Pearlswirl Journals

Refashion

2012-02-12T19:48:00.001+01:00

Last week I got a crafty craving and decided to transform something I already had. I took an old turtleneck (I'm ashamed I even had this in my closet in the first place) and made it more interesting with 4 key ingredients and tools: scissors, bleach, fabric paint, and sewing machine!

I started by dipping it unevenly into a bucket with 10 parts hot water to 1 part bleach. It turned pink almost instantly- much faster than I expected. It's also more pink than I anticipated. I was going for more of a corally orange (which I would have preferred), but I'm not the boss of bleach. So pink it is!

After bleaching, I soaked it in lukewarm water with a bunch of salt to help remove the excess bleach from the fabric. I did a final warm rinse and let it dry overnight.

The good thing about stretch jersey is that, not only does it not fray, but it rolls nicely and forms a really pretty edge if you cut it across the weave. After bleaching, I cut a boatneck and removed the bottom seam. I kept the turtleneck excess fabric to sew up into a little front chest pocket.

As a last step, I painted a motif on the front using Dylon fabric paint. I cut my patterns out of clear contact paper, positioned them where I wanted on the front and back of the top, and sponged the paint on. This paint looks and feels really professional- once it's dry you iron it on low to heat set it, then you wash it and it feels soft like something you would buy in a store!

I love it now! Much more my style, and the bleach made it soo soft (I guess because it technically destroys the fibers?). I can see myself living in it for a couple months. SUCCESS!!

Oreo Cake Balls

2012-02-09T03:04:00.000+01:00

Or, How To Gain Twelve Pounds in One Day.

Holy mama, these are good. The recipe is based on this one. Don't you love how on the Kraft website they present them on a fancy plate like they're fancy expensive chocolates. These are made with OREOS and CREAM CHEESE, people. Not that that's a problem for me. But let's call a spade a spade. These ain't no classy eats.

I used:

*18 Oreo cookies, cream filling scooped out

*5 Chocolate bourbon cookies, cream filling again scooped out

* 1/3 pack (about 3 ounces) of Philadelphia (or generic equivalent :) cream cheese

*1 tablet dark (70% minimum) baker's chocolate

*Optional girly sprinkles

Crush the cookies til they're a very fine powder. A mortar and pestle would be ideal but I happened to be having a very frustrating conversation with my roommate about how wealth has NOT trickled down and why can't rich people be decent and we're all humans and should all share the wealth and love and all pay our taxes, etc etc. and I took my frustration at the world out on them cookies til they were ground to a pulp. (Just to be clear, we were not arguing; we were in agreement.)

Stir in the cream cheese. Doing it with clean hands is probably the easiest way.

Once you get an even creamy consistency, roll the cream into bite-size balls and let sit on a sheet of wax paper. Throw them in the freezer for about 20 minutes so they harden.

During this time, melt down the chocolate using a double boiler on medium heat.

Pour the liquid chocolate onto a flat plate and roll the cookie balls around til they're totally dunked. Replace them on their wax paper.

If you desire sprinkles (or leftover cookie crumbs), make sure you're working in a warm environment so the chocolate stays gooey enough to stick to the sprinkles.

Cover the wee cake balls and let them sit in the fridge overnight (or at least for an hour).

Devour your Oreo cake balls, or, if you know what's good for you, take them to a Create Society meeting and sit on the opposite side of the room from them.

xoxo

Ode to a Skirt

2012-02-06T20:32:00.001+01:00

You're stretchy and so soft, and you give a bit of curve (kind of),

Please don't ever leave me; won't you be my lurve?

You're comfy and delightful and pleasant to the touch,

When I rubbed you on my face in public, people guessed as much.

I sewed you with love on my little machine,

But didn't realize you need a hand-wash only clean.

So please, dear skirt of mine, stay true,

Let neither dirt nor stains touch you.

I have a skirt that's this shape from H&M in a stripey cotton that I practically live in. It's soo comfortable and easy to throw on. I was thinking about replicating it for a long time but never settled on an idea. Then, a combination of finding this great tutorial from Cotton & Curls, inspiration from here, and gift certificates to this store (do my ever-loving people know me or what?) happened and my lovely crushed-velvet skirt was born! I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon making this, drinking tea, and watching Yes Man (very inspiring), then wore it out for (now weekly) salsa dancing and a Latin club. Perfect day. I will honestly report back that it rode up a little too high at times to be a repeat salsa skirt. The room was dark. These things happen. But I think from now on it might just accompany me to more sedentary activities. Don't tell it.

I never hated the buttery yellow of my walls as much as I do now. Next time I'll go outside with a friend and try to take better pictures. The color is a rich jewel-tone blueish green and these pictures do not do it justice!

I got a huge fabric haul all at once, so I'm now fueled for weeks of sewing! And I signed up for a free trial of Love Film (the British Netflix) so I don't see much schoolwork happening over here any time soon... but surely I should get credit for writing that poem?

xoxo

Nostalgia

2012-02-04T22:45:00.000+01:00

I came across these photos from NYC on my phone the other day and remembered that I never uploaded them! So now I'm taking a mental trip back to that awesome city and that awesome vacation... Of course my camera battery ran out almost as soon as we got onto the Brooklyn Bridge to observe the skyline, i.e. THE reason why people go to New York. At least I got a few.

Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn.

Some might know that Davide is currently in Shanghai and will be for the next six months studying at a Chinese language school and working and just generally being super awesome. I'm so happy for him but also missing him beyond words. I know for some it's not that long apart-- even for us, since we haven't lived in the same country for 1.5 years! But the combination of him being so far away, and the time difference, and the bad internet connections, etc, etc. is just a lot. I miss him!!!! I am generally the anti-cheese (in the sense of romantic, cheesy mushiness), so for me to be publishing these thoughts online is a big deal. (I will probably cringe tomorrow when I re-read this in a less emotional mood.)

I will be lucky enough to visit him there in April (!!!) and I know it will be an unforgettable experience but until then I'll have to satisfy my sadness with these pictures...

***

On less of a downer note, I'm really getting back into sewing these days. My inspiration is back for sewing garments! I just finished a tee-shirt refashion and will show that as soon as I can get decent pictures! :)

New New New

2012-01-31T23:30:00.000+01:00

The Pearlswirl Shop has been pretty quiet for the last two months, but I'm happy to be restocking it slowly but steadily. Here are some of the newest designs:

The Pearl of the East Necklace

Feathered Fancy Earrings

Iced Raspberry Earrings

Jaded Necklace

Lilac Sunrise Ring

Love All Bracelet

Marigold Cupcake Ring

Om Necklace

River Flora Earrings

The Pink Lady of St. Petersburg Bracelet

Seafoam Pearl Ring

Tudor Rose Bracelet

***

I'm having major issues with Blogger today. It took me close to an hour to upload and format my photos the way I wanted them [which FYI is NOT how they ended up looking] but I posted and thought I was done. Went to work; came back hours later and it turns out only 3 of my 12 photos had published and all my anecdotey goodness was gone! [Good thing close to no one reads the blog anyways...] GET IT TOGETHER BLOGGER. Has anyone else repeatedly felt like throwing their laptop out the window while uploading today? No? Just me then?

Anyways, you'll all be pleased to know that yesterday's post made me aware of my low score on the household chore pathetic-ness scale [It wasn't pretty]. So I sucked it up and cleaned the kitchen. Now it sparkles like a hundred thousand suns. But... do you see my new dilemma? I'm now afraid to cook in it and mess up the beauty. So... I guess it's back to eating out...

xoxo

Eleven Things That Are Better Than Doing the Dishes

2012-01-30T00:37:00.001+01:00

1. Challenging yourself to see how many precarious balancing acts your dishes can take before catastrophe ensues. Personal favorites are the microwave-to-toaster bridge and bowl-and-spoon jenga.

2. Eating out. Eating out again. And again! No money left? It's OK! At least you don't have actual problems like soapy, wrinkled hands.

3. Taking on extra shifts at work so you can continue funding your ruthless campaign against at-home eating.

4. Embracing a policy of 'less is more'. You mean you want a fork AND a knife?? What is this, the Ritz?

5. Using the bottle of dish soap as a door stop. Or a hat rack.

6. Using the sponge as a frisbee.

7. Yelling at Chinese food delivery man for not including chopsticks in your order. How rude! [Him, not you.]

8. Eating out.

9. Spending an insane amount of time [preferably longer than it would take to do the dishes] googling images of clean kitchens, and living vicariously through them.

10. Printing off one of the google images really big and glueing it to the wall of your kitchen. Invite friends over and show off your kitchen remodel.

11. Finding new friends.

Sheep Cozy

2012-01-27T16:22:00.002+01:00

= My life for the past 5 days. Luckily, before the horrendous medical condition of *&^%-ed up sinuses struck, I had the idea to sew up this adorable hot-water-bottle cover! It took 10 whole minutes [by which I mean ACTUALLY ten minutes, not the 'ten minutes' they tell you in craft books, which ends up being closer to 4 hours].

I'ts great for saving on heating costs. It's a soft wool-poly blend and is incredibly soft but strong. It also doesn't fray AT ALL which means you can leave the edges raw. Which, in my book, puts this project right between SCORE and saWEEET.

Then at a bargain store I found a mini (600cl) hot water bottle so I made one up for my sister! This will be my definitive way to find out if she actually reads my blog like she says she does... So Mad, if you are indeed reading this, I will mail it off to you shortly!

[EDIT: Seems like she doesn't. Well well well.... maybe I don't mail it off to her...]

It's the closest you can legally get to cozying up with a sheep. They have laws about these things up here ;)

God Save The Queen

2012-01-24T23:08:00.001+01:00

So today is the roommate's birthday. THE BIG 2-2! And she just happens to love the Queen. We're talking, like, abandoning me and one of our visiting high school friends who was in town for the weekend because she realized it was the last day to see an art expo with various paintings of her majesty. We're talking, having a little wind-up plastic toy queen. Maybe she even has a bobblehead [I'm scared to ask].

BTW Mara, if you're reading this, we all love you for it. :)

So a couple weeks ago when planning her gift, I knew what i had to do. Make a pillow that recreates a British postal stamp of the lovely lady herself!

I printed and traced the profile from an online stamp collectors' website. [If anyone wants to recreate this pillow, just email me and I'll send you the outline to save you the trouble!]

I then hand-appliqued the profile using an embroidered satin stitch, and a double split stitch for the numbers. The stampy edges are cut and sealed with Fray-Check.

It was fun, albeit very time consuming with all the tiny hand-stitches.

How much does it match all my other lovely magical pillows?! Maybe I make one for myself? Maybe seven? When does 'a lot of pillows' become 'too many pillows'? We shall most definitely see...

xoxo

Old Lady Skills

2012-01-22T12:16:00.003+01:00

This wintery, nest-worthy weather has me honing my old lady skills to the max. I'm not even joking. Baking scones. Embroidering in bed. It's only the beginning. Just wait.

Am I a little sad? Maybe. I guess. ALRIGHT. But you know what? Now I have scones, and you don't.

This recipe is closely adapted from Emma's at Food Coma blog. Everything she makes looks so mouth-wateringly delicious! And she's a veggie, so it's always interesting to see what creative meatless options are out there besides pasta and cheese, you know. [I'm not a veggie per se but oftentimes my budget is not my friend and I can't afford a lot of meat. Also I only want to buy free range, good quality, so that reduces my options even more.]

Go check out the recipe!

I just added some sugar, increased the milk, and swapped out crannies for candied lemon/orange peel and a couple raisins. I also did an egg-yolk wash on top for shininess. I'm VERY impressed with how these turned out. They were super more-ish.

