Calvin Nicholls Paper sculpture artist

A friend sent me pictures of Calvin Nicholls paper sculptures and I was just amazed!! Here is more information that describes what Calvin does. I have also included some pictures of his work.


"Calvin has been creating his paper sculptures since 1986 from his studio north of Toronto Ontario, Canada. Working with sheets of paper and a scalpel, he cuts the component pieces to fit the final drawing and assembles the low relief artwork under studio lighting. When the sculpture is complete the lighting is adjusted to bring out the subtle form and texture. A large format camera is used to capture the detail on 8x10 film prior to scanning for print applications or art prints."

Here is the link Calvin Nicholls provided by Behance if you want to see more of his work. 

Memorial Day ... take the time to remember

While everyone is busy with picnics, parades, the beach, vacations, and cookouts, take the time to remember all the people who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Remember their families who grieve and go on without their loved ones. Take the time to think about them and say a prayer for them and their families. And say a prayer of "Thanks!".

5-minute cream cheese danish

I have tried the cream cheese danishes with the crescent rolls and they turned out very good! Now here is a recipe that looks special and like a danish should look.

If you have a can of crescent rolls and a package of cream cheese, you're in business.

Recipe after the jump!

Firstly, preheat your oven to 375 degrees (190 Cesius, for my Canadian friends) and line a cookie sheet with foil. Then, dump your ingredients into a mixing bowl.

8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt

Mix these until they're smooth; set aside. Open your fridge and grab your can of rolls.

Unroll your cresent rolls onto a sheet of wax paper, but don't separate them. Pinch the seams together, like so:

Use a small, sharp knife to score the edges like I've shown here:

Don't fill it too full, just use about 80% of your filling.

Then fold the bottom part of the dough up and tuck it around the filling.

Begin "braiding" your dough, crossing one little flap over on one side, then the other, until you've gotten to the top. Fold the top of the dough over and tuck it around the other end of the filling. Carefully place your danish on your foil lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or so. While this is cooking, make your glaze.

1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 TB milk

Whisk these together in a small bowl until smooth.

Left the foil with the danish on it from your cookie sheet and let it cool on a wire rack. This prevents the bottom of the danish from continuing to cook on the hot pan.

When it's cooled a bit, drizzle your glaze over it. Serve it for brunch and blow everybody's mind.

I found the recipe at : Crafty Butt Blog

Alex's Mocha Melted Ice-Cream Cake with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting

Looks like I am taking an interest in recipes ;-), especially deserts! This just looked so good!!

Incredible Melted Ice-Cream Cake
by Anne Byrn

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix (one without pudding in the mix!)
2 cups melted ice cream, your choice of flavor (I used Häagen-Dazs coffee)
1 tablespoon instant coffee or espresso powder
3 large eggs
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting (see below)

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside. (Or just use Pam with Flour - I love this stuff!)

Place the cake mix, melted ice cream, instant coffee, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Add chocolate chips and mix just until it's best combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 38 to 42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a small rack, then invert it again onto a second rack so that the cake is right side up to complete cooling, 30 minutes more.

Meanwhile prepare the Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting: Slide the cake onto a serving platter and pour the warm frosting over the cake (you will have a little extra). Let it stand for at least 10 minutes before serving. 

Marshmallow Frosting
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large marshmallows or 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup whole milk or whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sift the sugar and cocoa powder together into a large mixing bowl.

Set aside. Place the marshmallows, butter, and milk/cream in a medium-size heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until the marshmallows are melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the confectioners' sugar and cocoa mixture over the marshmallow mixture. Add the vanilla and stir until the frosting is smooth and satiny.

Use at once to frost the top of the cake of your choice.For the garnish, I used marshmallow fluff to "glue" on chocolate covered coffee beans.

Here is the link: Alex's Mocha Melted Ice-Cream Cake with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting

Creamy Orange Cake

When I saw the picture of this cake, I just knew that I wanted to make it! It is a great cake to make in the summertime! Orange just seems so refreshing. I can't wait to make it!

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package orange cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package orange flavored gelatin mix
1 cup boiling water
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

• Prepare and bake cake mix according to package Directions for a 9x13 inch pan. Poke holes in cake while still hot with the round handle of a wooden spoon.
• In a medium bowl, make gelatin with only 1 cup of boiling water. Pour liquid gelatin over cake while hot. Cool cake completely.
• In a medium bowl, make vanilla instant pudding with only 1 cup of milk. Stir in vanilla and orange extract. Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over cake. Refrigerate cake for 1 hour before serving.

Here is the link: Tricks Chefs Site

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. Some of you have had children, some would like to have children, some adopt children, some are in the process of having children, some of you appreciate and love children as if they are your own. I just wanted to say "Thank You!" to all of you. 

And there are some of you who miss your mothers who have passed. Just know that she will always love you and she sends a great big hug to you. 

Have a great day!

How-To: Print on Fabric with an Inkjet Printer

I saw this today and just had to copy it so you could see it. I have always wondered how I could make my own fabric designs and this tutorial will instruct you on using an ink jet printer. I want to try it so my fabric can be unique! How about you?





About Ink
Printing your own fabric is not as difficult as it sounds, and you don't need any special equipment to get started. The only secret to a successful print is to make sure that you have the right type of ink. Cheap printer cartridges and refills often use a dye-based ink that colors unpredictably on fabric, and may even wash out completely in water.

