastes better with overripe ones.
• The more bananas you use the denser the bread will be and it will take a bit longer to bake- up to hour. The bread should be a nice deep brown color when it is done. Make sure that a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the loaf. With muffins, when they spring bake under your touch they are ready (usually dark golden).
• You can add nuts to the batter or anything else for that matter- try adding chocolate chips!
• Enjoy with ungodly amounts of butter! Or au naturale, it is great either way. Great for breakfast or warmed up with some ice cream for dessert (read as: anytime).

I feel all.. funky/ low/ uninspired today. Ever had one of these days? I hate this feeling. It seems like I have to make myself do all of the normal things like a robot. "Okay now I need to make breakfast..now I should get the boys dressed". With remove, not like I can actually enjoy the minutiae that I usually relish in now that I can be home with my boys full time. Maybe I am just having an off day. It takes some getting used to, no longer to be slaving away for corporate america's caffiene needs. Yep. That's right I was a Starbucks drone for 12 years. Yikes, I am old enough to have had a job that spans nearly a third of my life?!

That was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to flame out before I reached 20. I could not fathom at that time being any older than 19. Youth is wasted on the young! So, what started as a summer job became long term. Really, really long term. When I commit, I really commit! Here is hoping that tomorrow I will wake magically in a better frame of mind. Not worrying about finances and that ominous looking spot on the ceiling. Keep a good thought for me :)

Also I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do with my etsy shop when the CPSIA law goes into effect. I can't really change the slant of the store. Well, I guess I could cut holes in the back of all of the onesies and sell them for dogs ;) No? Was worth a shot. With sales being slow it adds to the frustration of it all. Oh the Drama!

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION GIVEAWAY!!!

That's right, you read correctly. I am in a generous mood and thought "what the hell, I will give away some of the Sweet Orange Brown Sugar body polish that I just whipped up! I would also like to build my following so, how 'bout this... the person to become my 15th "follower" -(sounds so cultish! Bwwahahahahaha) will win a jar of the body polish. I will award it as soon as we have a winner. As an added bonus, I will do a link to your shop and what the heck- let's do an interview too!

If you are already a "follower" of the Fiend and would like to have a featured spot on the blog send me a comment on this post and we'll see what we can do. Hard hitting journalism at it's best with questions like: knit, or purl? *microphone in your face, intense Frost-like stare*

Talk about eat your heart out! Again, they do not disappoint! How better to express your undying love for your Valentine than with a 1 pound chocolate, anatomically correct human heart?! Note to self: Start fashioning anatomical hearts out of anything within my grasp.

Sugar, Sugar awww honey, honey... one of my many obsessive loves is of old recipe cards. You know the kind your mom hoarded religiously in a burnt orange plastic recipe file that was full to capacity with odd velveeta cheese filled recipes. Maybe that was just ours. My mother's credo with cooking is that there is nothing that frying, ranch dressing or cheese cannot make better. I have to say that in my heart of hearts I tend to agree ShhhHH don't tell anyone! She (my mother) recently pressed upon me a veritable treasure trove of old recipe cards with such gems as "Cheese Dreams", "Hot Dog Cheesies" and the recipe for "Russian teacakes" which I will be sharing with you. That they are neither teacakes nor seem to be Russian in any way seems to have been immaterial to the peeps at the Betty Crocker recipe card library. Consider yourself warned.

Russian Teacakes

1 cup butter or marg. softened

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 & 1/4 cups flour (not self rising)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Confectioner's sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix butter, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla. Work in the flour and salt until dough holds together. Shape into 1" balls. Place onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until set but not brown. While warm roll in confectioner's sugar. Cool. Or roll in colored sugar BEFORE baking. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

My note on these is that the colored sugar option is the way to go. The cookies look lovely and you want to eat them all immediately! These would be perfect cookies to make with a smaller child as they are really easy and what kid does'nt like playing in colored sugar- Oh the joy! If I had a little girl I may need to throw her a teaparty just to serve these.

And as an afterthought, a bag that I just finished for another swap.

So, last night I was playing mad scientist in the kitchen. In my flurry of trying to bring dinner to life I also managed to whip up some body polish that I had been thinking about forever and could not get off of my butt about. Well I finally figured out a recipe that I like so I thought I'd share it. Here goes:

Sweet Orange Brown sugar Body Polish

1 cup brown sugar (dark or light)

1 cup white granulated sugar

3/4 cup any good oil such as almond, avocado etc...(I used grapeseed)

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

40-50 drops essential oil (I used 20 jasmine,25 orange and 5 lavender)

In a medium size bowl add all ingredients except the essential oil. Using a metal spoon mix all ingredients well making sure to break up any lumps. Lastly, add the essential oils a few drops at a time, mixing well after each addition. Spoon into airtight container and stick it by the tub for use! It stays fresh and the scent is the best if used within six(6) months.

Common sense tips:

• Use metal spoon unless you have a wooden spoon that you will only use for making this. The wood will absorb the oils making it unfit for use in cooking afterwards.
• Careful! This can make the tub/shower a bit slippery so use caution.
• Cinnamon can be left out and you can use any scent essential oil(s) you like.

This is great for dry winter skin. I felt velvety soft after using this. Because it is really cheap, fast and easy to make, that makes it a great gift. It is something that most people won't make for themselves but would love to have! Enjoy!

Today I am working on some stencils of my boys. I am not sure what I will put them on when I am done. I may just marvel at them. also, I got an email from Missy @ http://www.ohsexygirlfriend.etsy.com/ with a pic of the super awesome handpainted skull she has finished for me- part of a swap. Woohoo! I love a good trade!

I eyeballed this awesome hearse cookie-cutter at www.pushindaisies.com while trolling the internets for death cookie related items, as one does. They did not disappoint. Now I know where I can fill all of my casket shaped chocolate needs. If I could only find a skull shaped chip and dip dish I would be complete in my happiness *sigh*

I thought I'd start this New Year, Chinese New Year that is, with a pic of my view from my front door. Happy year of the Ox! Those are the San Jacinto mountains you are looking at. Usually very brown and flat looking. You can see the green peaking through from all of the rain we got. A grand total of 3 days! In another couple of weeks the mountainside will be purple and yellow from all of the wildflowers and the air will smell amazing. I love this time of year. It sure beats the hell out of the 130 degree summers. Gotta love the desert.

Also, a few items that I have been crafting today. They can be found shortly in my Etsy shop http://www.loudmouse.etsy.com/ . I craft in an ADD fashion. I flit from thing to thing until I get completely consumed by one or the other. The problem with that is, I hate to leave things unfinished! So, If I start a craft project that turns out to be spooty (you heard me!) I still have to finish it. So, the happy medium that I have found is short timed crafts. Crafts that are not going to take longer than say, an hour or so. Seems to do the trick. That is, until I decide that I really should start that baby clothes quilt I have been planning forever. I cannot win with myself!

Today's offerings are feathered hairsticks and an Anti-Valentine's day Art.

I am Gozira! You are Tokyo!!!

New items in my shop http://www.loudmouse.etsy.com

Hmmm so, a blog. A blog you say? Yes. A blog.

A first blog. A first attempt. Man, now there is all of this pressure to use my best grammar and spell guud. It is almost too much. Almost. So, I am thinking that I will slather (good word huh "slather"- not used nearly enough) this bad boy with whatever we are working on, craft, recipes and mundane bits of our life that might be found interesting by someone not living it.

~pause to fix green metal rocket that has lost a wing. Again.~

Where was I.. oh yes, mundane, well, I will try to keep it fresh and snappy and be true to trying to keep up with it daily. That has not worked with the Wii fit so, I promise nothing!