Stitched Pigeon

Etsy Update

2011-08-17T13:49:00.005-05:00

Having sold five of my Viva la Rebelución prints over the past month, I consider my Etsy shop to be a moderate success! :) I even got my first positive feedback the other day in spite of the print arriving damaged due to post office mishandling. Sadly, however, I heard from that seller yesterday and she told me that her husband accidentally threw away the print because it was still in its packaging and he didn't realize it until it was too late. I'm saddened to hear of the untimely demise of one of my paper babies, but I know others will be well taken care of and live long happy lives. So here's to you, Print No. 20 of 21! I know you're hanging happily framed in the eternal gallery in the sky!

In related news, I'd like to sell some of my other prints that I made in college, though I'm not sure they'd do as well since I don't think there's quite as much demand for them. But who knows? They might wind up being more popular than I think. We'll just have to see...

Introducing “Our Pet Diaries”

2011-08-08T09:55:00.001-05:00

For a few years now, the hubby and I have been keeping "pet journals" for our dogs just so we can make note of fond memories as well as any health things that come up with the dogs (and the cat is in there too). After I was cleaning up my Documents folder one day, I decided that it would be easier to update the journal if I just turned it into a blog! That way I can add tags to each new entry which will make it much easier to reference and organize. After a couple weeks of converting everything over into the new blog format, it's finally (mostly) up to date!

Check it out!

So I've finally set up a shop on Etsy...

2011-07-09T19:05:00.005-05:00

...and my first items for sale are a series of linocut posters featuring "The Colonel" in black and red on white Stonehenge paper. Any true Ole Miss fan would be proud to own one, so check it out! And, um, buy something. >_> Just sayin'.

Click here to visit my Etsy shop!

How to Make HBO's GoT Lemon Cakes

2011-04-12T17:57:00.009-05:00

As HBO's Game of Thrones premiere quickly approaches, I know many folks (myself included) are planning a get-together to celebrate. HBO was kind enough to give us a wonderful Lemon Cakes recipe that everybody can include in their party spread, so I decided to give it a try in order to determine exactly how good, fair, or blah it really was before serving it to my guests on Sunday. I called up my mother (she's the hand model in all my pictures below) and we whipped up a batch.

Since I had a hard time finding many people online that had made this and then talked about it, I decided to report on it myself. See the details and all the pictures below the break.

Before we get started, we'll need the following ingredients and materials:

½ cup granulated sugar (plus a little extra for dusting the ramekins)
2 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon of all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
2/3 cup of buttermilk (do NOT use low fat - trust me)
2 ½ tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 ½ lemons
a little powdered sugar for garnish
six 4-ounce ramekins
a mixer (a handheld will work fine)
3 bowls
zester

So go ahead and preheat your oven to 300 degrees, then butter and lightly sugar your six 4-ounce ramekins. (You can use non-stick cook spray instead of butter.)

Now beat the egg whites in a small or medium sized bowl until soft peaks form; set this aside when done.

In another small bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, and salt. Set aside.

In a third medium sized bowl, use your handheld mixer (or stand mixer with a whisk attachment if you have one or those) to combine the buttermilk, lemon juice, egg yolks, and lemon zest. After everything is well combined and smooth, you gradually add the flour mixture.

Now you can put away your mixer (be sure to scrape off the zest from the spinners!).

Next, gently fold in the egg whites. It's a little difficult because the egg whites kinda float on top of the liquid, but just keep with it and they'll eventually sort of mix together. It's ok if they're a little lumpy; you don't want to smush all the fluff out of the egg whites.

After this is folded together, you need to go ahead and get some almost-boiling water ready for use in your pan. Fill a medium sized pot with water and set it to cooking on your stove. It needs to be more than just "warm" like the HBO recipe calls for. It needs to be nearly boiling; steaming and maybe just starting to bubble.

Now back to the lemon cakes. Divide the batter evenly among your six ramekins. We used a gravy ladle.

Gently place the filled ramekins into a pan (we used a large casserole dish) that is deep enough to hold water that will come half way up the side of the ramekins. This helps the cakes cook more evenly.

Don't fill your pan/casserole dish with the water until AFTER you get it into the oven. That way you don't burn yourself when you try to pick up a dish containing nearly-boiling water and spill everything all over your kitchen floor.

Once everything is in the oven, and you've filled the pan with water, lightly cover everything with a sheet of aluminum foil. It doesn't have to be on there tightly, just enough to keep direct heat off of the tops.

Bake for about 25 minutes then carefully take off the aluminum foil and continue to bake for about 15 minutes until very lightly browned on top (I ended up baking mine for 20 minutes instead of 15 - it will vary from oven to oven).

After they're done, take them out of the oven and let them cool off for about 5 minutes until they're ok to touch.