I made them for Create Society [hence their chopped-in-half-ness] and hope to make them again with fresh crannies one day [although those are very hard to get a hold of here]. Maybe blueberries? Cherries? The mind BOGGLES at the possibilities.

I hope your weekend has been stellar so far! I'm off for a day-long shopping excursion to HobbyCraft with the lovely ladies from CreateSoc committee, then tonight I'm heading to a salsa bar!

Back to Reality

2012-01-15T16:06:00.000+01:00

So as of yesterday evening, I'm back in my apartment in Edinburgh. Break is over. The spring semester starts tomorrow. Yay? Well, for starters, here in Edinburgh we use the term 'spring' very loosely. It's more like extended winter with slightly longer daytime hours. So there's that to look forward to.

Well seriously, I'm actually feeling quite positive and excited for this semester! All I need is for my lecturers and professors to cooperate with my schedule of hanging out and sleeping in, and I'm golden.

OK then.

***

Right before I left Stuttgart I had to visit my absolute fave bead and useless-cute-things shop. Perlenreich, of course. I couldn't resist capturing all Claudia's cute new displays with my phone. This shop is the stuff of my dreams.

Can you spot me (or part of me) in this?

While there I realized my intense and immediate need to complete one more craft project before starting classes. Don't know why i didn't see it sooner. But luckily I saw some little rugs there and remembered this clutch tutorial, so it was perfect. So quick and easy! I am allll about instant gratification these days. Bad, I know. But it comes and goes in phases.

I LOVE its hippiness. It makes me feel like my name is Rain and my skirt is made of wheat. ;)

Can't wait to wear it out one of these nights!

Being watched by the quality control officer. She was clearly NOT impressed.

***

Well I'm off to pick up my Christmas present from my adorable boyfriend: a bike!!! EEE all for me! And I hear it's purple! This will save me so much time going to and from campus [Not really. It's a ten minute walk, which is probably as long as it will take me to find a place to lock it up but WHO CARES. Get off my back.] If anyone happens to see a youTube video in the next couple days of the world's slowest/worst bike rider annoying drivers and pedestrians left, right and center, I expect you all to defend me in the comments section. Thanks.

My Nachos Are Not Yo's

2012-01-12T21:00:00.000+01:00

But you wish they were.

Me gusta guacamole. Es mi amor.*

*I know it's an Aztec word or something not a Spanish one, but Google translate can only do so much.

Anyways, I have now perfected my fresh guac recipe and truth be told, the rest of the nachos-package is just an aside for me. An excuse to bring out the good stuff.

You may have noticed my preference for D-list domestic goddess recipes requiring very little effort for a very impressive yield. Why would I want it any other way??

* 3 slightly over-ripe avocados, fork mashed in a large bowl. Mash lightly at first, because the repetitive mixing of all the ingredients below will naturally achieve the right texture.

* Juice of one fresh lime

* Quarter onion, finely chopped

* Six diced cherry tomatoes

* Finely chopped jalapenos

* Two spoonfuls sour cream or greek yoghurt (aka the miracle ingredient that makes you think you're eating unhealthy, and thus yummier, when you're really not)

* Two tablespoons ready-made salsa picante

* Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika to taste

I can't tell if this picture is gross or delicious. I apologize either way if it makes you a) vomit or b) hungry.

Thanks to my sister once again for the photos! BTW she started her own blog now yay!

xoxo

Romantic...

2012-01-10T02:03:00.000+01:00

... because it's Rome. Get it? I had the incredible opportunity of ringing in 2012 in Rome with my boyfriend and it was pure amazing. I know I've said this before [and I likely will again], but Ryanair, I love you. Others may mock you, but I understand your twisted genius. I'm even learning to tune out the hostess' attempts to sell us smoke-free fake cigarettes, $10 sandwiches, and Justin Bieber cologne every chance they get.

But I digress.

...

ROME.

The Roman Forum was once the center of Ancient Roman life, acting like a main square that connected people, government buildings, and business. It's all ruins now but still pretty cool. Rome is full of ruins. So much so that they only have two metro lines [surprising for such a big city] because every time they dig to build more lines they hit a major Roman ruin site that turns into a historical excavation.

Token tourist shot inside the Colosseum. [I dyed my hair a very dark brown for the new year!]

The beautiful Trevi Fountain. I know it sounds strange, but this fountain SMELLS SO GOOD. Really, there was this lingering fresh scent in the air that was just so unexpected and nice [maybe something they use to treat the water??].

Weirdest travel commentary ever?

We also visited St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican [AKA the Pope's stompin' grounds]; a must if you ask me, even if you're not religious, because it is such a historically significant place, and of course really beautiful. Plus it technically counts as another country for your list.

Michelangelo's world-famous Pieta Statue.

St. Peter's again.

Castel Sant'Angelo, a really cool emperor mausoleum/military fortress/palace thing. We got to go in for free because we bought the RomaPass, which I would completely recommend. For 25 euros, you get unlimited free public transit for 3 days, plus totally free entry to 2 sites of your choice, from a long list available [we chose this thing and the Colosseum], plus discounted entry to every other site, PLUS line-skipping at all the busiest sites! In-cre-di-bi-le!

Il Vittoriano, which was designed for Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy after it was reunified. It's also where Mussolini led his government.

One night we had a long walk along Via Del Corso, one of the main shopping streets, and it was so nicely decorated for Christmas/Italy's 150th anniversary! That night we also ate at Spizzico, a little pizza chain I have wanted to eat at ever since I started visiting Davide in Italy, but for whatever reason we never managed. It's hilarious, like the Italian version of Pizza Hut, but SO MUCH CLASSIER. Normally I don't do fast food but Spizzico is just too cute.

The rest of the trip [5 days total] we ate such delicious authentic food, for soooo cheap! We are talking pizza/pasta + wine/beer + desert for 12-15 euros per person. In the Italian capital! You can't even eat well in Stuttgart for that! If anyone reading this is planning a trip there, check out this place for pizza. There were others too but they're so cute and wee they don't even have websites! [Plus, on an unrelated note, it's possible that I forgot their names.]

The Pantheon! Just so impressive in all its Greekness.

Piazza Della Repubblica lit up in a splendor. I squeal every time I see a Smart Car!! Yes, i live in Europe. No, they're not exciting anymore. It's just a habit. Don't judge.

Here we are on New Year's Eve [sporting matching lipstick, I wonder why :D ], getting ready to watch fireworks across the top of the Colosseum, in a crowd of 30,000 people. It was hands-down the most impressive fireworks display I've ever seen; it lasted at least 25 minutes [that's a lot of fireworks, people] and we kept thinking, 'This must be the finale.' But it wasn't, guys, it wasn't; they just kept going! This was such a special moment and I couldn't have thought of a better way to ring in what will be a strange but wonderful year! Happy 2012 to all!

Looking forward to reading all about your New Year's adventures too!

xoxo

Soap Dish Fish

2012-01-08T18:51:00.004+01:00

Happy New Year all! A little late, but I'm finally settling into the strangeness that is two thousand and twelve. I vividly remember standing in the girl's bathroom at my elementary school on the first day back from Christmas break talking about how i could not believe it was already 1998. I thought it was such an adult-like thing to say, since of course when you're 8 time goes by at a snaaaaiiiilllll's paaaaace. So anyways, Brittany Conrad, if you're reading this, I hope life has sped up for you since 1998!

***

Three friends and I turned my little apartment into a soap-making factory before Christmas and had a blast making these nice scented gifts! My portion went to my madre.

We used a glycerin soap block kit, which we melted down. One day I want to try the real cold-process method which involves lye, oils, and weeks of curing. Seems like a lot of work though. For soap. Anyways.

Our stroke of genius was to use ice-cube trays as molds and some lemon fishies were born! Take a moment to appreciate their cuteness, please.

Some were peppermint-scented and others were lemon. These will make your house smell good!

Adding poppy seeds, lavender, and marigold leaves.

xoxo

I'm loving this song as a driving motivational anthem for an exciting new year.

New Year's Nails

2011-12-28T13:51:00.001+01:00

I am off to the airport in a couple minutes to spend New Year's Eve in Rome with my boyfriend!! Waheeeyy, I'm so excited!! I indulged in some hand pampering for the occasion, as you do, and thought it would be a cute photo.

I will be back in 2012... GASP... and will share some photos and more recent crafts! I hope everyone has a super awesome New Year's! :)

***

I'm frantically searching youtube for this one version of Auld Lang Syne that I adore, but I can't find it and the clock is ticking! :(

So fare ye well, 2011...

xoxo

P.S. This is my 200th post!!!

Weeping Willow

2011-12-27T00:30:00.000+01:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Lovely Christmas! Mine was so nice; lots of eggnog, drinking whiskey with my dad, fun handmade presents, music and food. LOVE IT.

Weeping willow = Cockney rhyming slang for pillow.

I made a pillow for my sister with super cool London fabric I found in Edinburgh. This stuff is amazing. Finding it was a total coincidence, wish i could find some for every cool city. [THIS IS TO BE MY NEW QUEST.]

One side is this awesome printed map fabric which has a 'popout' of Southwark which is her exact neighborhood!! The other side has random London icons and things. It has a flap with little snaps so it can be cleaned if she spills Earl Grey tea or some other such British beverage upon it. I have an irrational obsession with pillows, especially British style ones (Exhibit A and Exhibit B). But it's all pillows really. I don't discriminate. This one is huge and fluffy and delicious. I want it to be mine. Photos by The Schwess herself.

***

Being at home on the family computer, I keep finding lots of scans of me and my sister through the ages which I think are hilarious. Some cute, some capturing the essence of the awkward adolescent stage. These, my dahlings, are my Christmas present to you.

xoxo

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T10:00:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas

Good tidings of comfort and joy

May your days be merry and bright

Sleep in heavenly peace

And to all a good night.

xoxo

[Photo found here]

What I'm Looking At Now

2011-12-21T11:51:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I made it home for Christmas! :) :) :)

Cozy time incoming.

I haven't seen breakfast like this in months.

This is how I decorated in my Edinburgh apartment. Angry, but festive. :)

We both had super early morning flights so we just didn't go to bed at all the night before. I missed naps!

We potato-stamped some eco-friendly recycled wrapping paper in Create Society.

I made my mom these votives for Christmas a couple years ago!

Breakfast photo by my sister; sleeping photo by my dad!

Craft Show

2011-12-13T20:55:00.002+01:00

In a desperate attempt to ~~find distractions from my current studying responsibilities~~ keep my blog up to date, I realized I never showed photos from my booth at the Adam House Craft Show in November!

It might be because it was definitely not the best fair I've ever done... last year this show was a much bigger success than this time around... Oh well. LABATYD. ;) No, seriously, I did make a small profit and I just received my check so who's complaining?

Several of my items were unfortunately stolen. :( I have heard of this happening to others but never had it done to me until now. I know it's not the end of the world (in a strange way it's flattering I guess). But ... why? This is not Tiffany & Co. people. This jewelry is not that expensive. I'm no stranger to being short on cash but in those moments I just don't go shopping. Oh well...

I did very much enjoy setting up my display! I used the cake stand display I made here as well as the heart display that I gave a makeover to. It was ugly and brown but I covered it in fabric scraps and my pearlswirl stamp.

And thanks to everyone who voted in the poll about how I should make my price tags. As you can see I followed your advice.

And now I suppose I should get back to linguistics. (Consult Fig. 1 for data on how this makes me feel.)

Figure 1: How studying makes me feel.

xoxo

P.S. If you are my aunt, I hope you enjoyed grading those papers. MWAHAHAHA.

Blog Love

2011-12-12T16:04:00.000+01:00

I recently got awarded the Liebster Blog Award from my friend Megan!

