Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Plenty of Fish in the Freezer-Making Halibut Ceviche

2011-09-17T23:06:00.001-04:00

We have several pounds of fish in our freezer from the fishing trip my fiance went on when he was visiting Alaska. I'm determined to use it up before we end up with more-ack! To that end, last night we made a halibut ceviche. It's basically my own recipe made from cobbling together several recipes I found online.

For those of you not familiar, ceviche is a fish dish found in South American cuisine. I personally had it for the first time in Peru. Ceviche is not cooked-raw fish or seafood is marinated in some kind of citrus (lemon or lime) juice, usually along with other ingredients (such as onions, chilis. For more info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche) Obviously, as with sushi or any other raw fish dish, you need to be careful that you use very fresh fish, and there is some risk of food poisoning from raw fish. Ingredients:1lb of Halibut - cut into 1/2 inch cubesjuice from 5 lemonsjuice from 5 limes4 jalapeno peppers, diced and seeded1 sweet onion, diced1 bell pepper (we used orange), diced3 medium tomatoes (we used some pretty purplish ones), dicedfresh parsley and cilantro-dicedsalt and pepper-to taste, if desired

Cube halibut and dice jalapeno peppers and mix with lemon and lime juice in a non-metallic bowl (glass or plastic will work). Cover and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours.

Dice onion and bell pepper and add to mixture. Stir well and refrigerate for about 1/2 hour.

Dice fresh tomatoes, parsley and cilantro, salt and pepper. Add to mixture and serve.

You can serve this with corn and potatoes (which is how I saw it done in Peru), or rice, avocado, tortilla or plantain chips, or whatever you want, really! We had ours with a whole grain rice 'medley' and sweet potato tortilla chips (both from Trader Joe's!) This recipe is really a lot of fun to make-and easy apart from all the waiting. I love how it got more colorful as we went along. I tried this once before-several months ago-with a mix of halibut and salmon, but never got around to writing down what I did. I really preferred the halibut over the salmon. You could easily make this with most other white flesh fish, I think.

Do you guys like ceviche? Has anyone tried making it? It's really easy, just a lot of time marinating. What would you add? How would you serve it? Please leave me a comment and let me know!

Beading Made Portable

2011-08-02T14:49:00.000-04:00

I've always been jealous of knitters and crocheters. Their craft seems so portable. You see them working all over the place-waiting rooms, coffee shops, trains. I've always wanted to be able to do that with my jewelry making! I've always thought it would hard to organize bringing a lot of beads, wire, and tools with me. Not to mention I wondered if I would get funny looks.

So, I set about looking for a way to carry my beading with me so I could give it a try. Here's what I came up with:

Basically, I stole two smallish boxes that my fiance had been given with some fancy tea for his birthday. They have tight fitting lids so they wouldn't fall open while traveling. One would easily fit in a large purse. I removed all the packaging from inside and just started wedging things in. I carry a beading mat in one, so I can put things out on a table without them rolling around.

When I travel, I always wrap my pliers so they don't damage anything. I turn some duct tape sticky side out and wrap it around the ends of each pair of pliers, with the pliers in an open position. Then I wrap another layer of duct tape (sticky side in) over the first layer so it doesn't stick to everything.

So far, it's working pretty well. I've used them to work while waiting for my father to have a procedure in the hospital, and on an amtrak train. I find making rings to be one of the easiest projects to carry with me. The tea tins don't fit a ring sizer or hammer, but I can carry those separately pretty easily, or leave the hammer at home. I've also got an old biscuit tin I bought at a yard sale for when I need to fit more/larger items in. The problem with that (at least the one I have) is that the lid doesn't fit tightly and needs to be rubber banded on.

I'm working on a few other ideas for ways to carry my beading projects around. I'd love to hear about your ideas. Is your craft portable? What's your favorite way to carry it with you?

New Treasury Featuring Local Artists

2011-06-30T20:31:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted to share my latest treasury with you all. I made a treasury on etsy featuring some local crafters/artists from the Cambridge/Somerville/Boston area. There is so much good stuff going on around here! Enjoy!

Don't forget to stop by my shop to see my new listings. In the last few weeks, I've added fun rings and scrabble tile pendants to my shop. And please leave a comment here to let me know what you think!

