How Pintresting!

Pintrest,

my nose has been in a book for so long

that I actually had no idea what this 

was until a friend sent me an invite.

Now that I have time to play,

can we say addicted?

It's a great way to organize things

that you want to try and see what 

other people have found.

Take a look at what I found this week...

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I made these for a potluck last week

and now everyone is begging for the recipe.

And how about 

this great craft idea,

Bleach Pen Doodle Shirt

This clever crafter actually drew this 

on a shirt with a bleach pen!

I wish I had that much artistic

ability.

Also a wonderful

place to find all sorts of neat

printables,

Vintage Gift Tags

Vintage Bottle Lables

Do you Pin?

If you do not and would like to

leave me a comment and I will send you 

an invite.

and lets share!

Happy Pinning!

Product Review: Magic Glos

I decided to try a new product for sealing pendants as I have not been thrilled with any of the water based glazes.

I have tried Crystal Effect and Diamond Glaze.

Neither hardens the way I want it to and neither should

be exposed to water...because they melt!

So I did some research and went with a more expensive product 

Magic Glos

This is a one step resin that is often used to seal polymer

clay jewelry. It is non-toxic and claims to be water proof.

At $9.99 for 1 oz bottle it is significantly more expensive

than the glazes I have been working with previously. But I 

think I would like a nice hard back seal on my glass pendants.

So I bought a bottle and tried it out.

The liquid is much thinner than Crystal Effects, it flowed quite nicely from the bottle onto the pendant. To achieve the hardened 

state you need to "cure" the whole piece in UV light. Here in 

Phoenix that meant the pendant went sun bathing for about 15 minutes.

The pendant did come out with a nice smooth, hard  flat back.

I like the finished results much better than with Crystal Effects.

I did notice the Magic Glos did sink into the paper more and 

made the white paper I used more transparent.

So here is my break down for 

Magic Glos

Pro's

• The bottle has an easy to use applicator top
• The product did not become sticky, thicker or tacky when I was working with it. Which meant I could take my time and get a nice even coat on the pendant.
• It only takes about 15 minutes in direct sunlight for it to harden. The product info says to give it about 20-30 is using a UV light bulb.
• After curing the surface is very hard and smooth much like epoxy. I did not test it but it looks way more durable them the water based glazes.
• No nasty odor, this product is darn near odorless and non toxic so no worrying about the cat!

Con's

• The product is thin and tended to pull away from the edges of my glass pieces. I had to use a toothpick to help nudge some of it to the edges.
• You have to use A LOT of this stuff to cover a pendant so this bottle is not going to go that far.
• It does sink into your paper so you have two choices. Let it sink in and get a more translucent look like my pendant above OR put a protective coating on your paper. Fair warning here I tried that with another pendant by brushing some watered down Diamond Glaze onto the paper. I apparently did not get a nice even coat and when I applied the Magic Glos it sank into the not so well protected areas and my pendant looked grease stained in the end. Thankfully the Mr. was able to salvage the glass for me.
• If you do not get a nice even seal you can get your finger under an edge and pry the entire piece of cured resin off the pendant. So remember this is NOT indestructible.
• This stuff is pricey and hard to find. Micheals does not carry it, Joann's only carries it online. At $9.99 a bottle plus shipping it becomes very expensive. I was able to find it at the local Hobby Lobby in the jewelry aisle. But if you are going to use this for items you intend to sell be aware this could bump the price of your finished good considerably.

With all that said I will continue to use Magic Glos for my

glass pendants but I think I will be keeping a sharp eye out

for some coupons at my local Hobby Lobby.

Etsy Shop Review: Sun and Moon Craft Kits

I'm Back!

Hello again dear readers!

I have great news,

I passed my finals!

Which means I'm 

ALL DONE!

This gal is going to be a real nurse soon!

Even better I have found the most 

wonderful supplier on Etsy.

If it is high quality glass 

and jewelry findings you are

seeking you must stop by.

Take a look at how beautiful 

this glass is!

I purchased 1 inch squares,

1.5 inch domes and 

7/8 inch "puffy" squares.

All the glass is high 

quality with no nicks or 

scratches and zero image warping.

The domes magnify images beautifully.

The 1 inch squares a perfectly flat 

and have lovely rounded corners.

The puffy squares are gorgeous! 

They give my pendants such a

distinctive look.

Sun and Moon also makes their own

glaze and cleverly sell small 

"sample size" tubes

It is thinner than the Crystal Effects

that I have been working with, but 

goes on super smooth and dries with a 

glass like finish that is way stronger.

It's absolutely perfect for adhering paper

to the glass.

I also found these bails

Silver plated and the perfect size

for scrabble tiles.

Not only were the prices great

but Gina, the shop's owner, was more

than happy to accommodate a custom order

for items in amounts not for sale on the

shop. She was really fast at getting back

to me and the order shipped out the next day!

In addition to what's shown above I also

bought some mini dog tags and resin drops for both scrabble tiles and the dog tags. 

