Just the newest stuff in Jadeflower’s Etsy Shop

Hi all! Just stopping in for a moment today to post a few pictures of what’s new in my Etsy Shop. It’s funny – for the past two years really, I’ve been so swamped with custom orders, mainly Tardis related, that I’ve had virtually no time to work on other things – to develop other art and products. I’m not complaining about the success of these popular items! No no. It’s just the reality of being a solitary person with a finite amount of time to work. There are only so many hours in the day.

But as of recent weeks, my backlog is finally becoming more manageable, and I’m actually finding the time to work on additional things. So here’s what’s new!
I don’t know if any or all of these will become regular players in my Jadeflower lineup, but I’ve been enjoying their development, and I guess we’ll just see how they play out.

Ceramic Dalek Creamer

After several request for a Dalek companion to the Tardis Teapot, I’ve created this creamer/pitcher. This is currently a made-to-order item in the shop, but I hope to have the time to build some that are ready-to-ship.

Dalek Creamer Tardis Teapot

And I even have a dorky little video to demonstrate the Dalek’s pouring power on the Jadeflower Facebook page. Check it out!
Next, continuing with the Doctor Who theme, I had been wanting to make very very small Tardis figurines, intended for terrariums, for quite a while. Here’s the newest (and smallest) Jadeflower Tardis!

Tiny Tardis Figurine

Each one is made of porcelain and glazed in the same blue as all my other Tardis items. I think they’re so cute! And the simplicity really appeals to me.

And my last item of the day is an Adventure Time creation! If you couldn’t tell by my last blog entry about bacon pancakes, I am a huge Adventure Time fan. So, expanding my repertoire of strange and interesting teapots, I made a whole tea set based around the character Beemo (BMO) who is basically a living handheld video game device. It’s hard to explain…

Beemo ceramic teapot and cups

There is an episode where Beemo is talking with his alter ego “Football”. He attempts to teach her how to drink tea. It’s adorable.

“No, Football. Like this!”

The tea set is complete with 4 tea cups. The glaze on my tea cups isn’t as vibrant (oh those cartoon colors!), but the design is so detailed and decorative! I love the way they turned out.

Beemo’s Adventure Time tea cups

So that’s what’s new! Hope you take a peek over in the shop to peruse!
Now, enough from me! Back to work

Oh! And be sure to “like” my Facebook Page to get up-to-the-moment looks at what I’m working on!

Makin’ Bacon Pancakes

If you are a fan of the totally awesome animated show “Adventure Time” and also spend any amount of time on the internet, you may have come across this completely get-in-your-head music video…

Anytime I think of it, or if someone says the words “Bacon Pancakes” it is inevitable that this song will then be on repeat in my brain for the rest of the day…or until I make me some bacon pancakes.

So one recent Saturday morning when I actually had some bacon in my fridge, I decided to whip up a batch. And M was most pleased.

Jake the dog’s song says it all – Bacon pancakes…make some bacon and you put it in a pancake!

Here’s my step-by-step for your own delicious meat-candy filled breakfast delight!

First! Start with the bacon.

you start with the bacon!

For 2 people, I found that 4 strips of bacon was plenty. If you’re cooking for more, or have more of an appetite, adjust accordingly!
I like to use the baking method for my bacon. It ensures evenly cooked, flat bacon, and you don’t have to keep an eye on it. Leaving you to do other things!
If you’ve never baked bacon, here’s how I do it: line a baking sheet with foil (for easy clean-up) and fold the edges to contain all the grease. Place your baking sheet into a cold oven, then turn it on to 350 degrees, and let cook for about 15-20 minutes. (Check at 15, and leave in until it is the level of crispiness you like!)

Next! While your bacon cooks, mix up your pancake batter. Just your favorite recipe, be it a box mix or from scratch. My go-to recipe comes from my Joy Of Cooking cookbook. It is my go-to for a lot of basic recipes.
When your bacon is done, drain on paper towels and cut each piece in half.

cooked bacon and pancake batter

Then! In a pre-heated pan or griddle over medium heat, add your first dollop of batter.

First dollop of batter

Then while the batter is still mostly uncooked, place 2 pieces of your bacon on top. Gently squish them on in there.

…put it in a pancake

And finally, drizzle some more batter on top of the bacon, to totally encase them in pancake.

bacon, covered with batter

Then cook as normal! When you see lots of bubbles forming through the top, you know it’s ready to flip.

time to flip the bacon pancake!

The final stages, of course, are to slather with maple syrup and enjoy!

bacon pancakes!

They look like normal pancakes, but with a secret delicious surprise inside. ;-P

there’s bacon inside!