Triple Letter Score-Scrabble Tile Pendants Part 2-making bails!

2011-06-24T23:32:00.000-04:00

I know you’ve all been anxiously awaiting this, so here is part two of my post on scrabble tile pendants! Once the resin had cured on the scrabble tiles, the next step was to add the bails (or, pendant-hanging thingers, as I would have called them a couple of years ago before I started making jewelry-I’ve learned a lot of new terminology!) There are a lot of pre-made glue-on bails available, mostly by Aanraku. But being me, I wanted to make my own bails from wire. I had some idea as to how it might be done, and I looked around online for examples to see if anyone else was doing something similar. I didn’t find any, and I started wondering if handmade bails would even work! Luckily I asked around to a few of my jewelry-making ‘tweeps’ on Twitter, one of whom has made her own bails in the past and she reassured me so I got started!

I made the bails themselves with 22 gauge half-hard wire. I made a small wire spiral, and made a large wrapped loop on top. (That was especially exciting as I got a chance to use my new wire looping pliers!) I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures during this part of the process-I got excited and made a whole bunch before I remembered I wanted to blog about this!

I hammered the spirals flat figuring that that would make a more surface area for the glue to adhere to. I also hammered the loops to harden them.

I then sanded both the wire spirals and the backs of the scrabble tiles to make a rough surface for the glue to adhere to.

Then I was ready to glue! After doing some reading online I’ve found that a lot of people use an adhesive called e-6000. I’ve heard mixed reviews of it, though, with some people saying that their creations fall apart using this glue! My friend Meredith of TilleyJewels suggested something called Crafter’s Goop, which I think I will try out next. My fiancé has a quick-drying two-part epoxy that he’s used for wire projects, so I tried that first because we already had it. You have to mix the two parts, then use it quickly before it begins drying.

Here is what the finished product looks like, both front and back. I’m pretty happy with how it looks, and just about ready to list them in my shop. The glue (and the results of my resin spills that I mentioned in the last post) are visible, but only on the backs of the pendants. My main concern with these was sturdiness-would the handmade bails stay on? A friend of mine has been wearing one of them and has had no problems so far. On top of that, when I was trying to take pictures of the pendants, I dropped a wooden board that I use as a background right on top of them, and the bails didn’t separate from the pendants. The adhesive wasn’t even fully cured at that point, so, I think they’re going to work pretty well!

As usual, thanks for reading, everyone! Please leave me a comment and let me know how you like the pendants. Would you buy one?

I was included in a treasury: City Life!

2011-06-24T23:30:00.000-04:00

Wow! One of my scrabble tile pendants was included in this lovely 'City Life' treasury by Shroompers on etsy! Check it out!

Semi-homemade cooking: Unfried Rice

2011-06-19T23:23:00.000-04:00

I came up with this recipe while I was helping out my mom who had been ill with pneumonia. She’d just come home from the hospital, and was only just starting to regain her appetite so I wanted something fairly simple I didn’t want to head to the grocery store. All we really had in the house for quick cooking was leftover rice, frozen veggies, and eggs. And so, unfried rice was born! This was really a thrown together dish, so please excuse the lack of measurements and exact quantities-do what you want, modify, and use what you have on hand! Here’s how I did it:

Ingredients:

Pre-cooked or leftover rice (probably about 3 cups)
½ a bag of frozen broccoli (obviously, substitute whatever veggies you have on hand or prefer)
2 eggs
Soy sauce
Seasoned rice vinegar (we use a brand called Nakano)
Ground mustard
Dried (or fresh) parsley

Basically-I cooked the frozen broccoli by the stovetop method-which involved putting the broccoli in a pot with a small amount of boiling water. I partially drained the cooked broccoli leaving a little water, and added the pre-cooked rice. I scrambled and cooked the egg s, and chopped them up with the spatula before adding them to the pot as well. I turned on very low heat and added the soy sauce, vinegar, and spices. I mixed everything together and cooked until heated through. That’s it!

It came out pretty tasty. Not quite the same as fried rice of course. I think I’ll make this again at home with some changes. I might add a small dash of sesame oil and maybe red pepper flakes or sriracha to make it a bit more interesting. Let me know what you think! What would you add or leave out?

