Peanut Butter Scrumptiousness :)

There's a rather nice lady on Etsy called Marmalady who makes the scrummiest, moistest, most delicious flapjacks I've ever tasted. Many of the girls in the UK Street Team are, to put it politely, addicted to them and keep Marmalady busy sending out food parcels.

Well, she only went on holiday for two whole weeks - the withdrawal symptoms got so bad, I had to make my own. I dug out an old baking recipe book but before I got to the flapjack recipe, I found our old favourite - Peanut Butter Cookies. During the usual mayhem chat that is the UK thread, someone asked about them so here is the recipe I use for those who want to give them a try.

5 oz (140g) plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 oz (115g) butter (at room temp)

5 3/4 oz light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

9 1/2 oz crunchy peanut butter

Oven temp. 350F/180C/gas4 - makes 24 large cookies

The original recipe says to cream the butter and sugar, then add the peanut butter, egg, vanilla essence, mix then add dry ingredients. Mix well then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up. Grease up two trays and use a teaspoon to gather a small blob of mixture, roll into a ball between your palms, plop on tray then flatten slightly with a fork. Put in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Leave to cool on tray for 2 or 3 minutes before transfering to a cooling rack.

I, on the otherhand, used self raising flour, no bicarb and a butter substitute, threw everything in together and left it to chill for an hour! Then I used baking parchment on 4 trays, rolled out small balls indeed and flattened with a fork as instructed.

Unfortunately, I have a narrow cooker so in putting 12 on a narrow baking sheet, I didn't leave them much room to spread even though I had made the balls smaller than last time (due to a scribbled note in my book!) so I ended up with nearly 40 smaller cookies.

Knickers Rule OK?

Friday nights the UK Etsy girls have a regular chat and so far, it's proving great for building my stash of great artwork. Now I've just got to get all these wonderful prints mounted and framed! Last Friday I managed to flog a pair of shoes I bought in lust but never wore. The wonderfully talented Bunny is going to work her magic on them and turn them into a really really kick ass pair of shoes. Have a look at her shop on Etsy to see what she does to them!

Not only does she customise shoes but she's also a really talented artist so when I had my pick of prints I chose her lovely Knickerville print. It was her entry to the UK Street Team Red Nose day challenge.

This morning the postie arrived with a decorated envelope so I sorta guessed who it was from :) but when I opened it, a mini stack of goodies fell out. Darling Bunny had added a couple of extra bits for me, including 'But I thought I was the prettiest...' a gorgeous print which I very nearly chose instead of Knickerville

So go have a look - you might find those shoes you've been looking for!

Another Great Trade!

Well, it's been quiet here but I did manage to pull off another trade this week! The UK Etsy girls chat on a Friday night and someone mentioned a trade. I was just about to type 'Me too!' when Alicub said that she was up for a trade. Well, I nearly did a dance on the spot - I've been eyeing up her Geisha print ever since she listed it on Etsy, so I jumped in and just asked! :) And she said Yes!

So, to give her a greater choice than is currently in my shop, I sent her a link to a little slideshow I've built and she chose this one which is the only tulip like this in my garden. It was obviously an odd bulb in the box!

Etsy Greetings - Featuring...

ME!

http://etsygreetings.blogspot.com/2007/06/feature-arty-all-sorts.html

I'd forgotten the date that Ahna told me I would be featured. Turned out it was the 24th and today's the 26th so 2 posts in one day.

Now all I need is a sale or two and I'll feel a lot better about everything!

My very first Etsy Trade :)

I'm a bit late with this one as well - I did a trade with Sakura over at Etsy last week and she has been kind enough to blog my cards but I've only just got around to photographing these gorgeous earrings that I received. Not only does she make the most exquisite jewellery and ink drawings but she also does photography and has set up a second shop with her boyfriend called CeruleanTide. Pop over and have a look, I'm sure you'll find something you love. I know I did!!

Midsummer's (well nearly) Resolution

I've been on Etsy now almost 3 months, started a blog in May and only posted a few bits. I've decided that's just not good enough so I'm making a Midsummer resolution to post at least once a week.

I heard a quote earlier today that goes something like "if You are bored, then YOU are boring!" and I thought, how can I possibly be bored when I have all my new Etsy friends to play with? So, I've kicked myself in the butt today and am full of determination to make this Etsy thing work for me. I'm confident that my photography is good and saleable, I just have to work out how to do the marketing side of things.

Just to mark Midsummer, here is a photo I took at our local Open Gardens for Charity event - I'm going to offer it as a print but also as a card.

UK Etsy Secret Swap goodies

Well this post is a bit late but although I wrote it 2 weeks ago, somehow I managed to lose it! I'm just not getting the hang of Blogger as I'm much more familiar with Vox. I sent a handmade calender to Allthosethrees with 12 of my own photos from my travels over the last year or two. If the number of exclamation marks in her email was anything to go by, I think she liked it!

Then I received my own package......

I was so excited. Part of the info we had to send Askey was which seller we would most like to receive our swap from and what sort of things we liked. Well, I'd seen Domino's stuff and thought it was so different so I put her down as my fav and here was a parcel from her. I ripped it open so fast my pendant went flying but luckily I didn't break it!

A beautiful pinky/purple pendant and a pink keyring - just the colours I would have chosen for myself.

This swap has been pretty stressful, I have to say. I had no idea when I signed up how hard it would be to choose something to send to someone I barely knew. I originally was just going to send a print (or two or three) but I felt that was so little compared to the amount of work the other girls would have put in to physically make something. Once I hit on the idea of the calender, I felt much better about it and just chose a photo from 12 different countries, each one different - a beach scene, cityscape or landscape.

Having said it was stressful, I'm still going to jump in on the next one 'cos I like receiving surprises too :)