I am on Facebook!!

Well I have actually been for a little while, but I made it and then never logged on again until yesterday. I am new to facebook and just wanted to let you guys know and I am also looking for some pages to like so please leave a comment with your facebook page as well and please check out mine! Thanks!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Creations-by-Colette/201540119885451

Friday Fun #5

It seems like forever since I have written one of these! But to celebrate the fact that we have all made it through another week of our crazy lives here is just some funny and amusing items that I have found on the web, I hope you guys enjoy them!!

Optical Illusion

Funny Picture

Comic

Thought of the Week

I was on the subway, sitting on a newspaper, and a guy comes over and asks "Are you reading that?" I didn’t know what to say. So I said yes. I stood up, turned the page, and sat down again. (David Brenner)

Brain Teaser

I travel around the world, but only stay in corners.
What am I?

Think you know the answer??? Leave me a comment and the first person to get the right answer will be featured on my blog. Good luck!

Thanks for reading my blog :D

How to: Ship Outside of the US

Now most of you probably are going to get bored reading this article, but I feel as though someone should write about this topic. I just recently got some of my first orders for places not in the US and it was a confusing few days. I finally ended up just going over to my local post office and ask what I needed to ship the package. But my closest post office takes me about 15 minutes to drive through so I am going to share with you how I would suggest tackling this daunting task!

Let's get started!!

I have only shipped to Canada and Australia but I assume most places are similar.

1) Next time you are at your post-office ask them for a few custom forms (this makes it so much easier when it gets time to shipping).

2) Get your package ready:

a. print the return label or write it on your package

b. use printable address labels and print one out (don't stick it on the package yet!)

3) Fill out the customs form

4) Bring all of the following to your post office:

Package (with whatever you are shipping inside)

Return Label

Address Label

Custom Form

Credit card, money, etc.

5) Pay for shipping and give the postman your customs form. They will put it on your package and then place the address label where it is visible and not covering the customs form.

6) Make sure everything is in place and mail!!

Shipping outisde of the US seemed like a daunting task but it was so much easier than I thought it would be. Shipping prices were about $2.59 to Australia and about $1.98 to Canada. I used the most basic methods of shipping. 

Hopefully this at least helped everyone a little bit!!

Thanks for reading my blog!!!!

Long time no talk!

Wowza have I been neglecting this blog. I had logged on since I thought it had been a bit since I last blogged. Little did I know that my last blog post was on April 24! As well, now thinking back I don't know why I haven't been blogging more often. I guess I never really had anything that I thought was important to say...

I have been fairly busy with polymer clay and just life in general. I recently got some of my first custom orders and have been spending time on those. In addition I have been creating some new pieces to add to my shop as I am hoping to get up to 50 items by July or August (but we will see how that turns out).

I am also very excited to announce that I just recently made my 15th sale!!! I was hoping to do some sort of giveaway so stay tuned for that. I just need to get organized and make a piece to giveaway so hopefully it will happen fairly soon.

Hopefully some of the next posts that I write will be a little more interesting than this post was...reading it back over all I am doing is talking about myself. But seeing that it has been awhile since the last one I thought I would catch you guys up.

Thanks so much for reading!!!

My Favorite Burger: Hawaii Da Kine

This has to be one of my all-time favorite burgers that I have ever made, and I wanted to share it with you guys!!

This recipe is orginally from foodnetwork.com and was made in a show called America's Best Burger, I hope you like it:

http://www.portercalls.com/hawaii_da_kine_burger.htm

Ingredients

Ginger Goat Cheese Spread:

• 4 ounces garlic chive or garlic flavored goat cheese, (recommend: Surfing Goat Dairy Rolling Green)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 1/2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
• Patties
• 3 ounces spicy Hawaiian Portuguese sausage ( can substitute Portuguese Sausage or linguica)
• 2 pounds ground chuck
• 1/3 cup minced ripe papaya
• 1/3 cup minced Maui onion or other sweet onion
• 5 tablespoons Asian style spiced sea salt