Homemade Cooking: Pasta with Beans and Greens

2011-04-28T22:21:00.000-04:00

I’d like to share a recipe I tried out a couple of days ago. I came up with it mostly based on a few veggies that begged me to buy them at the Trader Joe’s. And I love pasta, so of course I had to include some! It’s simple but tasty, and would be really easy to modify further to fit your tastes. The veggies, whole wheat instead of regular pasta, and some beans for protein sound like a fairly balanced and healthy combo to me! As usual I forgot to take pictures before we’d eaten it all.

Ingredients:

1 bag whole wheat egg noodles

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic (minced)

½ of a red onion (diced)

1 bunch kale

1 bunch chard

1 can of white beans (drained and rinsed-I used great northern)

Red pepper flakes (to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Pepper (to taste)

Grated fresh parmesan cheese (to taste)

Directions:

Cook pasta (I suggest undercooking them by about a minute as they will cook more when combined with the other ingredients) while you prepare the rest of the meal. Put olive oil in a cast iron pot/dutch oven-just enough to coat the bottom of the pot. Add garlic and red onion. Slice kale (without stems) and chard into pieces and add to pot. Cook until tender. Add beans, pasta, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to pot. Toss together and cook until heated through (5-10 minutes). Add grated parmesan cheese to each person’s when serving, stir and eat! Yum!

This was a really quick and easy recipe to make. You could probably use any kind of greens (spinach would probably be tasty!) You could omit the red pepper flakes if you don’t like spice. It would probably also be tasty with zucchini, bell peppers, or just about any other veggies that are good cooked. You could probably also omit the olive oil, although I think it makes the spices and garlic/onion flavor stick to the pasta and veggies. Even though it’s a fairly healthy oil it should be used sparingly, of course, as a little bit of oil adds a lot of calories. Enjoy!

Copyright 2011. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Triple Word Score-Scrabble Tile Pendants

2011-04-12T15:49:00.000-04:00

Hello readers! For the past few days I've been working on scrabble tile pendants. This is the first time I've tried working with resin and I'm having so much fun! I thought it'd be even more fun to share the process with you guys. I bought some individual scrabble tiles at a flea market (the Fremont Sunday Market) while I was visiting Seattle. I also got some other cool stuff while I was there-watch backs, old coins-but those will have to wait for another project.

Scrabble tile pendants are pretty popular-as are variations like glass tile pendants. To put my own twist on the whole scrabble and make it a bit more 'me' I thought I'd try using my own travel photos for the designs. I also did one using some Japanese paper scraps that I bought on etsy. Scrabble tile pendants are NOT for the impatient-they take days to make if you do them this way.

Day 1: Computers, cutting, and glue (oh my!)

First I had to crop photos to the right shape, and make tiny versions of the pictures I wanted to use. I used GIMP for that-good free software! I printed them on photo paper and cut them out with an x-acto knife.

The size came out pretty close to the tiles; I might make them slightly bigger next time as I'm not sure I want the white border.

Next I glued the photos to the tiles with mod podge and waited them to dry before trimming the photos closer to the edges of the tiles.

Then I 'sealed' the paper with more mod podge-covering the surface and cut edges of the photo and let them dry overnight. Oh yeah-I should mention that our power went out mid-way through this step and I had to finish by the light of a flashlight and candles!

Day 2: Resin time!

This was the exciting part. I used Ice Resin which is a two-part epoxy meant for jewelry, it dries clear and is supposed to resist clouding over time. It also makes a dome shape by itself if you're careful. I mixed the two parts of resin carefully and began dripping resin onto the pendants. (I had to open the windows-it's a bit stinky once mixed!) As I kept dripping resin onto the pendants it naturally went to the edges and domed in the center-so far it seemed to working great-at least until I bumped some of the pendants and spilled it down the sides-boo!

Here is what the pendants looked like when coated in resin before I covered them up and left them to dry for 24 hours-no peeking or moving them, as you could ruin the dome! I covered them with a box top weighted down with some books to keep curious cat paws away!

They're already forming a dome, as you can see. This is only about 10 minutes after I finished putting the resin on. William the hippo plush snuck into this photo somehow . . .

24 hours later I was finally able to take a look at the pendants! I think they worked out well, despite the spills. The doming effect seems to be intact from the side view.

You can see the effects my bumping and spilling did have here. I'll have to try trimming or filing the excess resin off the side, because I really like the design on this one!