Here's what I found about this little award:

Liebster is an award given to blogs that have less than 200 followers and deserve more recognition and encouragement. Here are some guidelines in giving or receiving the Award:

1. Thank the person that passed on the award. [THANKS DOLLFACE!]

2. Link back to that blogger.

3. Copy & Paste the award to your blog.

4. Nominate 5 blogs to receive the award.

5. Inform them of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are my five picks:

1. Megan's blog A Trail of Breadcrumbs.

She writes regularly about her amazing adventures living and volunteering at a family shelter in Costa Rica. I'm so proud of her and everything she's done this semester. She's flying back in a couple short days, gets to spend a lovely and relaxing Christmas here at her home, and then she's off to Strasbourg for another amazing semester, this time at university there. I am confident that this will be the year of her life and I can't wait to meet up this Saturday (!!) for ice-skating, mulled wine and hearing her fantastic stories! Check out her blog for insightful posts about what it's like to backpack around Costa Rica, teach marketing workshops, and make a difference in people's lives! Oh and she is also an expert bookbinder who keeps saying she'll post photos of her finished books. (And you're not a liar, are you Megan?!?!)

The photo above is the view out her window. I know right. Incredible. Anyways, she wrote some really nice things about me on her blog, and I hope she enjoys reading these lovely truths about herself.

2. The Knicks of Knacks.

This is the blog of my friend Katelyn, also the manager of Patch Multi-Crafts, aka the most fabulous place to work on earth. (Although when I worked there she was just a lowly staff like me. She's moving up in the world!) Anyways, Katelyn churns out the most beautiful handmade quilts like I churn out post-its saying 'buy milk'. By the time I've written a follow-up 'Jenny, you still need to buy milk' reminder to myself, she has produced another quilt. It's unreal. She is the kind of person who can look at anything anyone ever made and immediately know how to make it herself. And then make it perfectly. She's a very intimidating person to make gifts for. ;)

Once upon a time we would take trips together (here, here and here, and here and kind of here). I miss those days. Hopefully this award is an incentive for her to keep featuring the amazing things she makes on her blog; I am convinced that what she actually shows publicly is only the tip of the iceberg.

3. Parrish Platz.

I also know Jennifer of Parrish Platz from working with her at Patch Multi-Crafts. I met a lot of great people there and I miss it! She is the ideal combination of sweet, hilarious, and just a little mean. Don't screw with her. Jennifer I miss working with you! Her blog is full of great photography of her creations and her cute kids. She's also amazing at all crafts, but specifically sewing. She inspired me to start embroidery. And she is obsessed with mushrooms! Even though she doesn't eat vegetables. You have to know her to get it, I think. :)

4. Cuckoo Kinder.

Kara has great, unique taste and sews, makes jewelry, designs her own patterns and her own fabric, crochets, etc. She is a sweetheart and very nature and environment-minded, which I adore. She has a beautiful Etsy shop and I already posted about her owl hats!! I think the owl hats speak for themselves. I think they will take her far in life.

5. Sincerely Kinsey

I don't know this blogger personally, but have recently fallen in love with her brand new blog. Everything she posts is adorable. She is a professional photographer with an interest in crafts and fashion, and posts easy and cute tutorials that are exactly my style, like the nest necklace above.

***

Lots of people tell me they don't get the point of reading or writing a blog, especially one that's mostly about traveling and crafts. But, since my coworkers' bullying me into starting one three years ago, i have grown to love it! Some people criticize that it's not 'real' because you're only focusing on pretty pictures, nice trips and things you deem 'successes'. But nobody says a blog has to encapsulate every part of your life; it's not a personal diary. I have made some recipes that turned out uuuggggllllyyyy that nobody wants to see photos of, and, on a deeper level, I have had some experiences or some days that I just don't want to share with all of cyberspace. Rather, I want to log onto an inspiring space in a community of like-minded people who are talking about things that interest me and who just get why I might be so excited about buying some new beads. I have meaningful, personal relationships in my life that i wouldn't trade for the world, and then I have my blog. And I love both!!

xoxo

How have I not heard this Elvis Christmas song before now??? It's quality.

Pretty Things from Around the Interwebs

2011-12-08T17:48:00.001+01:00

With exams come studying, and with studying comes procrastination, and with procrastination comes, naturally, online window shopping...

I have heard humungous things about this beautiful book. Anyone have it?

These moccasins and this top would look soo good together, no?

I have always said I wanted to make a plain white bag with colorful Mexican-style embroidery but what's the point when EricaMaree has already made the perfect one...

I'm not loving her shoes but yes please for her leggings...

This fantastic image makes me yearn to go back to NYC.

If I ever found this top leftover in a washing machine I wouldn't even feel slightly bad about keeping it... :)

The element my living room is missing!!! (I'm not even kidding, there's an actual split-in-half teapot hanging from a hook on the wall for added quirk factor.)

This is the perfect dress for spilling mulled wine down your front and getting away with it...

I really want to make a quilt using Anna Maria Horner's newest fabric line Loulouthi.

How beautiful and classy is this gorgeous necklace by ShlomitOfir? I've had my eye on it for months..

All of Minxshop's tops make me drool and the photography is soo pretty and original as well.

I NEEED this owl hat crocheted by my sweet friend Kara.

And finally, I saved my favorite for last...

***

OK Back to the books... it's even harder to stay motivated right now cause I have to study from home since our entire university has been shut due to intense severe winds. Apparently there was a fear that the windows in the library might shatter? The howling at the window is getting scary... if I make it through the night I'll post again in the morning so people know I haven't blown away.

xoxo

(This is one of my fave Christmas songs thanks to the amazing Love Actually, which I feel might be an important part of my procrastination routine tonight...)

Christmas Wreath

2011-12-06T14:48:00.001+01:00

Last week in Create Society we made Christmas wreaths! The committee bought real styrofoam bases for this but we felt bad using up one of them to make a sample so I volunteered to make one from scratch. I adore challenges like this where I have to repurpose and transform things I already have around my apartment.

I used old packing styrofoam from my printer box and cut a wreath shape out using one large plate for the outside form and a saucer for the inside. It's about 6-7 inches wide (judging not by a ruler but by the subway sandwich i was eating at the time).

The sample worked perfectly and hopefully inspired a few people that afternoon. Not that anyone needed inspiration. I'm always so impressed what people design and make in 2 hours. I <3 Create Society.

[I don't remember this being taken but i appear to have wrapped myself in vintage lace for meditation purposes?? That does sound like something i would do...]

I wrapped ribbon, twine, yarn, and fabric scraps around the ring form. For a smooth no-sewing way to attach the ribbons, I would jab a small hole with a pencil tip into the styrofoam, fill it with glue, then stuff the end of the ribbon in with the pencil tip. So easy!

It unintentionally ended up being Scottish themed because that's all the ribbon I have lying around. A lot of the weddings I work at have traditional Scottish decor like thistles on the tables and tartan ribbon centerpieces etc. You would be amazed how many brides only care about these things on the day of their wedding and are happy to let hundreds of organza gift bags and expensive ribbons end up in the trash at the end of their special day. That thought is sooo strange to me. You paid for it, why not save it and use it??? Whatever, I'm building up quite a collection just of things that I rescued from being thrown out! [For clarification this ribbon was never actually in the trash... just headed there.]

After an all-nighter last night finishing a paper I finally turned in this morning, I am soooo badly craving Christmas break. I still have one essay and two exams to go, but at least i can breathe for a few days now before I launch back in. Lots of Christmas parties, mulled wine, and hopefully some crafting... I have more things to show soon and also I won an exciting blog award!!

xoxo

Rings!

2011-12-02T01:38:00.000+01:00

My shop is now catering to all the classy ladies who want to put a ring on it. :)

The Golden Sunrise Ring

The Citrus Burst Ring

The Blueberry Pie Ring

The Enchanted Woodland Ring

They are all made with adjustable vintage brass bases, and vintage and new components.

How To Recycle Old Candles

2011-11-29T11:00:00.000+01:00

Tis the season for burning candles!

I love candles and I love recycling. Oh and I love making things.

I started by gathering up all my dead candles over a few months, the ones where the wick is all burned up or drowned in wax but there's still lots of solid wax around the edges that never melted. Then I went trekking all around the city for the ideal cute containers in charity shops. Mine cost me 3 pounds total. I wanted teacups originally but found this little set instead!

I cut up my wax into little cubes and melted them in a double boiler on medium heat. With constant stirring and keeping an eye on it, the melting process took about 15 minutes. (My mom once started a small house fire in our kitchen by leaving hot wax unattended on the stove - LEARN FROM THIS MISTAKE AND WATCH YOUR WAX AT ALL TIMES! Sorry for ratting you out mom... :)

The next thing was to add some essential oil bought at the German Christmas market (mine was a winter pine scent) and then half a green wax crayon stolen from a restaurant. I was drawing hearts and stars on the menu while waiting for my food when I got an idea for how to add color to my candles. It worked perfectly! I would recommend putting in at least a full crayon though if you want a brighter color, since mine came out quite pale.

The wicks, I had already bought here a long time ago but I think they're readily available at craft stores, or there might even be tutorials around on how to make your own if you're adventurous! I found a tip online saying to position the wicks in the bottom center of your container and curl the excess around a pencil or other round object and sit it across the top of the container so the bottom of the wick lies flat against the bottom of the container. It was really helpful since the wick shifted around a bit during the pouring of the wax into the container.

Once poured, I let them set on the cool window ledge for a couple hours. During that time I cleaned up all my wax and put away the supplies but that turned out to be stupid because when I checked in on my babies later I realized the wax had sunk quite a bit in the center around the wick. When doing it again I'll keep my wax hot until this happens, then pour in a second layer on top to fill the gap. Because i definitely will be doing this again. It's such an impressive-looking end result and is perfect for gifts!

Happy crafting!

xoxo

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T19:40:00.001+01:00

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, my roommate Mara, my boyfriend, and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for thirteen people.

Even though I kind of cooked Thanksgiving in first year with a friend, it was a last minute thing and we didn't have a real turkey or anything... but this actually tasted like real Thanksgiving, so i consider it like the first one I (we) ever cooked. It was fun!!! I wasn't as stressed out as i thought i would be at all! Just enjoying the preparation while drinking the cooking wine...

Making the stuffing.

Everything was beeeaauuutiful, especially our turkey.

We went traditional with a turkey, stuffing inside and out, candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans with pancetta, cranberry sauce, gravy, and one large pumpkin pie with lots of individual pumpkin baby pies (which were Mara's genius and adorable idea). Oh FYI, our 'small' turkey which should serve 5-7 was actually huge and we still have leftovers even though we ate a lot! TURKEY SANDWICHES YESSSS. We had a mix of following Martha Stewart online recipes, recipes my mom does, and just kind of winging it.

We had a very international group with German, Scottish, Italian, English, Austrian, Norwegian, Hungarian, Canadian, and of course my strange American-French mixture, so it was a lot of people's first Thanksgiving and it was fun to bring a new tradition to people.

It was cozy and cheesy and perfect in the nicest way with the wind howling outside and the Christmas music, candles and fairy lights inside.

I'm thankful for such great friends, and having an amazing boyfriend who takes such good care of me and makes me laugh so much, and for the best family I could ask for, and for the opportunities I have to study in Scotland and to travel so much, and to meet exciting people and see exciting places. I try not to take any of it for granted...

I'm also thankful for mini pumpkin pie leftovers.

I hope all my American friends had lovely Thanksgivings too, and I hope everyone is taking the time to think about what they're thankful for. Don't take anything for granted! There's always so much when you start looking!

xoxo

Books I'm Reading

2011-11-23T00:45:00.000+01:00

ALL I DO THESE DAYS IS READ.

