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Monday, August 31, 2009
FREEBIE DAY: SOCIAL MEDIA BADGES

It seems like everyone and there mother has a Twitter, Myspace or Facebook account. Now its even easier to stalk , spy or keep tabs on your person or business of choice.
I usually make my own social media badges, but sometimes I just get lazy and want something quick and nice. So when I happened to come across this Twitter Badge Sites, I couldn't help but share.
The following are two sites that have a big and I mean big selection of badges/buttons made for Twitter, with no download necessary. These are perfect for the person that needs a quick button for their new Twitter account or for someone or business who is not that computer savvy.
{HOW DOES THIS THING WORK?}
It's very simple,Enter your Twitter ID below and Press GO, then you can copy the code (click "Copy Code") of any button you like and past it on your Blog, Web Page or any where and let others follow you.
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There are alot of different styles of badges (above are just a few) from "Follow Me" to "Add Me" and just the plain Twitter Text, so I am sure there will be something that fits into your blog or website. Not sure about which one you want, switch it up every now and then as it is so easy to get code and install.

LET ME KNOW HOW YOU LIKE THE TWITTER BUTTONS!
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Saturday, August 29, 2009
Honey Bread:A Tutorial

I came across this recipe and it was just too good not to share. This "Dabo" or Honey Bread is from Ethiopian breakfast table that is usually accompanied by "Shiro" a chickpea spread.
This bread is somewhat denser than the traditional american style breads but has a subtle sweet taste. Perfect for people who want a little something to satisfy that sweet thooth.
This would also be a great gift to give someone, especially warm.



{INGREDIENTS}
  • 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary (dried)
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 2 packets active dry yeast (apprx 4 1/2 teaspon)
  • 2 1/2 cups warm water
  • 7 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • please note :when substituting fresh herbs for dried amounts need to be doubled. Dried herbs are more concentrated in flavor volume for volume, because of the water in the fresh herbs.

{TO MAKE}

Toast the rosemary in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the oil, yeast, and warm water and stir to dissolve the yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until foamy.

Combine the flour and salt and mound in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle. Slowly pour the dissolved yeast into the well, working in the flour with your fingertips, then knead the dough until a ball forms. Knead in the honey and toasted rosemary.

Put the dough in a large oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth or oiled plastic wrap and let rise to 1 1/2 times the original size, about 1 hour.

Grease two 9 x 4-inch loaf pans. Punch down the dough and transfer to a floured work surface. Knead for 5 minutes. Divide the dough in half and shape into loaves. Place in the prepared pans, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the pans in the oven and bake until the tops are golden, about 25 to 30 minutes. Invert the pans onto a cooling rack and let sit for 5 minutes, then remove the pans and let cool.

{FOR YOUR BREAD MACHINE}

To convert this for your bread machine, use the same ingredients and measurements. Just put them into the machine's bowl according to directions that came with the machine.


recipe by marcus samuelsson from The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa photo by Gediyon Kifle

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Thursday, August 27, 2009
AND THE WINNER IS.........!

  • 7:53 AM
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Thank you to all who entered out "Bitch Box" Stationery Giveaway! We had a nice response and thank everyone who took to the time to enter. So without further ado, the winner is.....(drum roll please)

Shrimp Salad Circus!

Congrats to Shrimp Salad Circus....just makes me hungry thinking about the name. The winner will be emailed to get contact info. Check back soon for the next giveaway! And don't forget to check out shop Gramkin Paper Studio for this item and more!
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Giveaway: Lil Bitch Box

In this recession , don't you deserve something free? Gramkin Paper Studio thinks so.......that is why we are giving away a " Little B@#h Box" from our popular "Glib Greetings Line" for those times when you don't care enough to send the very best!


This boxed set includes 2pc's of the following designs:
  • No One Finds you Amusing
  • I'm Glad We Stay Mildly Interested in each others lives
  • Let's Pretend to Get Together Soon
  • Run with Me
  • I Miss You
  • Bite Me
All Packaged in a kraft box with gift tag that you can keep for yourself or pass along as a gift.


{YOU CAN ENTER THE FOLLOWING WAYS}
  1. For one standard entry, just go to Gramkin Paper Studio's Shop, take a look around and come back here to comment on your favorite product.
  2. For an additional entry, just Tweet (on Twitter) about our contest and leave the link after your comment.
  3. Subscribe to my RSS Feed or Follow My Blog ( just leave a note after your comment)

The contest ends on 8/26/09 at 11pm , where I will randomly pick a winner for this passive aggressive box of awesomeness! Please remember to include some contact info(ex: email address for us to contact the winner).USA ONLY

CHECK BACK ON THURSDAY 8/27/09 WHERE I WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER!


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Saturday, August 15, 2009
Pie Pops: A Tutorial

Even though this is a paper goods blog, we appreciate all forms of crafty goodnes, so I decided one day to make my own lollipops after being inspired by an episode of "Paula Dean's Homecooking".After trolling the net to get the recipe I came across these little pieces of goodness on a stick courtesy of the genius minds at Luxirare.
Who knew that you could put pie on a stick? AND WHY AM I JUST HEARING ABOUT THIS NOW? I couldn't wait to try these delicious lollipop size pies....

These Pie Pops only require a couple of ingredients.
  • Pie Crust (You can make your own , but I suggest buying premade in grocer freezer)
  • Filling
  • Lollipop Sticks (Your local Cake Supply Store, Michaels or Buy Online)
Now the people at Luxirare made thier own filling from scratch (not that hard, just cornstarch to thicken, sugar and berry of choice). But I am not that crafty when it comes to cooking....now paper is another thing, but cooking no!. I used the pie filling (apple) that you get in the grocery store in the baking isle. They usually have several varieties from the standard Cherry and Apple as well as Blue Berry or Raspberry. The good thing about these pops are that they do not need that much filling (I found out the hard way when I overstuffed the first batch, the apple goodness got me overly excited), so one can of filling can make alot.