Now that the resin has dried, I think I'll try out some bail designs while I'm waiting for them to cure completely (this takes 3 days!) I think the hardest part of this is all the waiting. LOL I've bought some ready-made glue-on bails, but I'm determined to try making my own bails. I love hand-making as many bits as possible.

So, what do you think of my first attempt at these pendants? Has anyone else tried doing this? Please leave a comment and let me know!

Copyright 2011. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Semi-Handmade Scratching Post for Loooong Cats

2011-03-17T00:20:00.000-04:00

Does your cat like scratching on vertical surfaces? Cats like to be able to stretch out fully when they scratch. Scratching is a basic need for cats, and the best way to keep your cats from scratching your furniture is to provide an alternative! There are a few types of materials used scratching surfaces and trial and error will determine what types your cat will use-our two resident rescue cats enjoy cardboard and carpet and will not scratch sisal. We have one really tall, long kitty who LOVES scratching the sides of chairs and even the corners of walls. He likes the cardboard scratching posts we have for him but they haven’t quite stopped him from scratching the walls. He reaches higher than any standalone scratching post I’ve ever seen. Only big (and expensive!) cat trees look like they’d really let him stretch as high as he likes to. We’ve been thinking about making our own for a while now, and we’re still considering putting together a long cardboard one for them, but my fiancé came up with this design for a vertical carpeted scratching post made from an old board, a refill for a carpeted scratching post, and some nails. You could probably easily use ordinary carpet for this if you could find the right size or were willing to cut it up. It’s really simple, anyone could make one!

We found a long flat board in our basement left behind by a previous tenant. My fiancé tells me it is probably a 1 by 6 board. For the scratching surface, we got one of the refills for this scratching post at petco: http://www.petco.com/product/112680/Petmate-Lean-On-Me-Fashion-Scratch-Post.aspx It’s great for this purpose because it’s meant to go over both sides of that A-shaped holder so it’s LONG (A little over 3 feet). It has Velcro straps which we wrapped around the board. If you bought your own carpeting, you could easily customize the size and be able to wrap the sides and back of the board as well-I think we’ll do this next time.

We secured the carpet to the board with some short nails (short enough to lay flat in the front and not catch on kitty nails, but still not stick out the back). If you’re willing (or your landlord wouldn’t mind) you could easily nail the board to a wall near one of your cat’s favorite scratching spots. The walls in our apartment don’t do well with nails (they tend to crumble) and we didn’t want to put nails into the front of the moulding where we wanted to place the scratching post (our cats favorite scratching corner!), so we put screw hooks in the back of the moulding and attached the board with string and rubber bands to make it easier to wrap tightly. We put one string at the top and bottom. You could always trim the board to the length of the carpeted part of the scratching post.

The hooks we used

The string on one side of the board

The rubber band on the other side

Our long cat loves his new scratching post, and our shorter cat-who has always been very happy with the cardboard scratching posts-loves it too.

Above is one of our cats using the new scratching post, and to the right here's our looooong cat using the scratching post. Sorry for the low quality, but he just wouldn't cooperate when I was trying to get pictures but I managed to catch him on my phone! You can see even though he's not stretched all the way he reaches close to the top!

My cats seem pretty happy with their handmade toys. I’ve also made them a stuffed catnip sock and my fiancé made them a box to play in with 2 doors and toys hanging down inside. (Of course we can't resist buying them presents sometimes-they have lots of toys!) Has anyone else tried making their own scratching post or cat furniture? What about cat or dog toys? I’d love to hear about it. If you try this method out, I’d love to know if your cat likes it too!

One of our favorite toys-a fleece rope on a stick

Copyright 2011. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Helpful Stuff-The Unofficial Etsy Forums

2011-03-02T16:06:00.000-05:00

Any of you who are on Etsy may have noticed the big change in the Etsy forums recently. Basically they've taken away the sections where you could promote your shop or blog, the one where you could discuss various techniques or materials, the critiques section (where you could go to request feedback on your shop), and the general chat (called etc.) forum I used to use the first two often-the first to request people submit their etsy finds and the second to ask my own technique questions. I never really used the critiques or etc. forum but I'm sure lots of poeple found them useful!