'How nice for you', you might think. Well it's not. 98% of it is for my courses. BLEUGHHHHHHH. The rest for procrastination. Even though some of the school stuff is interesting (like this one mentioned here), I mostly want to share nice relaxing or even crafty reads. I generally feel guilty buying books when I could read things online (tree-hugger alert) but it doesn't count if they're gifts or second-hand, or from the friggin university library, more commonly known as the place where hope and positivity go to die*, or you just really wanted it.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I LOVE The Great Gatsby. I should have been born in the 1920's. I would so get invited to Gatsby's crazy parties every time.

Any Human Heart by William Boyd

I bought this last year while at the airport going home for Christmas and my brain forms associations is strange ways... now that Christmas is coming up again, I feel like I have to read it again. They also made a miniseries for TV out of this but I'm too scared to watch it in case they ruined it (although I have heard it's quite good...)

The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind, by Steven Pinker

This is one I'm reading for one of my courses right now. It's called 'Origins and Evolution of Language' and my inner language nerd is loving this class! Studying everything from child language acquisition to animal communication to memory disorders. It probably does NOT interest you in the way it interests me, but this book is actually super cool if you've ever had any wondering about how babies learn to speak or why they say the ridiculous cute things they say, or why for example it's so easy for kids to pick up a new language and so hard for adults. It's not written like an academic textbook at all. Just the fact that this has color and nice fonts on the cover distinguishes it from EVERY other book in that dreaded unspeakable library.

***

(*Anecdote about why I hate the library: A couple weeks ago I spent an entire Saturday there typing up a big assignment for that Monday when suddenly my clumsy fingers slipped and I x'd out of my document. Calm down Jenny. Documents don't just disappear. You will find it. (... panic...) Well I didn't. Later I saw that there was an alert on every library desktop warning people not to download a document directly from their email and edit it without first saving it as a new document. Which is exactly what I did. Also while logging on, I closed the alert without reading it wondering why they were wasting my time with stupid alerts when I had an important paper to write. It's not total tragedy since I was able to recover some of it but I did lose a whole chunk.)

***

BUT. let's get real and focus on the good stuff... we all know why you're reading this blog and it's not linguistics...

... it's crafts! (Unless you happen to have come onto this post by google-searching 'linguistics books' in which case, I'm afraid, you may not like what's coming...)

I'm Dreaming of A Green Christmas by Anna Getty

THIS BOOK IS AWESOME. Again with the planet-lover stuff. I got it for Christmas last year and I wish I had invented every single project and recipe in it. It just inspires me to try and live more simply and naturally. And it shows that you don't have to be a stinky hippie to do right by the environment and also have, make, and eat gorgeous things.

The Handmade Marketplace: How To Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and Online, by Kari Chapin

I do like this book a lot, but I was hoping for something a bit more. It's the ideal resource for someone who literally has no idea where to start on even setting up an online shop, or figuring out pricing, or things like that. I found it was saying a lot of things I already knew from common sense. But nevertheless I have learned some valuable stuff from it and what I like best are the interviews of famous and successful people who give good original ideas.

Last-Minute Patchwork And Quilted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson

This book is just so beautiful and makes me feel like a domestic goddess just by reading it. I thought it might be a little old-fashioned but it's really not. I have made something out of this book already but I can't show it just yet cause there might be prying eyes.

The Handmade Home, by Country Living

This too is super inspiring and has some complex recipes for cold-process soaps and candles and artisan-type stuff. All a bit intimidating, but in the good way that makes you try new things. One project already in the works from this too but can't be shared til later!

Sew a Metre by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins (the British One-Yard Wonders)

Oh mee oh my, this is my most recent acquisition from le lovely boyfriend and if only i had more timeeeeeeeeeee, there are so many things I would already have made. I can't wait to do the laptop sleeve and a couple of the bags. Yum.

I have several other crafty books, I might show those another time. I'm building quite the collection. Maybe it's time to craft myself a bookshelf...

And finally.
The Cocktail: 200 Fabulous Drinks, by Jane Rocca.
It has some classics and some crazy new concoctions, but everything seems of the utmost sophistication and her mixed-media illustrations on every page make it so pretty!

I cannot wait to pull this bad boy (gift from my ever-lovely sis) out on December 16th, i.e. my last exam of the year. I think I've said enough...

xoxo

My most favoritest band, Oasis, sadly is no more. But lead singer Noel has his new solo album out and it's just as good as ever.

(All images from amazon.com, except the Hoverson, from here, and the Pinker, from here.)

Eleven Things You Wish You Knew Before Moving to Scotland

2011-11-16T00:55:00.001+01:00

Disclaimer: some of these may be slight exaggerations.

1. It's never raining or not raining. It's a permanent state of in-between-ness where it's not worth pulling out an umbrella but by the time you arrive at your destination you are still, somehow, soaked.

2. On that umbrella topic... don't bother with one. Unless you want to spend 70% of your time battling to turn it right-way around again after the wind flips it outwards. During this time you will probably dump a puddle of water down the back of your neck.

(Seems like a lot of these are going to be weather-related.)

3. Trade in all your little sundresses and strapless tops and buy 6 parkas. Keep one sundress to wear to the ironic 'beach party' someone will inevitably throw. Nothing says 'aloha' like frost on the windows.

4. Washing your hands at the bathroom sink will be an ordeal in which you wait 40 seconds for the hot-water-tap to warm up, then spend ten seconds playing hot potato with your fingers as you run them from hot to cold to hot to cold so fast that you achieve a nice lukewarm feeling.

5. You will rarely see such a beautiful pink-orange-purple summer sunset anywhere else in your life. It doesn't happen all the time but when it does, you'll know what I'm talking about.

6. Don't fear the Irn-Bru, aka Scotland's national soft drink. It's soo delicious, like bubble gum-flavored crack. (Random trivia side note: Scotland is the only country in Europe where a coca-cola product isn't the top selling soda!)

7. Do, on the other hand, fear the deep fried Mars bar, Scotland's national desert. Blegh.

8. Also don't fear the haggis. Seriously. People like to bag on it, but did you ever stop to think what went into those hot dogs you love so much? yeah. Haggis is delicious end of story.

9. DO NOT, under any circumstances, spell whisky with an 'e'. (Technically I already knew that before coming here but it's still worth repeating.)

10. Either invest in a sun lamp or be prepared to visit your mental happy place A LOT during the winter months.

11. Ignore everything negative you just said because Scotland is the greatest country in the world and you love it really and you didn't mean any of it. :)

Landan Dahling

2011-11-13T18:23:00.001+01:00

Since September, my sister has the incredible fortune of studying photography in London. And i do mean IN London; she is a ten-minute walk from Waterloo and the London Eye (not jealous, not jealous, not jealous). So being the sweet loving sister that I am, I begrudgingly fulfilled my responsibility of visiting her a couple weeks ago.

I didn't take too many photos (gasp) cause we were mostly too busy goofing around, finding delicious food on the cheap, shopping, and running around like crazies. It was nice.

A stroll along South Bank in the sun. Since we lived in England when we were younger I've been to London many times but i never get bored of it! Can you believe the population of greater London is 20 million while the population of my wee SCOTLAND is... 5 million. No wonder everyone always forgets about us.

We had an afternoon in Camden, which I think has become my favorite London neighborhood. The alternative, hip and downright weird part of the city is so awesome for unique shopping and foooooood. The Stable Market is a covered labyrinth-like series of semi permanent stalls selling every food you can think of, and EVERYTHING you ever wanted to wear or own. I know I'm describing it now but really it's indescribable.

For example the little sushi man who makes whichever roll you want, exactly how you want it, and hardly charges you anything for it!! Loove Camden.

Chinatown by night. Another amazing area.

We also stumbled onto the Southbank Real Food Market, which runs every weekend and has incredible-smelling stalls sizzling with amazing exotic foods as well as classics. I had an organic juicy burger and Mad had a Turkish spinach and cheese wrap thing mmmmmmmmmmm.

Le London Eye.

You can't tell but this is an actual real red London bus we're sitting in! It's the little things that make me happy...

I <3 you schwessielein.

Cake Stand Display

2011-11-10T03:40:00.000+01:00

I made the most adorable cake stand/ jewelry display ever! All from charity/thrift shop finds! I bought this small wine glass and matching saucer-bowl combo at Shelter for £2.50 (about $4 or 5)! Add a little superglue, let it dry, and presto.

I was shopping at John Lewis and almost (like a FOOL) used a gift certificate on a cute but unnecessary jewelry display before I remembered my whole 'why buy when you could make' policy and luckily came back to my senses. It's an idea I had a long time ago and forgot about til now. £2.50 instead of £25. Cha-CHING.

On a side note, is anybody else super possessive and weird about gift certificates? By this I mean the greatest excitement is actually having them and thinking of all the things you could get for free, rather than actually spending them? I hoard them like you wouldn't believe and I'm always so sad to see them go... usually holding out for that one perfect thing, and then I realize it's about to expire so I end up making a rushed decision. But not this time... cause John Lewis vouchers don't expire baby! Which means I will probably be buried with it...

It's getting so cozy here! What with being so far north, the sun has basically set by 4pm so it's definitely candle time.

It will be so perfect for holding rings and pendants and to hang earrings off the side for my upcoming Christmas craft show. Which is next week! ahhhh!

xoxo

Gift Certificate Mega Sale!

2011-11-05T22:22:00.003+01:00

I’m soo excitedto present a new deal that I’m offering in my shop: 25% off thecost of gift certificates, which can later be redeemed for their full valuetowards items in my shop! This is a fabulous idea for great value Christmas presents, as well as for yourself. Take a look at them here.

Get a certificate worth: But pay:

$10 $7.50

$20 $15

$30 $22.50

$50 $37.50

$100 $75

Basically, if you think you might EVER buy something from Pearlswirl shop, then this is the deal for you, because gift certificates do not expire, and this guarantees you a 25% off sale whenever you decide to redeem it.

I can also do any other denomination you might want, and I can break a larger one up into smaller ones (ie. one $100 certificate can turn into 5 x $20 = 5 x happy friends! Or 3 x happy friends and a doubly happy you!)

I will email you a .pdf document with the 'certificate' (which can be printed for gift-giving) and there will be a code printed on it, to enter in at checkout. I can also email it to another person directly for you, and I can also send hard copies through the mail to the address of your choice as well. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

This will only run for a short amount of time!

xoxo

I know this song is waay different from the usual songs I post, but I don't fit into any boxes, music-wise. I am a huge PF fan, and this song is perfection to me. That solo starting at 4:40... I've had that on non-stop repeat for the last 4 days. It helps me relax when the stress piles up. Enjoy.

Rust & Gold

2011-11-01T11:05:00.003+01:00

My Rust & Gold Bracelet was featured in two treasuries over the last few days! This is always a surefire confidence boost, knowing how many gorgeous items there are on etsy, and someone managed to find and decided to use mine. yay! Nothing like tooting one's own horn a bit to really get the day started right. Now I'm off to the library to read and write about absolute neutralization and phoneme theory in generative phonology. I wish i had any idea what it meant though.... :(

See this one here.

xoxo

P.S. Thanks to everyone who voted on my poll below. If you didn't yet, could you please? Pretty please? Pretty please with everyone's favorite candied fruit on top?

Votes please!

2011-10-30T19:36:00.000+01:00

For the third year in a row I'll be selling at the Adam House Cancer Research UK Craft and Jewelry Fair (although i still can't bring myself to write 'jewellery' the British way... haha..)