These make a decadent, yet very easy breakfast. And I dare you not to sing that song the entire time you make them

Jadeflower Ceramics on Facebook

So I finally bit the bullet and made a Facebook page for Jadeflower Ceramics! It took me a while to warm up to the idea – mainly because I didn’t think anyone would want to follow me on Facebook, and also because I was unsure I’d be able to find  the time to post content. But over the weekend, after some conversations about new media and the world in general, I decided it certainly wouldn’t hurt to create a page with at least some information about my Etsy shop and what Jadeflower is.

So here it is! Jadeflower Ceramics on Facebook

I hope you’ll click and “like”!

I’ll be using the Facebook page for sharing photos and new items, and other small updates, most likely all ceramic and business related. It will be more casual and spontaneous than this here blog.Come on over and see what’s new!

https://www.facebook.com/JadeflowerCeramics

A valentine fort

I don’t consider myself the romantic type. I find most classic examples of romance (in the real world) to be, well, embarrassing. I’m much more comfortable with cute gestures of love than steamy, sensual, dramatic ones! What can I say, it’s just not me.

So anyway, M & I were talking about what to do for Valentine’s Day this year, and since I have no spare cash, after just paying my taxes (ouch), I suggested we just stay in and have a nice meal. And I mentioned, “oh and we should build a fort!” To which M just chuckled.

Little did he know. I was going to build a fort.

I grew up in a family with 3 brothers, and one of our favorite things to do was construct elaborate forts in the living room, from couch cushions, sheets, blankets and furniture. But my inspiration for this Valentine’s fort was from this picture:

Valentine’s Day Fort via Design*Sponge

This is my kind of romantic.

I wish I could say I have all kinds of rich tapestry linens hanging around my house, but I had to make due with what I could scrounge from my closets.
I found 3 gauzy curtain panels, a couple of flat sheets, 2 lengths of lace, and just about every throw blanket and pillow in the house.

my valentine fort

I used the method in the Design*Sponge post – draping the sheets over a broom handle suspended from the ceiling, string and safety pins. I also used a large embroidery hoop in the front, from which the airy curtains hung.

Sure, it took me 2-3 hours to make this thing! Ah the perks of being one’s own boss. That’s right, I gave myself the afternoon off for this special occasion.

cozy living room fort

I also made some chocolate truffles (what’s Valentine’s day without chocolate?).
The last finishing touch was gussying myself up. On a normal work day, since I work with clay all day and my studio is home-based, I wear jeans, a t-shirt, and my work sweatshirt. Rarely do I put on much make-up if I’m not going to see people.

For Valentine’s day, to complete the surprise, I wore this dress, an Anthro find from several years back:

Doris Shirtdress – Anthropologie

It’s super fun and colorful, and very retro 50s.
Then I did my face up all pretty-like.

The whole thing was worth it when M got home, came through the back door, to find this leading him into the living room…

candlelit pathway

And then this on the other side…

valentine tent and a bottle of wine

The look on his face. Priceless. How can you not love a surprise living room fort?

The rest of the evening was spent on the floor, with wine, dinner and a movie. Now that’s my kind of romance.

Young House BOOK Love!

On Friday I took half the day off to head down south for the Home & Garden show at the Tacoma Dome. I’ve never been to this event before, and I probably wouldn’t have gone this year either, except John and Sherry Petersik from Young House Love were making a stop to promote their book!

I have been a devoted reader of the YHL blog for, oh, like 4 years now – I first stumbled upon their site in 2009 when I was searching for DIY Backyard Wedding inspiration. Sherry and John have a great recap of their homemade wedding, and it also lead me to their daily blog posts. I’ve been hooked ever since!
Their open, honest approach to blogging about their home improvement journeys, as well as their goofy humor and real-people personalities had me from the get-go.

And guess what? They’re just as fun, adorable, and hilarious in person!

John & Sherry Petersik at the Tacoma Home & Garden Show

When I found out they were writing a book, I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon right away. Not only was I confident I’d love it, but I also wanted to show my support for these young’uns who entertain me every single weekday for free through their blog.
And when I found out they’d be making a book-tour stop close enough to attend, I was way too excited (M will vouch for this).

So my mom was a great sport, and she came along with me. It was really nice to spend a good few hours with her, and there were plenty of home & garden inspiration for her new business project (I’ll have to expand on that sometime soon here!).

Sherry and John gave a fun and concise presentation for a good-sized crowd, and then we all waited in line to get our books signed.

Now, because I am a huge nerd, I wanted to give them some kind of gift, to say “thank you” for sharing themselves the way they do. It’s totally corny, but because of their blog, they feel like friends, even though we’ve never really met. So, I made them a little ceramic plate, very similar to this guy in my Etsy shop. Except the woodgrain plate I made for John & Sherry has a heart in the middle with “yhl” carved out. Somehow I totally forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to them – of course.

When I got to the front of the line, and presented my little gift, it was a little intimidating (yes, I’m a nerd!) but Sherry was so enthusiastic and so genuine when she saw it!