The next one that I am going to try is Pumpkin or Sweet Potato...just going to use the can Pumpkin and follow the recipe on the back for Pumpkin Pie Filling.
I think I may even go a little out there and do a savory version, much like an empanada or samosa, but I am getting ahead of myself! Don't forget to try out different shapes when using the cookie cutters. Maybe pumpkin shapes for Halloween or bunny's at Easter.


photos courtesy of Luxirare & Bakarella
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Friday, August 14, 2009
Hand Canceling:Sending your fancy invite thru USPS

A frequent question that I am asked is " How can I ship this?", (pertaining to invitation or wedding suite they they have purchased). And the answer is " ask to hand cancel at the post office".
Hand canceling means that a postal worker stamps a mark over the postage stamp (so the stamp can't be reused), instead of putting it through a machine to mark it.


{The Origin of Hand Canceling}


Early stamp cancellations were all applied by hand, commonly using hand stamps. Where hand stamps were not available, stamps often were canceled by marking over the stamp with pen, such as writing an "x". Pen cancellations were used in the United States into the 1880s, and in a sense continue to this day, when a postal clerk notices a stamp has escaped cancellation and marks it with a ball point pen or market.
In 1875, Thomas and Martin Leavitt (brothers) patented the first machine in the U.S that canceled postal stamps, of course the machine has undergone some updating and an improved version is the one that is used today.
So now that you have paid for your fancy or bulky invites you want to make sure that they get to there destination in one piece. So when you mail your package just ask the postal worker to "hand cancel" your package and they will stamp it instead of putting it through the machine. This service is free of charge and yes they may grumble about doing more work ( I know my post office does), but just be assertive about it!.
This is really for invitations that are bulky, have extra embellishments, like knotted ribbons, buckles, wax seals or anything that makes the invitation/envelope bulge out...not lay flat. If you have a flat invitation or package then you may want to go ahead and ship thru regular canceling methods.
Just remember that it is no guarantee that your invite will not be put thru the machine or envelope ripped/damaged. As we know, mail changes many hands from the time it leaves yours to the time it gets to its recipient. And though everyone thinks their package is most important, the USPS seeing thousands if not millions of packages a day and they just want to get it processed and might not take the same care that you do when putting it together.....

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Monday, August 10, 2009
Make your own Silhouette : A Silhouette Tutorial

Everyone always asks me about making a a silhouette, which is very easy. But I think that the person behind "Shiso Mama" has explained the way to make your own families silhouette with ease.
Family silhouettes can be used in a variety of ways. Whether you are making one to use on your handmade cards or cutting them out on black cardstock and mounting to background to them frame.
Take a look at her silhouette tutorial HERE and try making one for yourself!
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Your own little free Hermès Kelly Bag

Have you every dreamed about owning your own Hermès Kelly Bag? Most of us can only dream of owning a $5000 and up purse from a company that is considered the "height of luxury". But now you can have your own little personally designed "Kelly Bag" ........in paper.

"A friend of mine sent me this info from Hermès that brings the Kelly Bag to the masses! These cute little templates are FREE and available for download for 8 predesigned paper Kelly Bags and 1 blank one. Just download it and open it up (pdf format) print it out ( i suggest good cardstock, but you can do paper) and glue it together with any adhesive( is suggest a glue runner) and viola! your own Kelly Bag.



In 1935, Hermès introduced the leather Sac à dépêches , the handbag that would eventually be referred to as the "Kelly Bag". After a 1956, photo of Grace Kelly (the new Princess of Monaco) carrying the Sac à dépêches bag appeared in Life Magaxine, the company renamed it the "Kelly Bag," and it became and remains hugely popular, even to this day. It is said that each "Kelly Bag" requires at least 18 hours of work by a single artist to make it, but with this paper template it will only take you about an hour!, lol.
I had made mine and you better believe I was walking around my house swinging it like it was real! lol. If you are feeling crafty then use the blank (white) template and pop in one of your own patterns . If you are not computer savvy, then print the blank template out and draw your own design on there with markers or other media. One other option is to print it out on patterned paper, but you need to remove white inside first with some sort of computer program.
These make great items for play or fun as favors. If you have a light item, such as soap or paper (from Gramkin Paper Studio of course, ........you know I have to whore out my own product, lol) then put those items in there in lieu of gift wrapping.

{Instructions}
Go to website and you will see a link at top of page called "the world of Hermès"
Click on that link and you will come to a page with several thumbnails of pics. Look for the pic of the "Kelly Bag" ( it is usually at the top right side of page) it may move, so if you dont see it immediately, stop and look thru pics.
Once you find it and click on it , see a selected bag on right and the other thumbnails of available bad templates in on left. ( as pic above).
Just click on pic of bag you want (when it is the big pic then its selected) and you will see to links at bottom that say "see the back" and "i want it".
Click "I want it" to download template.

I suggest you download all of them now, as I dont know how long they are going to be up there. If you dont want to download them all, then I suggest at least the white/blank template. So that you can customize anyway you want later on....

Happy Bag Making!

UPDATE: THE HERMES BIRKIN BAG DOWNLOAD IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE, SO THOSE OF YOU WHO DIDN'T GET IT...SORRY :( BUT THEY ARE NOW OFFERING A CUFF/BRACELET DOWNLOAD ON THE WEBSITE. JUST FOLLOW THE SAME DIRECTIONS AND LINK ABOVE, YOU WILL JUST SEE A CUFF PIC TO DOWNLOAD INSTEAD OF THE BIRKIN BAG



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