The last two years were relatively successful, so I'm really excited to get out again and sell my stuff at a fair! They must love me over there by now.

I want to change my price tags a bit from the ones I normally use. People told me last year that the tags were really pretty and it was a shame that they had to remove them before giving my jewelry as gifts because the price was written on them (which is kind of the point of a price tag to begin with, it has to be said.) Nevertheless, I see where they're coming from so I had a few ideas to fix that for this year and i need your lovely opinions on the matter! There is a poll embedded into this post, please cast your vote (once only!). I realize this is probably not an urgent, sleep-depriving issue for you like it certainly is for me, but if you could still be so kind. There should be a space to write your own idea if you're foolish enough to think you have one better than mine. Start warming up your clicking fingers and get your voting on!

***

1. The old style I normally use. Perhaps older is better?

2. First, this one has a perforated tearable tab with the price and code. I was so happy coming up with this idea, that way people can leave the tag on if they choose. Second, it's white because I got a bit tired of the sensory overload of the colored papers I normally use, thinking they might look a bit childish? White is more classy. (It will be on cardstock, not printer paper). Third, I used the logo from my etsy shop, rather than the pearlswirl rubber stamp I normally use, because that's the logo I'll have on my business cards. But I could also do this style with the old stamp as well.

3. Same as the one above but on printed cardstock (all different kinds). Thanks to la lovely flatmate Mara for pointing out that my printer would still print this on the colored paper. (I'm not so savvy.) The paper pattern and color scheme will be matched to the colors in the jewelry obviously. Again this could also be done with the old stamp font as well as the new one.

4. Again with the new logo and perforated tab, but this one will hang on a type of pegboard rather than be attached to the clasp with string. This wouldn't work for all types (ie. earrings) though. If I end up using this option it will just be some necklaces and bracelets. Again could do it with the old stamp/colored paper as well. Ahhh too many choices!!

Thanks for ~~humoring~~ helping me! And you can also leave comments/suggestions in the comments box.

P.S. I chose that picture for inside the poll box because it looks like me hunched over in the middle of the night making jewelry and not sleeping. True story.

xoxo

Lemon Sandy Muffins

2011-10-24T01:00:00.000+02:00

I am proud to present one of my more, if not most, successful experiments in the kitchen. God knows there have been many failures. But these, I can humbly and truly claim, are perfect.

I'm calling them sandy muffins like pecan sandy cookies, because they have that slightly crumbly and dry texture (not like cake, more like a scone). The absolute best thing about these is that the actual muffin part has no sugar (gasp!) so it's almost not sweet at all, but then when you add the frosting you get the perfect balance of sweet and... not. Trust me.

I have provided the super simple recipe below in case you want to try them!

Lemon Sandy Muffins

Ingredients (I should say I measure veeeeeery roughly and inaccurately, so much so that it might make the slightly neurotic a bit seasick, but these quantities should be accurate!)

Sandy Muffins

250g (8.8 oz) flour

2 eggs

170g (6 oz) softened butter

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Zest of 1 lemon

Frosting (essential to this recipe)

5 tbsp boiling water

30g (1 oz) softened butter

12 tbsp (roughly) icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Zest of 1 lemon

1 drop yellow food coloring

***

Combine flour, eggs, butter and baking powder in large bowl; mix/beat til fluffy and light in color. Stir in vanilla and lemon zest, blend well.

Scoop into paper muffin cups or greased muffin tin directly, bake at 180 C (356 F) for 15-18 minutes, until top is slightly golden. Because there is no milk and the batter will be quite rough, they will not settle into perfect muffin shapes, they'll look more like boulders.

In the meantime, make frosting by stirring melted butter and hot water together, and pouring over the icing sugar in a bowl. Mix well. If the proportions are off, simply add more hot water or sugar as needed, until you get a difficult to stir, but not totally solid, consistency. Basically, like frosting. :) Add in the vanilla and lemon zest, and once the texture is smooth, drop in the food coloring.

Spread frosting onto cooled muffins, and top with additional lemon zest!

Genoa Getaway

2011-10-21T01:35:00.001+02:00

Davide and I had a short but super sweet time together last week. We took a roadtrip and stopped at Cinque Terre (in Liguria), with one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen! It's like a super-scenery all-in-one package deal: mountains and bright blue Mediterranean sea and sweet hilltop villages all in one place! If you can't afford three vacations just take this one and you'll get it all! ;) Oh also, whereas we here in Scotland have SNOW forecast for next week, there it was 26, 27 degrees (80ish!) and sunny! We spent a day in the park drinking wine and playing Trivial Pursuit. Which I WON both times... I'm just saying... although he's probably not reading this anyways so what's the point...

Manarola, one of the "Cinque Terre" (5 earths - 5 villages practically hanging into the sea from off a mountain!)

A sweet love bench... this place was so romantic and beautiful!

Don't you wish you lived here??!?!?!

I would now like to draw your attention to this pizza. Easily the largest I have ever eaten. Look at the wine glass for reference! It was hanging off the plate and onto the table...

Our actual roadtrip was to Genoa, the pesto capital (also some nice old buildings and stuff but mostly the pesto, which was the besto--oh lame pun! I went there...)

Old (the building on the left is attached to the house where Christopher Columbus was supposedly born!)...

... meets new! This is part of the huge aquarium they have overlooking the ancient port... loads of exotic fishies... within meters of being free!! If only they could swim through the walls, poor guys... :) It was a really nice aquarium though.

I always wonder how the millions of Italians whose underwear is inevitably in the snapshots of every single tourist, must feel...

Flying back home over the beautiful Alps ...

I traipsed all around Italy with pain in my foot that I found out today, is actually a broken toe! But it was sooo worth it!

I am SO lucky I get to travel so much! Thank you Ryanair! You're far from perfect but i love you anyways!

***

Leavin' On a Jet Plane!

2011-10-11T18:14:00.002+02:00

Hello friends! I am off in a few minutes to visit la bella Italia and my bello boyfriend!

I soooo love painting my nails but never get to during a regular week because my work doesn't allow it. But now? My nails are beeeeeeeooootiful! Yaaasss! What now work??

All purchases from my shop will be mailed on Monday October 17.

I'll be back on Saturday evening and will hopefully have a few nice photos of Genoa, Cinque Terre and some yum-my pesto...

xoxo

[Cheesy but you know you love it!]

A Little Autumn 'Collection'

2011-10-07T12:43:00.001+02:00

I've never done a collection or line or anything seasonal before, because it always feels silly to me when small, non-established shops or sellers do this -- like you're taking yourself too seriously. I'm not bagging on anyone, it's just something I always hated the idea of doing, for fear of being seen like I think too highly of myself or the jewelry I make. Which I know is my own issue. Nevertheless, over the past few days I've been making a lot and have found a steady stream of inspiration in the colors and sensations of this autumn season. Without really aiming to, I have actually made a cohesive set of pieces that work really well as a group, so I decided to have a bit of fun with the photos and present this as my fist little 'collection'. Get ready for natural elements like feathers, leaves, earthy tones, and a birdie friend or two...

Soft Sundown Flight Necklace

Rust and Gold Bracelet

Fall Filigree Necklace

Crisp Evening Earrings

Sunset Dreamer Necklace

Bye Bye Birch Earrings

Southbound Journey Necklace

Lucky Feather Earrings

These will go up for sale in my shop early next week; if you see something you want to reserve just let me know in a comment or by emailing jenny@pearlswirl.net.

Tidings of hot-water-bottles, quilts, and general coziness!

xoxo

Power Off

2011-10-05T23:48:00.003+02:00

Sometimes I feel too computer-focused you know? Especially now that the semester has started back up again and I have soooo much reading to do. A lot of it is on the computer (online articles, digitized versions of textbooks etc.), which is good on one hand because it saves a ton on money (cash that could be better spent on pretty and enjoyable things. Or food.) But on the other hand it leaves me feeling tired with a headache and sore eyes. So... to get into a more relaxed mindset (read: to procrastinate), what do I do? Naturally I edit some of my photos in iphoto so I can upload them to my online shop, browse through some of the other shops, read some blogs, write a blog post (thanks to Jennifer for helping me with enlarging pictures!) catch up on all my emails, etc. It's too much! When will the computer madness stop??? It's ironic that I found these gorgeous prints below on one of these etsy browsings (a word I just made up?) but I really love them! The computer is unfortunately a necessity in my life these days, but I would totally adore having these three prints framed in a row above my desk. It might motivate me to finish up my reading faster so I can go hug some attention-needing trees.

These are made by the incredibly talented Laura George on Etsy. I just love her cute illustrations and witty comments.

I particularly like this last one. In your face, Mark Zuckerberg!!

xoxo

The City That Never Sleeps

2011-10-01T17:00:00.003+02:00

Warning: this is a very photo-heavy post. If you've had trouble using blogger at all today, it is likely because I was hogging the entire bandwidth (did I use that right?) uploading these 38 photos. It is a feat in itself that I managed to narrow down my 800-something photos from our week in NYC to only these ones; i hope you'll agree they are a good representation of our amaaaaaaazing trip!

We've arrived!!! Yass!

Our first night; that big building with all the flags is our hotel. The location (two blocks from Times Square) and the price were perfect but don't be fooled by their website... it's not a luxurious hotel at all. It was ideal for us though! It just depends what you're looking for...

Le Times Square!

Chelsea Market for lunch, a.k.a. where the trendy rich kids come to play..

How New York is this?!

The beautiful Flatiron Building, and one of the nicest districts of the city.

Empire State Building (currently the tallest building in the city).

A bit of midday tomfoolery...

The Burger Joint, an unlikely greasy burger shack connected to the lobby of a super nice hotel, widely described as The Best Burger in New York. I was personally a wee bit disappointed, but I think I may have been expecting the supernatural.

Le Times Square again!

This cahp was so Noo Yahkk.

Idiots.

Doing my best Tina Fey.

30 Rock 30 Rock!!!

How cute is he?! ♥ At the Grand Central Station underground food court where I had a yummmmmmmmmy Cuban sandwich.

My aunts Tarisa and Judy (Jooody) came up for the weekend to see us and took us to this fabulous Broadway show and an amazing dinner in SoHo. This is the only snap I got since taking pictures inside was illegal or whatever. But thanks guys! It was sooo great seeing you!

How New York is this?!

Gray's Papaya, The Best Hot Dog in New York. This time I was NOT disappointed. I just wish that little girl weren't giving me the evil eye...

We's in Chinatown now...

Bored while waiting to get a table at Great N.Y. Noodletown in Chinatown. Davide was reading through the menu in Chinese (as you do when you're a Chinese student after all) and my mind tends to wander when he starts explaining all the characters to me. I wonder which of us is more intelligent.

Stuffed my face til I looked like this:

. .

( _ )

How New York is this?!

Chrysler Building in all its magnificence. This is definitely my favorite skyscraper. A weird thing to say if you've never been to NY (or Hong Kong), but once you go, one automatically sticks out as your favorite i think.

Both loving Brooklyn.

Bit o' Brooklyn Bridge.

The magnificent view across East River from Brooklyn into Manhattan. Just breathtaking. Wow. Possibly my favorite thing we did.

Yankee Stadium Bronx!!!!!!

Obligatory frank.

We managed to get last minute 5-buck tickets for a game, but unfortunately it was delayed for hours due to rain and we were both soaked and cold so we had to go back before it resumed (in fairness we did wait over 2 hours). :(

How New York is this?!

People seemed to be making a big deal out of this little statue for some reason.

The bull from all the movies is real!

I love this one (photo cred to Davide).

We had Korean BBQ in Koreatown!!

Inside the U.N. headquarters General Assembly. Such an impressive place.