More expensive printer cartridges use pigment ink. Pigment ink is colorfast on many different surfaces, and is much more useful for printing on fabric.

Unfortunately, finding out if you have pigment ink or dye is not always straightforward. Your printer manual is a good place to start, and a physical examination of the ink should settle the matter beyond doubt. When the printer cartridges need changing, remove the yellow ink and place some on a piece of glass. Yellow pigment ink will be vibrant but opaque, while yellow dye will be transparent and almost brown in color.

Disclaimer: Not all printers can print on fabric, and putting fabric through your printer could damage it permanently. This is an experimental technique, and you should only try it if you understand that it involves an element of risk.

Materials

Light-colored fabric
Printer that uses pigment inks
Scissors
Card
Sticky tape

Directions

Step 1: Choose a light-colored, flat fabric, and cut it to the maximum width that your printer can handle. I have an Epson R1800, so it can take just over A3+ width of fabric. If your printer supports printing from a roll, then you can make the fabric as long as you like. Otherwise you will need to cut the fabric into sheets. If you are using a long length of fabric, you might want to roll it onto a cardboard tube to make it more manageable.

Step 2: Take a piece of card the same width as the fabric and fix the end of fabric to the card using sticky tape. The card works like a leader, giving the printer something to hold onto when you first start printing. I use a piece of card about 10" long, and tape the fabric about 2" in from the end. Once the card is through the printer, the weight will help keep the fabric running smoothly.

Step 3: Feed the card into the printer. On the Epson R1800, I use the roll feed to accept the paper, because the paper enters the printer at a more shallow angle and also because I can print unlimited lengths using the banner mode of the printer.

Step 4: Create your design on the computer, and then print it out. Keep a constant eye on the printer while it is running, and watch that the fabric doesn't get creased or jam up the head. If you do have a problem, turn the printer off at the wall and clear the fabric manually before restoring power. Do not pull or move the fabric while it is still being printed. Slight changes in fabric tension can make your design distort, and increase the chance of creases forming.

Step 5: You will need to fiddle around with the brightness / color settings on your printer to get the design looking right. Each fabric is slightly different, and experimentation is absolutely necessary if you want to get good results.

Step 6: When the printing is finished, you should leave your new custom fabric to dry for about an hour. You might find that some of the ink comes off on your hands when you first handle the fabric. This is normal, and is nothing to worry about. Simply rinse the fabric in warm water to remove any excess pigment, and then hang it out to dry.

Step 7: When the fabric is dry, iron the reverse side at low temperature. From this point onwards, the fabric can be treated just like shop-bought fabric. I recommend using a cool wash and ironing on the reverse side where possible to help preserve the colors.

This tutorial came from the Craft Blog

About the Author: Andrew Lewis is a journalist, a maker, an ardent victophile, and the founder of the www.upcraft.it blog. He is currently studying for a PhD. in archaeometrics and 3D scanning at the University of Wolverhampton.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

This salad is just so good! And it is easy to make! This salad reminds me of the fresh vegetables of summer. Even though it has been a damp overcast kind of week, it brings the smell of summer to the house.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

• 3 medium sized cucumbers or 6 mini cucumbers (I used mini’s)
• 1 (10.5 oz) container of grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 medium red onion, finely diced
• 6 sprigs of fresh dill (you can sub 1 tsp dill weed but fresh is best here)
• 1 cup zesty Italian salad dressing
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Quarter or halve the cucumbers depending on the size used, then slice into 1/4″ pieces.
2. Place the cucumbers in a bowl and add the grapes, onion, and dill.
3. Toss the cucumber mixture with the Italian dressing until evenly coated with salad dressing.  Add some salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.  The longer the better.

Recipe adapted from Bluebonnets and Brownies.

I saw this recipe on Real Mom Kitchen Blog

Quick Summer Fruit Salad

This fruit salad is a quick and easy one.  It also have a festive look to it because of the fruits used.  You can use whatever fruits that you like or are in season. You can whip this salad up in no time.  It calls for vanilla pudding mix but some people use lemon pudding that helps the bananas from turning brown.

Quick Summer Fruit Salad

• 1 (5.1 oz) pkg vanilla instant pudding
• 1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits with juice
• 1 lb. fresh strawberries, quartered
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (optional, I think marshmallows would be a yummy substitution)
• 3 bananas, sliced

1. In a bowl combine the pudding mix and canned pineapple with the juice.  Stir until well blended and all the pudding mixture has dissolved.
2. Fold in the strawberries and blueberries if desired.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Just before serving, fold in the sliced bananas.

Adapted from Meals 4 Moms

I saw this on the Real Mom Kitchen Blog

Family and Friends - just so precious!

I was on Pinterest this morning, just pinning away and enjoying other's pins when I saw this one:

This pin just hit home for me. Family is so important and we all know that one way or another. Friends, especially friends that are described in the above, are very, very special. They are people who have met you and still like/love you even though they have seen you at your worst. They are people who you don't hear from them for months and the next thing you know, the phone is ringing and it is them asking how you are doing. It was as if they knew to call you or you knew to call them. They are the friends that can listen to you sound off about something insignificant and will let you talk and talk until you get it off of your chest. They put smiles on your faces and laugh with you being silly. They are the best of friends.


Call your friend, email them, or go see them. They may need you today.