Anyway, the point of all this is to let you all know that I've found an alternative (thanks to @Demure4You on twitter). It is called the Unofficial Etsy Forums and it was started by a group of etsy sellers who heard that the Etsy forums were to be changed and created their own separate forum that followed some of the old Etsy forum format. I think one of the coolest things about the new forum is that you DON'T have to be an Etsy person to use it! So if you have an Artfire shop, a Zibbet shop, or NO shop, you can come here and ask questions! Yay! I asked a materials question there for the first time and got an answer within 20 minutes, how great is that? So come and join me in the Unofficial Etsy Forums!

Copyright 2011. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Around the world in 80 beads-Seattle

2011-02-17T18:23:00.000-05:00

I recently visited Seattle (ok, it was over a month ago and I’m just getting around to actually making this post . . . I admit it!) and found myself with a free day. What did I do? Well other than spending a little time in my favorite quirky Seattle neighborhood-Fremont-of course I went looking for bead shops! I was staying near the University of Washington and was easily able to visit both of these by bus. They were two totally different bead stores, each cool for a different reason!

Fusion Beads:
I thought this was a really professional-looking store. It’s really nicely set out and organized by type of bead. They did have some different beads than I normally find where I am, and they have a good selection of popular and useful materials- a variety of metal charms, Swarovski crystals and pearls in all sizes and colors (in fact I bought a whole bunch of them in fire opal and black diamond for a necklace I’ve been planning), cubic zirconia in a rainbow of colors, plus other supplies like resin and bezels, and just about anything else you might want for most common jewelry-making projects. I was most excited about the selection of charms, resin, and bezels as my nearest bead store at home doesn’t actually carry resin supplies, and has a pretty small selection of charms. The charms here were sorted by type and very easy to look through for what you wanted. The prices seemed pretty decent to me-not especially cheap, but definitely not more expensive than other places, either) and they also have an online store which is really convenient for future shopping!

I made the pair of earrings at right for my Etsy shop with some of my finds at Fusion beads. Find them in my etsy shop here

Gargoyle Beads:
After a stop at one of my favorite Seattle places-the Theo Chocolate Factory-I headed to Gargoyle beads in Fremont- it’s a small independent store that, according to their website, has been around since 1933 (but not always in Seattle)! It’s a bit hard to find but totally worth the effort! Was one of only a few shoppers in really rainy weather (I know, you’re thinking ‘it’s Seattle, of course it rained’ but it was raining much harder than is usual there!) The woman who was running the store that day was very friendly and enthusiastic about the shop (I can’t recall her name, unfortunately-sorry about that!)

She chatted with me about the selection of beads, the shop, the weather, and just whatever. She even let me put my soaking wet coat and backpack behind the counter so they could dry and to make my shopping easier. This place had a very unique selection and I got all sorts of beads there that I’ve not found elsewhere-I got a gargoyle (of course!), some pewter beads, two packages of adorable little handmade Indian glass butterflies, and a few interesting charms. They had a cool collection of different gargoyles, pewter beads in bulk, vintage glass and acrylic beads, stringing materials, and skulls galore! Above all I loved the friendly and small feeling of this store, and almost wish I lived in Seattle so I could visit more often! The only downside to this store, for me, is that they don’t have an online store so I can keep buying!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quirky finds from Seattle's artsy neighborhood of Fremont: the huge Fremont troll, located under one of their big bridges! I definitely recommend checking out Fremont if you're ever visiting Seattle!

Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of this post-Are store reviews interesting/useful to you? Have you been to either of these stores? Do you have a favorite local bead store or do you do all your buying online? Do you look for new bead stores when you travel, or is it just me? LOL

Copyright 2011. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Adventures in Crafting-Chai Bath Bombs

2011-02-10T21:34:00.000-05:00

Hello readers! I made some fizzing chai bath bombs before the holidays and never got around to blogging about them, but they came out pretty well! I found the basic recipe for these in a book called Melt and Pour Soapmaking by Marie Browning that I borrowed from the library. It’s a pretty useful book, not just recipes but also some basic advice on how to make hand-milled soap, bath bombs, bubble bath, and other things too. I won’t reprint the actual recipe here as I don’t want to step on any toes-but there are tons of basic bath bomb recipes online that could give you the right proportions, or you could see if your library has this book!