And some of the strongest little magnets I 

have ever seen, my scissors stuck to the

envelope when I was trying to cut it open!

Sun and Moon also carries chains, pendant trays 

and a number of hard to find shapes and sizes 

of glass for pendants. 

I made a pendant for a friends birthday and now I have several orders for large quantities,

so it looks like Gina will be hearing from me 

again!

*These opinions are my own and have not be solicited, I have not been compensated for these opinions. I just really like sharing what I think!*

Another Giveaway!

Hello 

dear readers!

Final exam is on Monday

EEP!

To thank you for hanging in there

during this MIA period

I have another giveaway 

lined up for you.

Do you remember

Amie

at 

She just reached 500 followers!

And she has five great giveaways,

including one from yours truly!

Head on over and enter

for a chance to win

any accessory from 

my store

Like this new necklace

Made With Love Giveaway at The Reynolds Mom

Just because I'm MIA

doesn't mean I don't

have wonderful things 

lined up for you 

dear readers!

Head over to 

The Reynolds Mom

for

Three blogs are hosting

review and giveaways for 

the next week.

If any of you have been eyeing

anything in my Etsy shop

this is the giveaway for you!

NekoKnits on Etsy 

is giving away the winners

choice of any one item, 

excluding purses.

Etsy nekoknits

So go check out the giveaway 

and enter all the others as well!

A little humor

I think I had this question 

on last weeks 

test.....

Freebie Friday!

Lana is the creative genius of 

She makes these 

GORGEOUS 

pieces all by hand.

How is that for talent?

On top of it she is

super sweet.

Proof of this is that she is 

giving one lucky winner a 

$30.00 gift certificate

to her shop.

To enter head over to her blog

The Planet Earth

MIA

I apologize 

for the complete

lack of any posting lately.

It's coming down to crunch time 

and I have been hitting the books.

HARD!

The Mr. says the most he's seen of

me lately is the top of my head 

over a book or laptop.

I wish I could say that I look

this calm and collected right now.

Unfortunately this is closer to the 

truth....

This little diagram may help 

you understand...

Property of Cafe Press

Or how about this one?

Image property of Cafe Press

This about sums it up!

Image property of Zazzle

Wish me luck,

I'm 13 days,

1 Neuro Test,

1 HESI Test,

&

1 Final Exam

away from 

Graduation.

See you after then!

What the?

Blogger seriously

is getting under my skin.

We all put up with the

several days without 

being able to sign in.

We all put up with loosing 

large chunks of our blogs

Now certain gadgets are misbehaving.

I don't think I'm the only one 

who has noticed

but the 

HTML/Javascript gadget refuses to 

work.

It will not save no matter what I do.

If anyone has a solution to the problem

PLEASE

leave me a comment!

If you are experiencing the same

problem please post on the

"Help Forum"

with this as your header.

"Not letting me put any HTML/Javascript widgets"

Hopefully

if there are enough of these

threads someone will fix the issue.

Honestly,

why on earth 

does Blogger not have 

a 

"Report Issue Here" 

link?

Freedom Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to all 

who joined in on 

this

giveaway!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

32

Timestamp: 2011-07-08 14:34:35 UTC

The winner is...

June M.


Congratulations!


You have 48 hours to 
claim your book.

July 4th Barbecue!

The Mr and I 

LOVE

a good burger.

So 

we fired up the grill

this 4th weekend and made 

some of the biggest ones

I've seen.

This is what they looked like right

off the grill.

I think they were about 1/2 pound

burgers!

I will tell you Mr.C makes an amazing

burger and this one was to die for!

I couldn't wait for the camera,

I had to take a bite!

Want the recipe?

Here ya go!

Mr. C's Awesome Angus Burgers

1 pound Angus Ground Beef

(This is a must! No subbing for regular!)

1 head of roasted garlic 

(If you don't know how to do this I've provided instructions below)

1 - 2 Tablespoons of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (again don't sub!)

Your favorite BBQ Sauce

-----------------------------------------------

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, use your fingers to mash the garlic into the meat and distribute it well. 

Divide into 2 patties roughly 1/2 inch thick and bigger than your bun.(the burger will shrink during grilling)

Brush with BBQ Sauce and grill to your preferred level of done. 

Mr.C suggests no more than medium well. 

Grill these guys to your taste

and maybe add some hot dogs!

I know most recipes insist on adding bread

to keep the burger from drying out. 

But I swear these were the juiciest

burgers I have ever had.

Oh yes...

and for the 

Roasted Garlic.

1. Drizzle entire head of garlic with olive oil 

(yes leave the skin on)

2. Wrap the garlic in aluminium foil

3. Put on the grill or in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or 

until the garlic is golden and soft.

4. Allow to cool and remove garlic from skins

Roasted garlic will keep in a container in the fridge for weeks without going off. I usually do up 2-3 heads and store what I don't use for later.

Hope everyone has a great 

July 4th!