From the top of the Empire State Building. Woah.

I <3 you, Manhattan. I'll be back soon.

Apple Pie Bites (Or, Baking for Cheaters)

2011-09-30T16:33:00.005+02:00

The other day I got a craving for something applepie-ish and autumn-ish and I had a bit of ready-made puff pastry left from another recipe, so I made these tasty little thingies with 4 ingredients and 25 minutes! YESSS success, EVEN my waistline agrees!

For 12 bite size pie morsels like these, you'll need a sheet of puff pastry (mine was about 8x12 inches); one green apple, sliced and diced very finely; a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and one of brown sugar; and finally one tablespoon of strawberry jam or preserves. In a bowl, add the brown sugar and cinnamon to the choppied apples, mix well, and add the spoonful of strawberry jam.

Carefully spoon the mixture onto twelve wee puff pastry beds, leaving space around the edges, which you roll up to tuck the apples in tight before they go on their wild oven adventure. You can add a tiny pat of butter on top of each at this point if you want, for extra golden deliciousness. I didn't though and they were still perfect.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes at 180 degrees celcius (360-ish F).

These next instructions are super important for getting the recipe right: when they come out of the oven, your plate should look like the photo above.

10 - 15 minutes later, it should look like this.

30 minutes later, it should look like this. If not, you have failed the recipe. Go back to the beginning and attempt again. :)

(To be fair: I did leave TWO ENTIRE PIE BITES for my roommate. Lucky girl!)

Wishing you an apple-filled weekend.
xoxo

Create Society

2011-09-23T09:00:00.000+02:00

Last Wednesday and Thursday was the Edinburgh University Societies' Fair, a chance for all the freshers (or returning students) to sample, and sign up for, many of the university's hundreds of clubs and societies. Naturally, Create Soc had a booth and, naturally, it was the best-looking one. It's hard to see from this photo but there's a strand of fairy lights wrapped around what we fondly referred to as 'the delicate structure'. We didn't have the space or time or funds to set up all our elaborate booth ideas, but people loved it and it represented the DIY nature of the society perfectly.

Free giveaway candy lovingly wrapped with a flyer containing all our contact and meeting information (wonder who came up with that time-consuming idea?!)

We are a joint creative-writing and crafting society, and our booth reflected that, with one side dedicated to journals and fiction-writing books and pens dangling from ribbons, and the other side dedicated to samples of some of last year's crafts and a small percentage of my craft books.

The two sides are organized and run separately, and the crafting side is Carly's and my creative platonic baby. We rescued it at the beginning of last year from its near defunct state and built it up through laborious planning, teacup by teacup (oh the horror!) to a weekly 'chill out, eat homebaked goods and listen to some nice tunes while we provide all the materials for you to make something awesome and learn something new and make new friends' atmosphere. This year it's bigger and better than ever and we're so excited for where it will lead...

Our first session of the new semester - decoupaged initial frames.

One of my favorites of the day, I wish I knew who made it!

A wee bit of stress showing on my face here... but we pulled off our first meeting like pros!

***

To all my fellow Edinburgers, come along and join us if this is something you'd be interested in! Writers meet every Monday from 7:30 - 9:30 pm in Teviot Middle Reading Room (but I couldn't tell you much about what they do) and crafters meet every Wednesday from 4 - 6 pm in Pleasance Cheviot Room. For more information read our blog, find our Facebook page, or email us at create@sms.ed.ac.uk!

Cheesy Reflection Time

2011-09-20T01:03:00.004+02:00

Today was my first day of classes and the beginning of my third year at university. After high school, I initially planned to go immediately to college, but life didn't work out that way. I ended up having to sidetrack my plans and stay home for a year. I was negative at the start of the year, but I got a haircut, found a job here and ended up having one of the best years of my life! Now I am soo grateful that things didn't go quite how I intended. I can't believe that was three years ago. It blows the mind! And now as many of my high school friends are going into their final year of university and are one step closer to the dreaded reality, I'm so happy I have another two years in this blissful dream state and that things worked out how they did. Here's to a fabulous year!

***

And for a wee bit of visual stimulus, here's a collage of beautiful Etsy delights I've recently been gifted. The tank top has technically not arrived but should be flying towards me in a large cargo plane as I write this, soon to greet me at my door!

1. Deep Aqua Necklace by rafya

2. Teepee Tank Top by skylinefever

3. Tiny Sterling Silver Stacking Ring by ScapeStackRings

4. Eiffel Tower Pillow by VintageJamie

I hate that I love this song so much! It reminds me of Romania..

xoxo

Burrito Evolution

2011-09-16T03:05:00.006+02:00

The Story Of A Girl And Her Burrito From Chipotle Mexican Grill.

"Damn straight. I am on vacation wearing my I <3 NY t-shirt and I am about to dig into this delicious steak burrito from Chipotle. This moment is perfect."

My Mexican Fiesta begins. What a pretty sight.

Better wipe my face lest this adventure makes me undesirable in some way.

Scratch that undesirable comment. This is getting messy.

Chipotle, why you make me cryyyyyy?

Literally eating the remnants off my hand. I (may have) also licked the tinfoil. Vacation time = no shame time.

The final step of the evolution.
(found here)

The End

***

As you may have guessed, this burrito evolution is from my trip to NYC last week! I'm now back and slowly settling into reality and I'm so jealous of last-week-Jenny, the Jenny in the photos (even the one where she looks like gollum) because that Jenny was on vacation wearing her I <3 NY t-shirt and eating lots of messy things and this-week-Jenny just finished four loads of laundry, including her WINTER COAT which will be getting a lot of use before September is even finished. :(

More photos of the trip somewhere distant on the horizon. I won't say 'soon' because I'm not a liar.

xoxo

Tomorrow Evening...

2011-08-31T13:30:00.003+02:00

... this will be me!!!

That's right folks, tomorrow morning Davide and I are heading to NOO YAHK for 8 days! This trip was a joint graduation present from his parents and 21st bday one from mine, and we are sooooo excited! I haven't stepped foot on US soil since 2006 so needless to say I'm looking forward to getting back to (some of) my roots. It'll be good to be a tourist in a place where people finally won't judge me for my 'stupid ignorant American' accent. I also won't have to endure anymore 'But you're American??! But you've never been to New York?!?! That's, like, your capital.' (Well, that second part will probably still happen.)

I'm leaving my shop open and will take care of any orders once I come back!

Whheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

xoxo

Panda Bread!

2011-08-29T11:51:00.002+02:00

A couple days ago my sister sent me this link to a recipe for panda bread. This is literally a loaf of bread with a panda face inside in front of some bamboo. Naturally I went ballistic for the cuteness.

I never made bread before, so maybe one that requires three different rounds of dough-kneading and airhole-punching was not the best way to start. It was hard. And took me a loooong time. This was supposed to be a surprise for my panda-loving boyfriend but he came over halfway through to a very stressed-out me. It was taking way longer than it should to rise (maybe I skimped on yeast? Or maybe my apartment was too cold...) and we had a minor mouse-in-the-kitchen situation (this is unavoidable in all old Edinburgh tenement flats even the spotless ones).
So it was 4 am by the time I took it out of the oven and we munched it with an episode of The Inbetweeners.

Panda factory.

A panda is born! I always thought fresh-from-the-oven bread would be better but the taste and texture was waaaaay better this morning after it had hardened and cooled (it was very dense and didn't rise properly). People who make bread: is this normal?? The brown is made with cocoa powder but I personally think it ruins the taste a bit since the other two colors weren't flavored.

I would definitely make bread again cause it made the house smell soo good and gave me some domestic goddess mojo. I might even try this bread again but not til I master how to make light and fluffy dough!

Not perfect but sooo cute and quite yummy!

xoxo

A Weekend Giveaway!!!

2011-08-25T14:00:00.004+02:00

Hello all! Today is Thursday, and that means tomorrow is well and truly the weekend. Now, this does not matter in the least to me, because I'll be working 10-7 right through it fri, sat and sun :( But I asked myself, 'wouldn't it be nice to come home from work, log into blogger, and view dozens and dozens (and DOZENS) of comments from lovely blog readers?' 'Yes, self', I answered, 'it would indeed.'

So I hatched a plan. A GIVEAWAY!!!

Wee Hearts Earrings

I just received a special order in my shop for a pendant made of a vintage postcard. It was so much fun to make, and the customer was really pleased, so I decided to make more in a similar style.

Flourish Necklace

These are 2.2 cm wide silver plated discs, to which I adhered snippets of an old postcard, or just pretty scrapbooking paper, and covered them with a layer of Diamond Glaze, which creates a glass-like smooth sealing surface.

Memories Past Necklace

I totally adore this style right now. Pretty papers, old postcards, necklaces. I'm sure you're shocked.

Nomad Necklace

To celebrate this new style (and naturally to read your lovely comments as they shall be the only things keeping me going- hint hint) i am giving away these Wee Hearts Earrings! They will be polite, kind, and will always attract positive attention. They will do wonders for your self-esteem and add a bounce to your step. They don't take up much space and will mostly keep to themselves. They just want your love!

If you think you have what it takes to care for the Wee Hearts, leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite item currently for sale in my shop. You will get one additional entry for each of the following:
1. Adding my etsy shop to your favorites.
2. Becoming a follower of my blog.
(Let me know in a comment if these apply to you).

Please include your email address and name in each entry. I'll announce the winner on Tuesday morning!

Good luck and may the best (wo)man win! :)

xoxo

[EDIT: Congratulations Katelyn at The Knicks of Knacks! The Wee Hearts are yours! I'll send you a private message.]

Romania Week - Day Four

2011-08-21T01:00:00.000+02:00

Impressions Of Romania

I didn't fully know what to expect from Romania. We had been told various things: it's cheap, people are very rude, it's super safe, people are polite, things are expensive, it's unsafe, etc.

But the whole reason we travel is to see these things for ourselves right??

Iasi's (pronounced Yash) Palace of Culture

In my experience there was a bit of all that. The first revelation: some things are cheap and some things are expensive. One GBP equals five Romanian lei so I kept panicking when I saw such high numbers on things! (I blame the euro for making me expect standardization!) Things like food and drinks in stores, as well as transport by bus, taxi or train, were much less expensive than their British counterparts, whereas there was a huge jump up for restaurants, cafes and bars. In a lot of the places we went, drinks and food were about equal (slightly less maybe) to what you'd pay here.

Central square in Cluj-Napoca, beautiful town

Every big town or city had a huge new mall monstrosity (monstrous only in its similarity with American malls, since they were quite pleasant really). Our first day some of our students took us to have lunch at the mall food court where they excitedly pointed out KFC and McDonalds. I suppose they expected 'English' students (Come on guys, for the last time, we live in SCOTLAND! It is a different country) to prefer western crap food over local awesome food, and that makes me so sad. Anyone who knows me knows I won't touch Mcdonalds in Scotland or Germany so I was borderline horrified at the suggestion of getting some my second full day in Romania. But luckily found an awesome traditional fast food place instead. Which brings me to my impressions of traditional food. See Diagram 1 for this.

Most of what I ate I adored. Lots of meats with rich sauces, lots of rice, lots of cream, lots of cheesey and breaded things. But in a climate where you're already sweating through the soles of your feet at 9 am and you're a teacher and therefore required to dress quite conservatively rather than your go-to shorts and tank top, maybe you don't want a huge plate of polenta, bacon and cheese. Just maybe. Ahh, polenta. Mamaliga. This dish is everywhere and everyone seems to love it. I wish I could say I was a fan, tried really hard to become one. But alas. To each his own. I totally adored sarmale, these things that look like sausages but are actually porkmeat, rice, tomatoes and spices rolled up in cabbage leaves. Sooooooo yummy... I wish readers could see my face right now just thinking about those things. Or the small puddle of drool on my shirt.