Then remove them from their water bath and allow to cool a little longer, or you can go ahead and plate them. Simply set a plate face-down on top of a ramekin, then turn the whole thing upside down so that the ramekin is upside-down on the plate. Give it a tap and a little wiggle and the cake should plop right out. Dust everything with a little powdered sugar, and voilà!

Delicious, moist, oh so tasty Lemon Cakes.

They don't exactly have what I would call a "cake" consistency. They're a little more spongey, but also a little like bread pudding because they're so moist.

It was so delicious I ate it right up. :)

In my opinion, they were best when served warm, but were still very good at room temperature. I liked them least when they were cold because they seemed to be more dense and I just didn't think they tasted as good. Take that for what it's worth, though, because other people have said they liked them best cold and not hot. To each his own!

I guess that's pretty much it from start to finish. I hope this was helpful to whoever reads it! If you use my guide to make Lemon Cakes, post a comment and let me know how they turned out! :)

Happy Baking!

Halloween 2010 :D

2010-10-27T13:32:00.000-05:00

So I've gone a bit nutty with a costume this year for Halloween. I don't usually dress up or even do much beyond hand out candy (and maybe walk the dogs around town at night to look at all the folks dressed up in the bars), but I was hit with a stroke of inspiration while on a trip to Universal Studios. We went at the beginning of October so we got to enjoy Halloween Horror Nights, and I saw this chick:

(That's my husband in the picture with her.)

So I've pieced together that costume and will (hopefully) be out and about for all to see this weekend. IT'S GONNA BE SO AWESOME!! x3

Hopeful

2010-07-23T21:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's Ellie update was a bit scary, but God heard our prayers and today held better news. Ellie was in much better spirits today and started eating some food. She didn't really know what to think of the soft canned food, so she would kinda gum it then spit it out. Was kind of funny actually. When Travis visited this afternoon, he thought it'd be a good idea to give her something more familiar to eat and requested some kibble that she could try. She ate it. Go figure. lol

Though she's still very weak, Ellie was able to walk around on her own today and was very happy to see all her visitors today. My dad went to visit her, and he said she tried to leave with him instead of following the vet. Sweet, but a little sad too. I know she's ready to come home and be away from all those other strange dogs that are back there in the other kennels.

Anyways, the vet was pleased with her progress and started her on a barium test earlier today. As of later this afternoon nothing was really showing up, so he said they would do another check on the progress of the test in the morning and a little more blood work. If they don't see anything, and if she will poop, then she's good to go! If they do see something with the test, then they'll go ahead with the surgery (but at least they'll kinda know where it is and it won't just be "exploratory").

The vet was much more hopeful today (though to temper expectations, he reminded us that nothing is for sure and that things could turn around at any time - especially if it's a blockage), and was pleased with her progress.

Keeping our fingers crossed!

Sick Puppy Ellie

2010-07-22T19:20:00.000-05:00

This is a continuation from all my facebook updates just because I'm tired of fitting my updates into 150 characters or less. lol

So...unfortunately the news for today isn't good. Ellie's kidneys are better, but we can't say the same for the rest of her. She has still refused any food given to her, and as of later this afternoon, she has started throwing up again...this time with blood in it.

The vet seems convinced that it must be some kind of blockage in her digestive system that is causing all of this; the kidney issue was just a byproduct of the dehydration. Long story short, and after much talking, we've decided that the best thing to do for Ellie is to put her under the knife and do exploratory surgery.

If she's no better tomorrow, they'll do the surgery. Hopefully they'll find what's causing the problem, and she can get on the road to recovery. If they don't find anything...well then we're just s.o.l. and out of ideas. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Thanks again for your continued prayers and support. <3

Mother's Day Meal 2010

2010-05-05T13:54:00.000-05:00

So I'm putting together my mother's day lunch for this Sunday. I want to do something easy and quick to fix because we'll be eating after church, so here's what I've come up with:

Grilled Chicken & Veggie Skewers [x]
Cole Slaw (family recipe)
Brunch Potato Casserole [x]
Brazilian Lemonade [x]
Grilled Peaches with Berry Sauce [x]
Mini Cheesecakes [x]

The chicken, casserole, and cheesecakes I can prepare and/or cook ahead of time then get everything else finished after church. It should be super yummy - I can't wait!

8 Ways to Drive a Graphic Designer Mad

2010-03-09T09:34:00.000-06:00

I recently rediscovered this great article by Ghislain Roy. It was originally published by HOW Magazine, but I've seen it in emails and all over the internet. Enjoy!

As everyone knows, graphic designers are the reason there are so many wars in this world. They get inside our heads with their subliminal advertising, force us against our will to spend money on the worst pieces of shit, and eventually, drive us to depression and random acts of violence. And of course, most of them are communists. So to do my part to save the world from them, i made a list of things you can do when working with a graphic designer, to assure that they have a burn-out and leave this business FOREVER.

