New Stuff, New Years, and a picture of Buddy

Hello, Hello!

How is everyone today?  I am excited to have three days off.  I am really looking forward to kicking 2011's a** out the door!

I hope for most of you that this was an excellent year, but in all honesty 2011 has been very difficult for numerous reasons and I am hoping that all of the lessons I have learned over these past few months will be put to good use in 2012!

I am hoping for so many things in the New Year for myself and my loved ones, but most of all I am hoping for health, happiness, and financial stability.  These three big things I have realized require a balance and I am hoping for that balance to happen soon!

As for what I have been doing for the past week, I have been busy thinking of projects that I want to work on.

I am currently working on a new series of cards that I am calling:  Dream Big.

There have been so many people in the last year that have set their sights on goals and have achieved them.  Since the New Year has been coming all week I have been thinking of people that have inspired me in many ways in the past year.

Here's a peek:

I letter-pressed Dream Big and hand cut a stamp of Adele who without her music playing in my head this year I might not have made it some days.  Meridyth and I listened to her on numerous trips to the ER!

That is it for today lovelies!  I am sending good thoughts for all of your New Year's, be safe, have fun, and until next year!

love,

Jess

And one picture of my Buddy boy to leave on!  I was never a cat person but how can you not love that Putnam (face in Yiddish)!

He said he can't wait for 2012 either!

Macaroons (Macarons) and other Things

It's Wednesday!  It's Wednesday!

Happy second night of Chanukah to those of you who celebrate, Merry almost Christmas, and Happy Holiday's to everyone else!

I have been busy making presents today and will have pictures soon!  We are poor but it doesn't mean I can't make some heart felt things for the people I love!

I have also been rethinking me etsy shop.  Some questions I have been asking myself is:  What do I really like making?  What kind of images do I want to put out there in the world?  What can I see myself doing and making in a year, in five years, in ten?  What do I want to share with people and what do I want them to buy that they will want more of?

I like the name of my shop, love it actually, but I just feel like I need to figure out some core things about what kind of artist I want to be and what I enjoy making (when you enjoy it I feel like it shows through in the work, when it is painful to make or difficult I think you can feel that too).

Onto, the last part of the post.  As those of you who have been reading the blog know, I love images.  I like eye candy and pretty things, and beautiful images make me happy.

One of the images I love on all of the wedding blogs is this:

Image by Simply Photo

Macaroons!  They are so pretty and I love the colors and the shapes, and lately I have been seeing this eye candy all over the web.

La Mie Bakery, Des Moines, Iowa

Now, I have pinned some of these beauties on pinterest and can I admit a secret?  I have never eaten one before!  I don't even know what they are made of!

So if anyone else has this dirty little secret, this is what I found out in my searches on the web today.

First, I have been calling it a macaroon, most people seem too, but if you look on Wikipedia it is actually spelled Macaron.  What I found out is this treasure is a meringue based sweet made with egg white and almond flour.  The base of the word is from the Italian word maccherone meaning to crush or beat which is referring to the almond powder.

This sweet is considered primarily a french confection, but the Italians would beg to differ saying the french started making it when Catherine de Medici who married Henry II of France brought over her Italian cooks with her.

Traditional macarons were raspberry and chocolate, but now they come in a variety of flavors and combinations and the fillings can be jam, buttercream, or ganache.

The possibilities of flavors are endless!

I hope if you were uneducated like me about Macarons which Wikepedia said most North Americans consider it synonymous with Macaroons, but most Europeans differentiate, that you learned a little something!

Until tomorrow...I'm off to dream of beautiful pastries,

love,

Jess

Found on the blog Mumu, source unknown (if you took it, e-mail me!)