In general, though, all the bath bomb recipes I’ve seen have a few things in common-citric acid and baking soda. These are what create the fizz when wet! Many recipes include some kind of salt (either purchase sea salt, bath salts, or simple epsom salts which was what I used) and some add cornstarch. Then they add something to give the bath bombs a scent-usually essential oils. Some also include food coloring or other colors. I chose not to use essential oils as they are generally toxic to cats (I have two, and they both lick water out of the bathtub) and I have heard that some people with sensitive skin react to some types. I also didn’t add any colors. The recipe I chose used simple spices for both scent and coloring. I was able to get all the ingredients I needed (including a tiny spritz bottle) from a local natural/health food store that has a bulk section so I was able to make up little baggies with just the amounts I needed. Obviously the epsom salt, baking soda, and spices can also be purchased at drug stores and grocery stores, but you might have more trouble finding the citric acid there.

First all the powdered ingredients are combined together and mixed. This particular recipe calls for citric acid, baking soda, and cornstarch. I didn’t use all the spices called for in the recipe-I only included cardamom, cinnamon and clove (all powdered)-I wasn’t able to find star anise, so again I left it out. mmm, spices!

Next you spritz the powdered ingredients VERY sparingly-enough to make them stick without activating the fizzing reaction. This is where I made the main modification to this recipe. I thought that it would add to the scent and color to use chai tea instead of water or witch hazel for the spritzing liquid. I made tea from a delicious loose leaf chai that I had on hand from a local tea store, and spritzed the bath bombs with that. To the left, you can see the spritz bottle I used and the tea I made. It smelled sooo good.

You have to be very careful not to let it get too wet-in my first batch the powder started sticking together before the mixture seemed damp to me and the ones in that batch ended up fizzing and expanding in the molds-not good! The second batch I stopped spritzing sooner, and it still packed into the molds nicely and held together when dry. Below you can see how the damp mixture looked before packing it into the molds

I found an ice cube tray to use for the mold. You have to pack the mixture down very tightly into the molds, I found that I could fit a lot more in there than it looked like at first! Most recipes say to let them dry in the molds for a few hours and then let them continue hardening on a cookie sheet overnight before using or wrapping to give away (some say a week).

It’s been a couple of months since I made them and the ones I have left have lost some of their scent, so my advice would be to use them as soon as possible! I still think they’d make a great gift, you just couldn’t make them too far ahead of time. I do wonder if adding the vanilla fragrance oil would’ve held the scent longer or made no difference.

Making homemade beauty products seems like a lot of fun to me. I’ve found a few recipes for body lotion and I’m planning to combine a few and try that out next! :o) Have you tried crafting soap or beauty products? Any good websites or books to recommend? Please comment and let me know what you think!

Copyright 2011. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Semi-Homemade Cooking: Jazzing Up Store-Bought Pesto

2010-11-05T16:13:00.000-04:00

As some of you know, I had my wisdom teeth out not too long ago, and I was eating soft foods for ages. Eventually I got sick of eating mashed potatoes, oatmeal, pudding, and V8 fruit/veggie juice. I wanted to cook something, but I still didn’t have a whole lot of energy. I was craving pesto, so I came up with a super quick veggie meal. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

16 oz bag of pasta
Small amount of olive oil1 clove garlic-minced
1 medium zucchini (courgette, for those of you in the UK!)
2 medium tomatoes
1 container of store-bought pesto

Cook pasta according to package directions. :-p While pasta is cooking, dice zucchini. Remove seeds from tomatoes. Dice tomatoes. Put small amount of oil in a frying pan. Add minced garlic and diced veggies. Cook until soft. Add entire container of pesto to veggie mixture and cook on low heat for a few minutes until mixture is hot. If pesto begins to dry out or stick add a little water (water from the pasta, if it’s still cooking, works well). Drain pasta and toss with pesto mixture. Serve and eat!

A few notes: I used Buitoni reduced fat pesto with basil, that I found with the fresh pasta in my grocery store. I looked at the ingredients/nutrition info and didn’t see anything weird in there like you sometimes find with reduced fat products-loads of extra sugar or salt for example-and it tasted pretty good even on it’s own. For the pasta, I used Trader Joe’s vegetable radiatore pasta because I love the colors, but any pasta (especially one with nooks and crannies to hold the sauce-like rotelle/rotini) would work.