Sherry’s mind – BLOWN

She was like “Oh my god! You made this!? That looks just like our LOGO!”
And I laughed and said, “Yeah, that was the idea!”

Meeting Sherry & John at the Tacoma Dome

My mom was so great and snapped all these photos while I talked to them – Thanks, Mom!
So then Sherry insisted that I sign the back of the plate and she handed me her red sharpie, so heck, I couldn’t refuse! I signed the plate while Sherry signed my book!

everyone, sign something!

And then we got a little group photo

Young House Love book signing – BFFs! lol

Anyways! So much fun. I love those guys! In a totally non-creepy kind of way, I swear.

Now my book is signed!

“Thanks for the love!”

Thank YOU, Sherry & John.

Young House Love by Sherry & John Petersik

A simple table setting

The holidays are upon us, and I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. I love the times when family and friends can come together and really celebrate with each other. And now that my sibs and I are all technically adults, I love that everyone contributes to the day (not just showing up for a big meal).
My planning-mode goes into overdrive for these kinds of things – I already have multiple lists going for dish ingredients, cooking schedules, and items I can’t forget to bring with me.
And not only am I thinking about food (I’m planning on contributing 3 side dishes, a dessert, and a morning-after breakfast dish), but I also get excited about decor.

Simple Thanksgiving table centerpiece

The host-space we’re having our celebration at will be a fairly blank-slate, so took it upon myself to design a tablescape for the meal. The photo above is a mock up on my dining table. I knew it had to be a simple setup, since I’ll be bringing it all with me, and I don’t want to take too much time with it – heck, we’ll be cooking for a good crowd! Can’t indulge in decorations too much, amirite?

The idea for this simple Thanksgiving centerpiece came from an awesome set of amber cut-glass goblets I happened upon the last time I scoped out Goodwill. I knew that if I arranged them upside-down, they’d make excellent stands for mercury glass votives and tea light candles.

vintage water goblets, pinecones, tea lights

I centered the whole arrangement on a long table runner I made a few seasons back and scattered a dozen pinecones between the glasses for an understated autumnal look.

I’m looking forward to this Thursday when I’ll get to arrange the table for real, and spend some quality time with the people I love

Hope your holiday plans are warm and cozy!

Pigs in Space costume: Happy Halloween!

So here is my final post, wrapping up my process of creating a Miss Piggy Halloween costume – the Pigs in Space 1st Mate Piggy costume!
Where I attempt to transform myself into this iconic pig:

Miss Piggy – Pigs in Space

In my previous 3 posts, I went over how to make Miss Piggy Ears, sew a Pigs in Space uniform dress, and make a Pigs in Space felt logo decal. Now we put it all together with accessories!

First Mate Piggy – finished costume!

Now, you can see, I stitched the felt decal onto the front of the dress. And I also stitched the ears onto the wig itself – which was great, since there was no bulky headband or obtrusive clips. And I can snip the threads later if I want to use the blonde wig for something else in the future!

First Mate Piggy costume – headshot

So here’s the breakdown of the Pigs in Space costume accessories:

First Mate Piggy, accessories!

Now, the above collage is more of a wish list for this costume, but I think I made due with what I had, or could get on short notice

First! A blonde wig. Very important to have the right hair. The wig I found was a tad bit too blonde, if you know what I mean. Classic Piggy hair is really more of a dirty blonde. You know, ‘cuz she was natural back in the day. (It’s so obvious that Piggy bleaches her hair these days, haha).

Classic Miss Piggy – pigs in space

Next, the eyes! Piggy’s signature look is thick luscious eyelashes and a pink/purple eyeshadow. Also, her eyes are slightly downturned. I achieved this look with a thick line of eyeliner, false eyelashes, and a layered application of pink and purple shadows on the lid.

sultry Miss Piggy eyes

Next comes all the silver! Miss Piggy always wears gloves, and in her Pigs In Space costume, she trades her signature purple gloves for silver ones. I found mine on Amazon.
Then you’ll need a silver belt. Of course, you can make one, but I lucked out and found a shiny metallic belt at my local Goodwill for $4. Score!

Then we get into debatable territory. Since most Muppets don’t exist below the waist, the only reference I had to go on for the bottom half of Piggy’s costume was from an action figure:

First Mate Piggy doll

You can see she has silver leggings and silver knee-high boots.
As luck would have it, I already owned some shiny silver leggings (from two Halloweens ago – when I dressed as a Cyberman..er..woman). They are from American Apparel, and pricy, but I’m glad to get multiple uses out of them!

Then the boots…well, I didn’t want to splurge on silver boots when I’d probably never wear them again. So instead, I used my off-white boots, which were from my Princess Leia costume from 5 years ago. Lol…yes, I generally choose very nerdy subjects as Halloween costumes. I’m cool with that.

First Mate Piggy costume – Happy Halloween!

So there you go! Happy Halloween to all you folks. Hope it’s a fun one! Kissy kissy!