Something delicious and carby.

We learned that you can't just assume the same concepts exist everywhere. We wanted a prize for our talent show winners so decided to go to this cool restaurant/pub some students had taken us to, to buy gift certificates. We put on our big girl pants and walked inside, ready to ask if it was possible. After our clear explanation, the waiter gave us first blank stares, and then frustration and shouts of "VOUCHERS FOR WHICH??? WHAT FOOD YOU WANT?? WHEN YOU COME EATING HERE?" 20 minutes later, after the most embarrassing conversation of my life, during which time we had to call our Romanian host to help us explain the situation to the waiter, while he shouted insults about us back to the roomful of his scary steroid buddies, we walked away with an 8pm reservation for the following day and two prepaid burgers and pizzas.

Bran (aka Dracula's) Castle

The concept of gift certificates does not exist in Romania. It's things like this that I find fascinating about experiencing other cultures. An idea that seems so normal and so 'duh!' to one person, can perplex another simply because they're not accustomed to it.

I wish I didn't look demented in this otherwise awesome photo of traditional handmade clothes and an antique stove.

The reverse: we were advised that the best way to get across into Ukraine was simply to hitch a ride with strangers at the border. To me this seemed like a death trap, but it was our safety-conscious host who suggested it! Apparently hitching in and out of one of the tightest borders out of and into the EU is considered normal and safe. And this, my friends, is exactly what we did. That story is coming soon.

Stray pups EVERYWHERE! :) / :(

I was also expecting more of a lively party scene, especially since I was turning 21 the day after we arrived! But it seems like the cool Romanian kids hang out in pubs and cafes with terraces

rather than nightclubs. At least that's what we noticed. From what hosts told us, clubs aren't pleasant places and you don't go there if you're classy. Waaaaayyyy different from Scotland. Nonetheless we had an amazing time getting to know the nightlife.

Our second weekend, in the resort town of Piatra-Neamt.

My actual 21st birthday was spent on a nine-hour train ride through really beautiful and rural areas where you could catch glimpses of gypsy families camping in fields. Very surreal. Also, the words 'nine-hour train ride' no longer phase me like they used to. Funny how that happens.

The train journey begins.

There was also a strange mix of friendly and unfriendly. We clearly stuck out as foreigners and encountered a lot of service people annoyed at our lack of custom and language understanding. We tried, oh did we try, but there's only so much viciously searching through the menu and "... uh, doi... nu, patru, apa plata... va rog..." that can occur before you piss off the busy waitress. So a lot of strangers on the street or in restaurants were rude, or just brisk with us.

Picnic in the mountains

But on the other hand, the hospitality of host families and teachers working at the schools was overwhelming. Just super nice people who obviously wanted to give us the best possible impression of Romania and make our time fantastic. Which it was! Of course one month is by far not enough time to be able to say you 'know' a country, but what I do know about Romania is that it's a complex, fascinating and beautiful country and i thank it for giving me such a cool experience!

Daily commute.

This post is way more wordy and less photo-ey than I normally go for but I've had lots of people asking for anecdotes and general impressions and the ole' blog seemed like the best way. It is after all called Pearlswirl Journals and it acts like my own personal record that I can read back on whenever I want. Well done if you made it this far. And if you skipped all the stuff in the middle and only read this last paragraph (Mary and Katelyn), then the congratulations don't apply to you. Now go back and read the whole thing. :)

xoxo

Romania Week - Day Three

2011-08-17T14:39:00.002+02:00

A Few Photos

(click on photo collage to enlarge)

Clockwise from top left:

1. Celebrating my 21st birthday in a Romanian-Hungarian pub

2. Making endless lesson plans while Puffy the cat ensures quality control

3. Hiking in the beautiful mountain village of Vama with our weekend hosts

4. Travel essentials on the train

1. Nobody does homemade pickles like the Romanians!

2. Typical breakfast of vegetables, olives, cheese, pickles, and homemade cupcakes

3. The lovely Fountain of Youth I expertly crafted out of a water bottle as a prize for our treasure hunt

4. With my adorable hosts for my first two weeks, Medeea and Cristina

5. The famous handpainted monastery of Moldovita.

Finding it a bit hard to post every day (who would have thought?!!) but do have a couple more posts planned!

Happy Hump Day!

xoxo

Romania Week - Day Two

2011-08-14T16:00:00.000+02:00

The Teaching Experience

Two months before I left for Romania, I honestly wasn't thinking that much about it. It was a pleasant thing sitting somewhere in my future that I knew I would eventually encounter. Two weeks before, I was so excited I couldn't control myself. Inventing little scenarios in my head, obsessively reading weather reports, and endlessly packing and unpacking (mentally of course. Oh God, if I packed my bags for real two weeks before I left for a trip, 90% of my troubles would be solved.)

Two days before, I was a wreck.

The prospect of planning for and teaching a large class of foreign students when you have no training for the task, and nothing to rely on but a little book of suggestions (useless, thank you very much), your own ideas (some useless, some awesome) and your fellow teacher friends (always awesome), is really daunting.

Kids smell fear. FACT.

The first morning. 'Just make sure they can't smell your fear.'

My first two weeks, in Iasi, I was teaching a class of 37 10-12 year olds. THIRTY SEVEN. That was a challenge, to say the least. The ideas I had for projects with this class mostly went down really well. I had them design their own countries (modeled off my own Zongo-Zongo. Capital: Jenny-ville), plan their ideal holidays using brochures I picked up from tourist information, write their own skits using an assigned list of random vocabulary, write their own newspapers, make their own wordearches. We played a looooooot of outdoor games. I organized a music pub-style quiz, complete with soundclips and posters. Several of us planned an elaborate Pirate treasure hunt, a movie day complete with origami popcorn boxes (finally! Vlad's moment to shine!), and we even taught them ceilidh dancing.

Movie Day: Design a movie poster and present to the class.

Basically, with this group, there was no shortage of fun ideas and they loved them all. The problem I did have was discipline. Not about obeying me, I'm pleased to say. The first day I found myself in that classic dilemma: should I start off nice and sweet and get meaner if I have to? Or should I start out mean and scary and get gradually nicer? Much like Ted Mosby in How I met Your Mother, I was confused. [Watch the embedded video at the end if you don't know what I'm talking about.] I went for a balance, and for the most part, they listened to me in class, were quiet(ish) when I wanted (didn't hurt to learn the Romanian for 'silence' - that totally put them in their place), and followed instructions pretty well. But there was a bad case of bullying; a bunch of little turds against this one girl. Get thirty-seven pre-pubescent kids together and I think this is bound to happen. Most of it was outside the classroom but some of it was being brought in and I struggled with that, because it made me resort to mean, 'do your work in total silence' mode.

With my wee kiddies.

Eventually I realized that's a vital part of teaching kids and I became comfortable with my ability to do it when it was needed. I definitely had my class's respect, so I couldn't be prouder of myself.

Handing out certificates on 'graduation'.

***

The second two weeks, in the small village of Radauti, were different in every way. I was teaching 15-16 year olds and only had 17 on the busiest day, with only one boy. This group was much better-behaved and less rowdy. Their English was much better, but on the flipside they were a little more reserved. At some points the silence in the classroom during 'groupwork' was unnerving to me so I had to remind them they COULD talk amongst themselves. Weird right? But I appreciated their company when a group of them would take us out for drinks or show us around the town.

Pirate Treasure Hunt: the first task was to design and wear their own pirate hats, and create a pirate ship out of uncooked spaghetti and long marshmallows. The clue they got:
But first you must prove you're ready
For this you'll need a hand so steady.
A ship to take you on your quest
And a pirate hat to look your best.

Traditional Scottish ceilidh dancing.

Jen the other teacher and I were able to reuse and adapt a lot of our plans and ideas from the previous two weeks and make them more elaborate. Again we did a treasure hunt, though this one was much better planned and had more interesting clues. There was an old abandoned fountain just off the school grounds that we actually used as our fountain of youth, with treasure hidden inside. We also had a Scottish ceilidh dance and we set up a talent show. Their talents were really impressive!

Radauti's Got Talent!

In the end, I'm glad I had two totally different groups because I gained more experience and learned more about my teaching style. I had sooo much fun with both classes. I learned a lot about myself in the sense of how authoritarian I can be if I have to, and I became comfortable with doing it. I realized I want to get my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate and do this kind of thing again, this time with training and experience under my belt. I learned so much about kids' abilities, interests and skills. And I learned what a pain in the ass I must have been in high school with my constant chattering and drawing doodles and passing notes that I was convinced the teacher couldn't see. But now I know the truth: kids might smell fear, but the teacher can see everything. EVERYTHING.

My slightly less wee kiddies.

The video below sums up my first morning.
xoxo

Romania Week- Day One

2011-08-13T15:30:00.002+02:00

Lads and ladies! I'm finally back and recovered from my whirlwind month and a half in which I visited Italy and Germany; spent a month teaching English in Romanian summer schools, traveling around the country and its neighbors; and experiencing the Fringe festival here in Edinburgh while my sister was visiting. She just left this morning which gives me a chance to pull my blog out again.

As you may have noticed i abandoned my plan to, what did I call it? "turn this into a travel-style blog, writing posts about what this experience is like and what I'm discovering". A combination of bad internet, lack of free time and most importantly not actually wanting to sit down and write everything out. BUT! I'm back now and decided instead to do Romania Week on my blog, with a different anecdote or tidbit or photo or something every day. Keep things interesting right.

Part of the crew as we set off towards nine hours of train towards our placements.

So, without further ado, my pearls of wisdom...

Eleven Things You Quickly Learn As A Volunteer ESL Teacher And Tourist In A Foreign Country...

1. Never leave your back turned on your students for my than ten seconds at a time. Ever.

2. Despite your insistence to the contrary, your level of Romanian does not improve with every beer you drink.

3. Think twice before getting over-eager and volunteering to fashion a 'Fountain of Youth'-- the candy filled trophy prize for the treasure hunt you're organizing-- out of nothing but a plastic bottle and some glitter.

4. Sure, phrases like 'please', 'thank you' and 'I don't speak Romanian' are useful enough to memorize, but you should really have spent your time learning things like "Vlad, stop folding origami cranes while I'm trying to teach", or "No thanks, no beer with my breakfast. I shall stick to juice for now."

5. Just because you saw the bus schedule clearly posted on the official website, does not by any means entail that your bus will arrive at the specified time.

6. Before you begin a game of Simon Says, mentally prepare at least twelve billion tasks for Simon to say, so you avoid the whole "Simon says touch the ground. Simon says stop, Simon says touch it again, simon says stop" routine.

7. Unless you want a really embarrassing 30 minutes of being laughed at by Romanian waiters, do not attempt to buy a gift certificate from a restaurant as a prize for the talent show winners. This concept is unheard of.

8. Taxi drivers will take one look at you and kindly decide to drive you the scenic, 25-minute route instead of the more direct, 10-minute one. Isn't that nice of them?!

9. If you want a lesson to last for four hours, you better spend at least six hours planning it.

10. When planning an elaborate outdoor pirate treasure hunt for your students, try not to schedule it the same day as a giant solar flare. Then, two weeks later, when you're doing the same thing for your next class, try not to schedule it when there's a rainstorm.

11. A nine-hour bus ride at the back of a non-air conditioned rickety white van in which your seat is a chair glued to the ground, there's a nun sitting on a plastic stool in the middle of the aisle, and luggage being thrown in through the back door just narrowly misses clipping your ear as it wizzes by at high speeds, while you wind your way up tight hairpin curves on a mountain, and the nun gently sways back and forth with every turn, will not be the relaxing experience you were hoping for.

