Another Challenge-ING Week

I'm back to my old ways... posting at the last possible moment! I guess I'm just happy I had a chance to participate in the Diva's Weekly Challenge again! YAY! This is Challenge #184 : ING. The funny thING is I just posted a photo I drew of ING last week along with the UMT Challenge. I briefly considered being v-e-r-y lazy and reposting it since I knew I had a busy week... but. that. would. be. cheating. and. that. would. not. be. good. I wanted to experiment  with the pattern a little more than I have, so it was fun to fashion it into a frame with a combination of large and small zig zags. I enjoyed filling it with a variety of tangles; paradox, crescent moon, and some tripoli inspired fillers. It seemed appropriate to call this one "Frame-ING."

Diva's Weekly Challenge #184 : "Frame-ING"

Cami and I taught a Beyond the Basics String Theory Class this week. I had so much fun trying to figure out what my special gift would be to the students attending this class... I considered many, many options... and then one day I was sitting outside admiring my collection of beach rocks that I keep in a basket... that's when I knew what I would do! I selected a variety, washed them well, painted on a sealer, and then I watched the bijou video again! I took notes of all the bijou-isms that appeared. So now... my continuing students (intro class students receive a name place card-click here for post) will have the opportunity to collect a new tangled rock with bijou-ism at each class they attend! Here is a sampling...

Bijou-isms : Student Gifts

This week's class was very small, but AWESOME! We LOVE our students! The kindest, most inspiring women! Here are a couple photos of class mosaics and art that they completed...

Gorgeous, aren't they?!

This is the Zentangle® Class Postcard I posted earlier this month at the yoga studio. I made a little business card holder that is next to it. 

Okay... the best for last... Here are the cookies I baked for class this week... (by the way... feel free to take one, but one MUST be saved for the Duchess... I promised her last week...) 

Yummmmmyyyy...

These are the super, delicious Peanut Butter S'more Cookies! Thanks for stopping by... enjoy the cookies! These are best with a nice, cold, glass of milk. There's plenty of delicious milk in the fridge... help yourself!

I DEFINITELY want S'more...

Today has been a little gloomy and cloudy… It's the type of day to bake up a new cookie recipe. I looked through my list of "to try" and knew this would be the one for just this day! It's a Peanut Butter S'more Cookie!!! I don't know if there could be anything better (at least not right now at THIS moment!)! I decided to make them for my family self. Just kidding… I did share! (…not that I wanted too…) Cami definitely wanted S'more too! These cookies are so good they have made the holiday cookie plate rotation for this year… Yummmm…

S'more Cookies

(recipe from Cuisine at home)

Be sure to let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet, otherwise the weight of the marshmallows may cause them to sink through the wire rack gaps.

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Total time: 25 minutes + baking

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup fine graham cracker crumbs

1/2 teaspoon EACH baking soda and kosher salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened (8 Tbsp.)

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup EACH granulated sugar and packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

24 large marshmallows, halved horizontally

48 Hershey's chocolate bar pieces (4 bars)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
3. Cream butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until incorporated. Blend in flour mixture on low speed just until incorporated. 
4. Scoop dough with #60 scoop (about 1 Tbsp.) onto ungreased baking sheets.
5. Bake cookies 4 minutes. Top each with a marshmallow half and bake until golden, 4-5 minutes more. Let cookies rest on baking sheet a few minutes, then transfer to cooling racks. Press chocolate pieces on top of cookies and let cool 5 minutes more. 

Easy print here!

These cookies were super quick and fun to make! We won't even discuss the how delicious part again… You'll start drooling, you'll get the drool on your keyboard or iPad… Not good… Just go make them!

Leave me a note… Let me know if they were a hit in your home or if you plan on giving them a try!

a new pincushion

I finished creating a new milk chocolate with white chocolate swirl truffle today for allyegator. (She requested one similar to my avatar.) It's been a month or so since I created a new chocolate pincushion. I really enjoyed sitting down with my needle and thread to create it. Thanks allyegator! :)

I have three finished chocolate tops that are waiting to be made into magnets or bookmarks. I have to decide.... hmmm... maybe I'll do both! A chocolate bookmark and a pair of chocolate magnets. I'll have to look at them again and figure it out. I'm kind of dragging today so I suspect that they'll stay in their current state a little longer. I've been having more good days than bad, but those bad days sometimes just seem to creep up on you. I definitely feel the pressure from it this morning. My next doctor's appointment is on Friday, it will be nice to hear about the results from the test I had last week. In the meantime, today is one of those days that I think I'll need to take it a little easier.

I LOVE blue!!!! ...and chocolate tags give away...

I LOVE blue... all shades of blue! (Even my car is blue!!) I decided it was time to make a Blossom Card that had a lovely blue flower. (It helped that it was also an EtsyBlogger carnival challenge to show your favorite color in your work as well! :) ) This aqua blue floral paper just grabbed me when I saw it at a store months ago and it's been patiently waiting in my stash for the perfect time to bloom. I really love how it "pops" against the orangey pink background paper. I just listed this Blossom Card in my shop as Blue Posies Blossom Card.

Now it's time for the September drawing announcement!!! This month's give away is for a set of 3 of my chocolate tags. Drawing will take place on Monday, September 22nd. (Comments counted until Noon, PST on 9/22/08. U.S. residents only, please.) So, leave a comment so I know you’d like to be entered in the drawing and tell me, what's YOUR favorite color! :)

UPDATED 09/22/08 @ 1:30 pm: Drum roll..... The winner of this month's give away is... Nathan!!! Congratulations!!! Thanks so much for commenting on my blog!

chocolates & radioactive scrambled eggs

I made these cute little chocolate candy tags for barneybetty today! It had been a little while since I had put together my little chocolates and I had fun cutting and pasting them into yummy candies. Thank you barneybetty for the order! :)

This morning I went to the hospital for the gastric emptying study. They had me eat some radioactive scrambled eggs (not yummy) so they could watch my digestion (or not). I had to lay still for an hour and a half in a confined space while the machine did it's job. I'm hoping that somehow I've gained some super hero trait through the radioactive eggs... at least maybe I could glow in the dark! :) I'll keep you posted! I'll get the results from this test next Friday when I see my gastroenterologist.

Hmmmm.... super hero traits... what would you choose as yours?