Sweet Chili Glaze:

• 2/3 cup sweet chili sauce
• 2 1/2 tablespoons shoyu (Japanese soy sauce), preferably Yamasa

Hot Watercourse Salad:

• 3 tablespoons macadamia nut oil (can substitute peanut oil)
• 2 small Hass avocados, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, preferably Meyer
• 1/2 ripe papaya coarsely chopped
• 5 cups chopped watercress
• 2 small Maui onions or other sweet onions, thinly sliced and separated into rings
• 2 Large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 Tablespoons shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) Preferably Yamasa
• Vegetable oil, for brushing on the grill rack
• 6 seeded hamburger buns or sandwich rolls, split

Directions

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or prepare a gas grill to medium-high.

To make the spread combine the cheese, mayonnaise, and ginger in a small bowl, cover and sit aside.

To make the patties, place the sausage in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl and add the chuck, papaya, onion, and spiced sea salt. Combine well, handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it. Form into 6 patties and refrigerate until ready to grill.

To make the glaze, combine the sweet chili sauce and shoyu in a small bow. Set aside.

To make the salad, pour the oil into a fireproof skillet and heat on the grill until it reaches its smoking point. While the oil is heating, half the avocado slices and place in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and toss gently. Layer the papaya, watercress, onions, garlic and pepper flakes over avocado and carefully drizzle the hot oil over the top. Add the Shoyu and toss to continue.

Brush the grill rack with oil. Place the patties on the rack, and cover, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side, basting often with theglaze until the desired doneness is reached. During the last few minutes of cooking, place the buns cut sides down on the outer edges of the rack to toast lightly.

To assemble the burgers, spread the goat cheese spread over the cut sides of the bun tops. Place a patty on each bun bottom and top with equal portions of the salad. Add the bun tops and devour.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

It does take some time, but in the end it is well worth all the time you put into them!

Friday Fun #4

First off a big congratulations to Simply Smitten for getting last weeks brain teaser correct!

The question was: What is so fragile that when you say it's name you break it?

The answer was silence!

Be sure to check out her blog and etsy store:

http://inspiration-earth.blogspot.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/simplysmitten?utm_source=CraftCult&utm_medium=api&utm_campaign=api

Now on to some Friday Fun!!

Funny Sign

Political Cartoon

Optical Illusion

This illusion took me a LONG time to get to work, but the illusion is that you can make the cat turn both ways. The illusion is simple – all you have to do is see the cat rotate in both directions. At first you may think it’s impossible, but after some practice you’ll soon be able to switch the direction with each round.

Brain Teaser

I am...

The beginning of eternity
The end of time and space
The beginning of every end,
And the end of every place

What am I?

First person to leave a comment with the correct answer to the brain teaser will be featured in the sidebar and in the next Friday Fun. Good luck and thanks for reading!!

Polymer Clay 101: Frosted Sugar Cookie

I am so excited to present my first full tutorial with pictures! I have tried a couple of times to take pictures while I was making a project, but I got all wrapped up in the project I ended up not taking pictures. But, finally, my first full tutorial on making frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles:

Start with well-conditioned ecru clay.

 Flatten the clay into a cookie shape, try pressing around the outside to give it more of a cookie look.

 Stick a eyepin in and use a toothbrush to add texture all over your clay.

 Next, condition some pink clay and flatten it.

 Place it onto your textured cookie.

 Take some TLS (transcluent liquid sculpey) and squirt a tiny dot of it onto the pink clay.

Use a toothpick to spread it all over the pink.

 Use tiny glass marble beads for the sprinkles, which you can find in the scrap booking section of Michaels.

 Sprinkle the beads onto your cookie until you like what it looks like. Get rid of the beads that fell below your clay and stuck.

Bake and then if you wish to, glaze them, and your done!!

As well, these cookies are listed in my etsy shop for $7.00, please check them out:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72629387/pink-frosted-sugar-cookies-with

Thanks so much for checking out my blog!!