Blog Candy from Kim & Favor from Helen

I received an awesome blog candy from Kim a few days ago. I was so excited I could not contain myself. Along with the blog candy, she sent me some awesome cards and gift card holders. I wish you could see all the details. They are so lovely. Go to Kim's blog to check out all her work.

I receive another surprise from Helen at one of our long meetings. Its a little favor/treat holder. She told me the idea came from one of those Ben Franklin shows. Thanks, Helen.

My post It cover

Time is just flying by. I started working again and hadn't had time to post. Here is a Post-It Cover I made. I ended up attaching it to my planner for this school year. I am still not quite satisfied with the pen holder but it will do for this year. I might try buying some thick white rubber band and dying it pink. We will see. Oh, I bought a glue glider. It arrived couple days ago and I cannot wait to try it!!!

Post It Note Cover Tutorials

Whenever I am doing a project, I seem to always go back to ChickNScratch tutorials on youtube. I love how she (Angie) makes all her projects simple yet so pretty. I am embedding here the post it note covers I am planning to make.

Compostion book, pen, and paper clip

So... I could not figure out a good way to attach matching pen but I did make matching notebook, pen, and paper clip set. I made five different ones to give to Anica's five preschool teachers - to start the year off with a pretty set of paper goods. Let me know if you know an easy way to attach a pen to the composition notebook. Don't you love those pens? I made more with extra papers left and will be making a matching Post It cover & paper clip for Christmas gift sets. BTW, this project takes a lot of glue. I am thinking about getting those big glue tape dispensers.

Before I forget the dimensions on the composition book cover - 6x10 for DS (front and back) so cut 2" off on one side 12" x 12" then cut in half. For the spine,he dimension is 4" x 10" (or 4 1/4" x 10). cut 1" off of 11" side and then cut in half if you are using 8 1/2" x 11" card stocks.

Covering a pen with designer paper

I am using Pentel's RSVP pens so the measurement is 3 1/4" x 1". Other two pens you can use are Dynagrip by papermate and Foray. Use 3" x1" for them. I found a tutorial on Youtube but having a hard time embedding it here.

Covering Large Composition notebook

I saw some Hello Kitty themed covered composition notebooks at a craft booth last Sunday and thought of doing them for gifts. I found that Joy's blog also had pretty covered notebooks (small) which were darling as well. Check out her site. She is currently celebrating her blog anniversary with some yummy candy.

As you know those large compositions notebooks are on sale now (cheapest at Kmart & officemax but there is a limit of 6 at Officemax). I bought a bunch and am planning to cover them tonight. Below is the tutorial on covering them from Youtube. I am planning to add a ribbon on the side so I can place a pen with the notebook.

Korean Chop Chae Recipe for Lynn

Do you have a sister-in-law who give you a back massage? I do. Am I blessed or what? Thanks Lynn for embracing me as a sister. Here is the Korean chop chae recipe you wanted. Nothing is set in stone. I "eyeball" everything so cannot tell you the exact measurements. Try it out and let me know how it turns out. I am planning to try out Mom's jellyroll soon. I will let you know how it turned out.

Ingredients

• vegetable Oil
• sesame oil
• salt
• garlic
• soy sauce (I use kikkomen if I have but you can use any other brand you like. I used Aloha shoyu when I was out of kikkomen)
• 2 onions; sliced vertically
• 6 pieces shitake mushrooms; sliced thinly (stem removed)
• 1 carrot; shredded
• 5 bundles of spinach
• 1/2 lb sirloin beef
• 4 eggs
• sesame seeds (toasted) - optional
• green onion

Instructions

It's really simple to make it but it takes time to prep all the veggies. Korean love their veggies. What can I tell you. I use vegetable oil to fry prepped carrot, onion, and shitake mushroom (I use dried kind - just soak it in water overnight) individually. I use salt to season. The colors are so lovely. I soak cook spinach in boilng water - more like blanching (in and out) to retain its color and nutrients. Wash in cool water; squeeze out the water (very important to squeeze all the water out); then season with minced garlic, salt, sesame seed oil, and sesame seed. Prep the eggs by frying it flat then slicing them into thin strips (season with salt) then prep your beef by slicing them into thin strips; seasoning with salt then frying them in vegetable oil. Taste each one as you cook. You can prep all these the night before. These are also good to eat on their own.

Lastly cook the noodle just before the event/dinner (maybe 2-3 hours). You can cook it as directed on the package - cook in boiling water. What I found that worked better is that you do not wash it in cold water. Cook in slightly underdone then leave it in the colander to cook all the way as it dries. If you wash it in cold water, the noodles becomes too fat and does not retain that elasticity. You can try them both ways.

Once the water is drained, add all of the ingredients and mix. Add soy sauce and saseme seed oil to taste. You can add sesame seed and green onion as garnish. Let me know if you have questions.

Back from the cruise & visit to Michael's

We just came back from a three week trip to the mainland (Seattle/Tacoma). Of the three weeks, we spent one week in Alaska/Victoria on a Princess Cruise ship (star princess). We liked this cruise a lot more than Holland cruise we took for our honeymoon. We embarked from Seattle and visited Ketchikan, Tracy Arm, Juneau, Skagway, Victoria. I have a lot of pictures from the trip and will be busy scrapbooking. I will try to make a real simple one so I have this trip scrapbooked before I go back to work.

BTW, on this trip I was able to visit Michael's in South Hill. I did not have much time to shop so I bought some Designer papers and stamps. I wish I had more time and wish Michael's would come to Maui.