This meal was from a few days ago, and I’m sorry I didn’t take any pictures. It was actually really colorful and pretty! We ate it for 2 days. The first day we tossed in some fresh mozzarella, which wasn’t bad, but I think it was overkill. The BF did take some to work as a sandwich with some of the leftover fresh mozzarella, and said it was great. It could easily be made without the added garlic if you like, with different veggies, or with homemade pesto. I love modifying recipes to create something a little bit new, and jazzing up prepared foods. Let me know if you like this post and I’ll keep blogging about these recipes when I come up with them!

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

The Hippo's Quest: My Etsy Finds, Dragon Edition!

2010-10-20T22:35:00.000-04:00

Hello readers, and welcome to the long-delayed and long-awaited (by me, anyway) second edition of The Hippo's Quest, my 'etsy finds' series. This edition's theme is perfect for the pre-Halloween madness. Halloween conjures up themes of myth and fantasy, and one of my personal favorite myth/fantasy creatures is the dragon! Dragon-like creatures were found in both European and Asian folklore. Their image and meaning varied widely from culture to culture. They could be winged, snake-like, scaly, or feathered. They have sometimes been seen as intelligent, as benevolent and powerful or as evil and destructive. Today they continue to fascinate fantasy-lovers, and are found everywhere from Harry Potter books to plush toys, so it should come as no surprise that I sorted through TONS of dragons on Etsy. Here are a few of my favorites. Please click on the caption below each picture to go to the actual item listing on etsy

Lately I've been fascinated by all of the different scrabble and glass tile pendants on etsy. (I think I want to try them out as my next major project) There are a ton of different ones, even just counting dragon-themed pendants. I thought the ones made by mrooart really stood out from the crowd because they were made using her original artwork. And not only that, the tiny artwork is gorgeous and detailed:

Dragon Tile Pendant

Also on the jewelry front were two stunning wire examples of dragons. (I admit to having a bias towards wire, as I love to work with it!) First this little silver dragon, intricately wire-wrapped and suspended in a wire circle by ylfdragon:

Silver Dragon Pendant

And then this example made of copper wire complimented by a green amazonite bead, by serpentsdancedesigns. Just loving all the spirals in this design!

Copper Dragon Pendant

I also found lots of cute (or scary!) handmade dragon figures, in every material you could think of. The polymer clay dragons were all so colorful, it was hard to pick a favorite but I really liked the ones I found at DragonsAndBeasties. This shop has dragons of just about everyc olor or description, along with unicorns and other beasties. This cute little orange guy holding a gem (makes sense, as dragons have sometimes been described as hoarders of treasure in some stories) looks kind of cuddly. The listing notes that it can be made in other colors, too!

Orange Dragon with Gem

This second one, by the same seller, is a little more edgy, in black and orange for halloween!

Halloween Dragon Figure

And last but not least, some examples of glass dragons from a shop I've had my eye on for some time. The glass figures by Glasmagie are some of my absolute favorite etsy items. They're attractive, detailed, and just have personality!
The mini dragons are my favorite thing in her shop but she has several dragon figures, a dragon pendant, and dragon orchid rods.

Mini Glass Dragons

That's it for this edition of the Hippo's Quest. Hope you enjoyed looking at the finds, please check out these lovely etsy shops! I haven't decided on a theme for the next Hippo's Quest. Is there a theme you'd like me to cover? Just leave a comment and let me know!

Handmade From Top To Bottom

2010-10-04T19:27:00.001-04:00

Hi all! I haven’t made any new jewelry in a while, so I’m pretty excited to have something new to show you today! I bought these interesting beads with a blue and white bulls-eye pattern quite a while ago at my local bead store, and hadn’t come up with any good ideas to use them. So, I was staring at them and trying to get inspired again a few days ago until I got a whim to combine them with some of the Swarovski pearls I have left over from custom-designing a friend’s wedding jewelry. The blue and white combo is perfect! I played around with a few combinations until I had a combination of beaded links that I liked (made from 22 gauge sterling silver wire).I’ve also been determined to create something that was completely handmade, apart from the beads, that is. I used a couple of books I have on hand to get ideas on forming the chain and clasp. I connected the beaded links, and created the chain using small, simple figure-eight shapes made of 20 gauge sterling silver wire. Then (and this is the part I’m most excited about) I figured out how to adapt some of the hook-and-eye clasp designs to make this necklace expandable! (I do this for most of my necklaces and bracelets, but using store-bought lobster slasps). I started out making a regular hook-and-eye style clasp, but instead of simply making a hook and a wrapped-loop version of the eye, I made a short extra length of chain with larger loops by creating three links similar to the wrapped-loop eye. Now the clasp can be fitted into with any of the larger loops, to adjust the size of the necklace for the buyer!So, what do you think? It’s definitely a more complex and time-consuming piece than the others in my shop, but I’m pretty pleased with how it came out! If you’re interested, click here to see the Etsy listing!