Microsoft Office
When you have to send a graphic designer a document, make sure it’s made with a program from Microsoft Office. PC version if possible. If you have to send pictures, you’ll have more success in driving them mad if, instead of just sending a jpeg or a raw camera file, you embed the pictures inside a Microsoft Office document like Word or Powerpoint. Don’t forget to lower the resolution to 72 dpi so that they’ll have to contact you again for a higher quality version. When you send them the ‘higher’ version, make sure the size is at least 50% smaller. And if you’re using email to send the pictures, forget the attachment once in a while.
Fonts
If the graphic designer chooses Helvetica for a font, ask for Arial. If he chooses Arial, ask for Comic Sans. If he chooses Comic Sans, he’s already half-insane, so your job’s half done.
More is better
Let’s say you want a newsletter designed. Graphic designers will always try to leave white space everywhere. Large margins, the leading and kerning of text, etc. They will tell you that they do this because it’s easier to read, and leads to a more clean, professional look. But do not believe those lies. The reason they do this is to make the document bigger, with more pages, so that it costs you more at the print shop. Why do they do it? Because graphic designers hate you. They also eat babies. Uncooked, raw baby meat. So make sure you ask them to put smaller margins and really, really small text. Many different fonts are also suggested (bonus if you ask for Comic Sans, Arial or Sand). Ask for clipart. Ask for many pictures (if you don’t know how to send them, refer to #1). They will try to argument, and defend their choices but don’t worry, in the end the client is always right and they will bow to your many requests.
Logos
If you have to send a logo for a particular project, let’s say of a sponsor or partner, be sure to have it really really small and in a low-res gif or jpeg format. Again, bonus points if you insert it in a Word document before sending it. Now you might think that this would be enough but if you really want to be successful in lowering the mental stability of a graphic designer, make sure to send a version of the logo over a hard to cut-out background. Black or white backgrounds should be avoided, as they are easy to cut-out with the darken or lighten layer style in photoshop. Once the graphic designer is done working on that bitmap logo, tell him you need it to be bigger. If you need a custom made logo, make your own sketches on a napkin. Or better yet, make your 9 year old kid draw it. Your sketch shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to make. You don’t want to make something that’s detailed and easy to understand, because the less the designer understands what you want, the more you can have things changed afterwards. Never accept the first logo. Never accept the 9th, ask for different modifications regarding colors, fonts & clip art. Ask to add a picture in the logo. Bevels. Gradients. Comic Sans. And when the designer is at his 10th version, admit that you like the 2nd one the most. I know, it’s mean but remember: graphic designers are the cause of breast cancer among middle aged women.
Choosing your words
When describing what you want in a design, make sure to use terms that don’t really mean anything. Terms like ‘jazz it up a bit’ or ‘can you make it more webbish?’. ‘I would like the design to be beautiful’ or ‘I prefer nice graphics, graphics that, you know, when you look at them you go: Those are nice graphics.’ are other options. Don’t feel bad about it, you’ve got the right. In fact, it’s your duty because we all know that on full moons, graphic designers shape-shift into werewolves.
Colours
The best way for you to pick colours (because you don’t want to let the graphic designer choose) is to write random colours on pieces of paper, put them in a hat and choose. The graphic designer will suggest to stay with 2-3 main colours at the most, but no. Choose as many as you like, and make sure to do the hat thing in front of him. While doing it, sing a very annoying song.
Deadlines
When it’s your turn to approve the design, take your time. There is no rush. Take two days. Take six. Just as long as when the deadline of the project approaches, you get back to the designer with more corrections and changes that he has time to make. After all, graphic designers are responsible for the 911 attacks.
Finish Him
After you’ve applied this list on your victim, it is part of human nature (although some would argue whether they’re human or not) to get a bit insecure. After realizing that he just can’t satisfy your needs, the graphic designer will most likely abandon all hopes of winning an argument and will just do whatever you tell him to do, without question. You want that in purple? Purple it is. Six different fonts? Sure! You would think that at this point you have won, but don’t forget the goal of this: he has to quit this business. So be ready for the final blow: When making decisions on the final details, tell him that you are disappointed by his lack of initiative. Tell him that after all, he is the designer and that he should be the one to put his expertise and talent at work, not you. That you were expecting more output and advices about design from him. Tell him you’ve had enough with his lack of creativity and that you would rather do your own layouts on Publisher instead of paying for his services. And there you go. You should have graphic designer all tucked into a straight jacket in no time!

Winter is Coming in 2011!

2010-03-02T16:13:00.000-06:00

They did it!! They finally did it!