More tomorrow!

xoxo

A Wee French-Seamed Tote Bag And A Mini Panic Attack

2011-06-29T19:08:00.006+02:00

I made this tote bag for my roommate who is about to jet off to Costa Rica for six months to work as part of her degree. She's soo excited. And she, much like me, enjoys projecting herself into cute little romantic scenarios (ie. "leisurely strolling through the farmer's market in San Jose on a Saturday morning". she never said that at all but I can imagine she was thinking it). So when she told me she liked this special edition Amy Butler fabric that my friend Tina bought me, i knew she would need a tote bag made from it for all the real or imagined cantelopes she would buy there.

I kind of taught myself french seams with this bag. It's not that i was trying to or that they're particularly difficult or anything. I just tried to think what would be a nice neat way of finishing the seams without a lining (so it can be light and easily folded up and thrown in the bottom of her rucksack for when she's climbing volcanoes or whatever). I came up with a method i was quite happy with and when I saw the end result there was a moment of "oooooooohhh, so that's how to do french seams".

It's such a simple design but I love it!

She gave me this gorgeous book she made in a book-binding class. Isn't it beautiful!?

Sorry about the bad photos, but nothing about my last few weeks has been well thought-through.

I came back from my vacation two days ago and I'm leaving tomorrow for Romania for a month. I can't believe it; I'm so excited and nervous and all those things! At this point I'm mostly just dreading the getting there: i leave with my friend on a 5:45 am bus from Edinburgh to London (that takes 9 hours, thank you very much), spend the day in London and the night in the airport. We take off at 7:45 am the next day for Cluj (that's 26 hours after we leave home if you weren't keeping track). But unfortunately it has to be done this way because there's only one airport in the UK that flies to where we're going and we'd rather save money for experiencing things over there than on just travel.

I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update my blog but I'm hoping to turn it into a travel-style blog, writing posts about what this experience is like and what I'm discovering, so stay tuned!

But tonight Davide is taking me out to the best Thai restaurant in the world as an early birthday celebration (since my actual bday will be in Romania) and as usual I'm running late on getting ready, so i best be off. Let the adventures begin!

xoxo

You Know You're Procrastinating When...

2011-06-20T23:34:00.006+02:00

... you reorganize your closet so the COLORS MATCH. But you know you're just pathetic when you enjoy looking at it so much that you think the entire blog world should get a peek too. 30% procrastination, 70% CRAZY.

(after closer inspection on my computer monitor, i see that the colors don't even look that good. WTF.)

"But procrastination from what?" you ask. Packing. For a mini Italy-Germany trip starting tomorrow, and then a maxi Romania trip for the whole of July. That's right folks. I get the awesome opportunities to travel to all these amazing places, visiting family on the first trip and then volunteering to teach English with friends in Romanian summer schools while being hosted for free (with the supercool Scroll program). It's the dream. And here I am, after weeks of excitement and mental planning (read: "this dress is adorable! I must have it for Romania!"), not diligently making lesson plans or final arrangements, but sitting here reorganizing my clothes and BLOGGING about it.

The depths I have sunk to.

I'm also mildly terrified at the prospect of being alone in front of a class of students who could very well call me a stupid ugly cow TO MY FACE in a language I don't understand, but find beautiful. So at least I'll enjoy hearing it.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

*****

On a lighter note, there are still two hours to take advantage of the Super Massive Weekend Sale at pearlswirl! Go on, click the link. Three cheers for consumerism!! :) (Obviously it doesn't count if it's handmade.)

[EDIT: The shop is now closed until August. Thanks all for supporting the sale! The travel money will be put to good use! :) ]

xoxo

Super Massive Weekend Sale!

2011-06-17T14:45:00.005+02:00

I come bearing exciting news today! Some of you might know I'm getting ready to do some traveling. This means I'll be closing Pearlswirl shop on Tuesday June 21st for all of July, and reopening some time in early August. And you can't blame a girl for wanting to go out with a bang!

Cue exciting news. For the whole of this weekend (starting AS SOON AS YOU READ THIS and finishing Monday night/Tuesday morning at 00:00 GMT) I am running a huge sale in the shop! For every necklace or bracelet that you buy, you get any pair of earrings absolutely free (you can also choose the one keychain in the shop as your free item if you prefer)! Just add both items to your cart and proceed with the whole transaction in PayPal, and I will reimburse the cost of the earrings through PayPal! Is this not amazing news indeed?!

(Please note, this offer does not include the Hearts for Japan Necklace, from which 100% of the proceeds made when sold will be donated directly to the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.)

But wait! There's more! If my sales hit or exceed 125 (they currently stand at 115), then every person who participates in the sale will receive a $5 gift certificate to redeem in the shop after it reopens in August!

And, as usual, there is free worldwide shipping on all orders!

I wish I didn't own the shop, that way I could take advantage of this deal too. Guess I'll have to live vicariously through all of you! :)

xoxo

I Finally Turned Twenty...

2011-06-15T12:27:00.003+02:00

That is, I finally finished my Turning Twenty Quilt, which is rather appropriate timing since I started it right after turning twenty and my twenty-first birthday is in just a few weeks... between starting and finishing this one, I completed a whole other quilt, but this lack of logic is just how I roll.

What needed to be done was just machine-attaching the binding and hand-sewing it on since Katelyn so graciously long-arm-quilted this for me last summer!

Have been sleeping under it for almost a year with no binding for no particular reason, but then I got inspired to finish it!

Such beautiful mitered corners...

I do love it so!

This video disturbs me slightly but the song is sooo good! So hit play and switch your browser window to something else so you can hear but don't have to watch! ;)

Happy hump day all!
xoxo

Dear June...

2011-06-11T23:00:00.004+02:00

... what happened man? You've changed. You used to be so warm, so friendly and inviting, so sunny. In years gone by you gave us BBQ's, carelessly running through the park or on the beach, and shorts which, in retrospect, may have been slightly too short. Still, we had some good times. Lately I feel like I don't even know you. You've gone distant, grey and cold. So, so cold. I just wanna go back to the way we were before. Come back. I miss the old you.

WHAT I WANT FROM JUNE

WHAT I'M GETTING FROM JUNE

Apart from the undesirable weather, my summer is going well so far! It started officially for me about 3 weeks ago after I had my last exam. Since then I've been suuuper relaxed (too relaxed). I've been taking lots of shifts at work, going out, attempting to learn Italian through absorption by hanging out with roomfuls of them (much vino has been drunk). I am loving being in the city outside semester time, which hasn't really happened much yet since I went home for the entire summer last year. I feel like I actually live here, and not just study here. It's a good feeling! And of course I've been making beautiful things, but nothing quite ready to be revealed yet. But in the meantime I'll show the mini vase I painted at a pottery place a few years ago with Katelyn in Munich. That trip was sooo fun and I never showed the vase...

Isn't it cute! Especially with my Japanese lemonade bottle stolen from the sushi restaurant and the bamboo I am plant-sitting for a friend. HAHA. my friends are so cool they give me real live plants to look after.

At least something nice about Edinburgh June is that we hardly have any actual night hours because we're so far north... the above photo is from 11 pm, and it starts getting light again around 2:30-3 am ish!!

Surrounding myself with fresh flowers so it feels like summer... yes I have resorted to playing mind games likes this with myself. I'm also leaving my curtains open all night for a chance of catching enough sunshine in the morning to wake me up, and if you know anything about me you know I have a phobia of sleeping with the curtains open... THANKS A LOT JUNE.

And finally... a bundle of ribbon I rescued from the trash used as table decorations at a wedding I was working at. There are about 50 strips of a foot long... Who would throw this away?!? Now, who has ideas for what I can do with this? It's really good quality! If the ideas are good enough I might do a giveaway...

My sister introduced me to this amazing band after she saw them in March and i've had this song below on repeat for about 40 minutes.

Hope all your Junes are living up to your expectations...

xoxo

Eleven Things You Quickly Learn As A Waitress for A Catering Company

2011-06-02T17:00:00.000+02:00

1. A 'dumbwaiter' is not the same thing as a dumb waiter, although you'll encounter both frequently.

2. Buying the tighter, less comfortable pants for a job where you'll be running around all day, just because they made your butt look better, might have been a stupid idea.

3. Ditto on the little loafers.

4. Chefs are not your friends. EVER! Stop trying to befriend them.

5. Red wine spills are not a good look for fancy white tablecloths.

6. A glumped-together plate of left-over mashed potatoes, roast chicken and vegetarian lasagna after a long shift may be the best thing you'll ever see in your life.

7. Big, drunk kilted men going wild on the dancefloor is definitely a site to see.

8. Plates fresh from the oven are hot. So they make you wear gloves. Gloves make plates slippery.

9. Drunk people who get their smuggled hip flasks confiscated will not be pleasant with the staff.

10. Before taking 3 twelve-hour wedding shifts over 3 days, ask yourself if you really need the money badly enough to suffer through them.

11. Turns out you do! Onwards!

Stirling Daytrip

2011-05-31T22:57:00.006+02:00

Now that I'm done with exams Davide and I are trying to see a bit more of Scotland so off we went to Stirling for the day. It was so nice!

(I look like a deer-in-headlights/possessed wax figure but I stupidly didn't take any pics of the Wallace Sword on its own.)

When the sky looks like the pictures above and you're sitting in a cozy pub having lunch it's hard to pull yourself away and head back into the wind to explore more, so perhaps we didn't see as much of Stirling as we could have.... but at least we were warm. JUST KIDDING, THIS IS SCOTLAND.

From the top of the Wallace Monument (second photo down). This is the monument dedicated to Scottish hero William Wallace, more commonly known as Mel Gibson, who technically butchered the history, but you just love it anyways. I mean who, after their final summer exam, hasn't felt the urge to paint their face blue and white and run around shouting FREEEEEDDOOOMMMMM! Let us not forget we have Mel to thank for that gem.

Stirling in the distance. The view was worth the gale-force winds.

Cheesy self-timer tourist shot.

Taken at Stirling's historic castle jail. This photo strangely mirrors the one below that we took at the Edinburgh Dungeon. In case it's unclear, that's actually me eagerly preparing to chop off his head (actually I look quite like the infamous Mel in this one) ... I wonder what a shrink would say about that...

xoxo

Manly Pouf Pillow

2011-05-23T20:48:00.008+02:00

... if such a thing even exists; here is my attempt.
Davide started using my first pouf pillow for his ab workouts and I realized how useful these pillows are! Although let's be honest here, mine spends 99% of its time propping up my back while I watch TV on my laptop. But it's just as good for those who are work-outly inclined. So I made him a little present.

Manly fabrics are surprisingly hard to find! What did women do back in the day when their entire job was to sew manly things for their manly men?? But i guess you can't go wrong with black and white, and a bit of orange which is his favorite manly color.

The first one was Amy Butler's Gumdrop Pillow and I borrowed the pattern from Katelyn. But this time I had to draw up my own pieces. Turns out Amy is much better at this than I am. I made each piece too wide and had to add in pleats so the top piece would sit flat. I think we can all agree that this pillow looks a little 'off' somehow but I did stuff it some more after I took the pictures and it (kind of) helped. I still like it in its own special way.

And he does too. So that's all that matters.

P.S. To those that tried to enlarge the photos and laugh at the imperfect wonky shape--i made them small on purpose! MWAHAHA.

P.P.S. Don't deny it. You know you tried to enlarge them.

I was just introduced to The Twang and they're sooo good! Enjoy el song, peace out muchachos.
xoxo