HBO has officially announced the order of 10 episodes based on George RR Martin's book A Game of Thrones, the first book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Read more about it:

Microwave Egg Cooker

2010-01-14T08:56:00.000-06:00

I bought one last night. x3

I've been trying to come up with some new things to eat for breakfast, but since I eat at work it's been difficult coming up with low-calory things that I can fix in a microwave. So I finally decided to just take the plunge and use some of my birthday money to buy this microwave egg cooker. I also bought some little egg cups and spoons so I can make soft boiled eggs. I haven't had those since I was last in Germany and I miss them so much! I loved soft boiled eggs!

Can't wait to get my cooker! :D

Domain Registry Of America: Don’t Be Scammed!

2010-01-12T09:42:00.000-06:00

Because I was almost successfully scammed by this thing yesterday, I'm going to make a post about it. Quoting another blogger who has already written about this business and its misleading tactics (no point reinventing the wheel), the following was taken from SEO blogger Nick Stamoulis of Brick Marketing.

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I just received an interesting notice in the mail from Domain Registry of America. It was real easy for me to identify these schmucks as scam artists, but the average consumer may not find it so easy.
In the top right corner of the mailing are the words “Domain Name Expiration Notice.” Then, below that, there is an 800 number and a web address (www.droa.com). It’s an official looking letter and arrives in an official looking envelope and a return envelope, addressed but not postage paid. The letter begins, “As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification of the domain name registrations that are due to expire in the next few months.”
Some people may not know when their domains expire, but I do. I also know who my domain registrars are and I have no interest in switching. The letter continues:

When you switch today to the Domain Registry of America, you can take advantage of our best savings.

Then the letter tells me when my domain names expire – several months away. But they want me to “Act today!”
First, if I did switch my domain registration to Domain Registry of America, I wouldn’t be saving any money. I’d be losing money; and that’s probably the case with anyone.
I currently pay $10 per year for domain name registration, the going rate. Some web hosts include this fee in their packages. Others offer registration for less than $10. In any case, I’d never pay more than $10. Domain Registry of America wants to charge me $30.00 for one year or $50.00 for two years. And in bright red letters next to the $50.00 price tag are the words “save $10.” Hmmm … by my calculations I’d be losing $15. Nice scam they have going there.
There are probably people who would fall for this. But I’d caution my readers to stay away from these people. After doing a little more research (like a Google search), I discovered that I was not the only person to have been solicited by these people.
Blog.Forret appears in Google as the No. 3 result for the company’s name. The No. 2 listing is the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). On the FTC website, I read:

The Federal Trade Commission has requested that a federal district court enjoin Domain Registry of America, Inc., an Internet domain name re-seller, from making misrepresentations in the marketing of its domain name registration services and require it to pay redress to consumers.

That was 2003. Evidently, these guys have been around a long time. There are 58,400 results on the Google SERP for this company’s name inside quotes. Most of them are negative reactions to DROAs aggressive marketing tactics and its penchant for misrepresentation. The company’s response? They threatened to sue a blogger whose blog posts ranked highly for their company name.
After browsing through five pages of Google’s SERP for the company’s name, I didn’t find one single result that had a positive thing to say about Domain Registry of America. Most of the results are angry bloggers accusing the company of running a scam. Others are other domain registrars upset about DROAs tactics as well. A result from December 2002 shows that Register.com filed a lawsuit against DROA and the judged ruled in its favor.
To add insult to injury, in its letter to me, DROA threatened:

You must renew your domain name to retain exclusive rights to it on the Web, and now is the time to transfer and renew your names from your current Registrar to the Domain Registry of America. Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the Web.

This is blatantly misleading and incorrect. There are other considerations that affect domain name registrations. These considerations can include trademarks, registrar transfer issues, and other types of dispute resolutions where gray areas in the law are concerned or when there have been clear violations of an existing law, that can not help with your Search Engine Optimization efforts. For more information about domain name dispute resolution, you can visit the ICANN website.
I strongly encourage anyone who gets a letter from the Domain Registry of America to report the company to your country’s consumer advocacy agency. Most Western and industrialized countries have an arm of the government dedicated to consumer advocacy. Report them and don’t do business with Domain Registry of America.

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So that's Nick story. While I was fooled at first and sent my $50 check, I came to the realization that something was pretty fishy after I received an email from these people saying something about transfering my domain, which wasn't what I thought I had paid for. I therefore looked up the company and found the FTC posting that Nick mentions above and realized my mistake. After moving past being mad at myself for falling for this trick, I got mad and the company and immediately went to work to prevent them from getting my money (the check hadn't been cashed yet at the time). I called the FTC and made a formal complaint; they then advised me to get in touch with my bank and cancel payment of the check as well as change my bank account number since it was written on the check. So I went to the bank where they told me I could simply close that checking account and open a new one. This would bypass the $30 cancel-payment-fee since the check I sent would no longer have money attached to it. So that's what I did. Today I sent DROA an email telling them to cancel any actions they were taking in regards to my account and domain, and for them to remove any and all of my personal information from their records and databases. We'll see how they respond.......