If anyone’s interested in what books I am currently using for inspiration, they are: Teach Yourself Visually: Jewelry Making and Beading, and Inspired Wire, by Cynthia Wuller. I got them both at the library!

Also, a quick update-I know I told you all quite a while ago that I was working on an 'etsy finds' post featuring dragons! I'm going to try and get moving on that this week, so you can let me know on twitter (@HyperspaceHippo) if you know of any listings anything you think I might want to include!

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Creating a Gift

2010-08-09T17:26:00.000-04:00

I’ve just heard from my friend Melissa, known to most of the online world as Dr Snit that she received the bracelet I’ve spent the last several months (off and on) designing and working on as a special gift for her. I’vewanted to blog about it for some time, in part to share a little bit about Melissa with the world, and in part to express the thoughts and sentiments that went into designing this bracelet.

Just to give you some context, I met Melissa on Facebook a couple of years ago via a little application called (fluff)friends. Unlike many of my online friends I have since had the fortune to actually meet her and her adorable little doggy in person. (Or, ok, full disclosure, she was determined enough to push me not to be too shy to give meeting up in person a shot!)

She is a comedian, writer, geek, poet, lifelong student, improv-er, and a friend and supporter to many people near and far Since meeting her, I’ve also seen her living with a seemingly endless parade of life-changing chronic and auto-immune illnesses. She has become an active advocate and supporter of others coping with similar illnesses through her writing and social networking, including her blog Living With Lupus-But Dying of Everything Else, and her Chronic Snarkopolist column on the Dear Thyroid website. Visit her links if you're interested in a very unique, open, raw, and real portrait of a person living with lupus and auto-immune thyroid illness. Not to go any farther into the most personal details, let's just say she’s been having a difficult year. Beyond trying to be an emotional support when possible, I really wanted to send something tangible her way, a token, that would let her symbolically carry the support of friends with her, to pull out when she is sad, or lonely. To that end, I spent a long (some might say an insane amount) time choosing just the right materials for this piece.
Jade animals: I’ve been told that the year 2010 has the potential to be rocky for those, like Melissa, who were born under the Chinese sign of the tiger. To counteract that, I have included jade versions of the tiger’s ‘allies’ (the horse and dog) and ‘secret friend’(the pig or boar) as focal pieces in the bracelet.
Tiger’s eye: Tiger’s eye used in jewelry has been thought to bring good luck and protection from the evil eye. It also works as a grounding stone to bring calm and clear thinking. It is also supposed to alleviate physical pain and stomach problems. The tiger is also a very meaningful animal for Melissa. I love tiger’s eye, and bought these beautiful round tiger’s eye beads at a little bead store in Connecticut, especially for this project.
Copper: Copper has often been used as a healing metal, and some sources say it is especially good for arthritis, rheumatism, and blood or metabolic disorders. Copper is also thought to help enhance the healing effect of other stones. For this project I used beautiful bright red-orange copper magnet wire (a type of enamel-coated copper wire normally used for electrical applications) that I found on etsy to make the beaded links. I made the bracelet extendable with beautiful solid copper jump rings, a lobster claw clasp, and a short length of chain (and some copper advice) from A Beaded Affair. I’d also like to give some appreciation to Bailey Belle for copper advice and support via twitter.

The final element of the bracelet is the Hamsa, or Hand of Miriam: The hamsa has meaning in Jewish (especially Sephardic) culture, as well as some Middle Eastern or North African cultures. It is used to ward off the evil eye, and is supposed draw positive energy, happiness, riches, and health. It is often hung in the home or worn as a charm or amulet. Aside from its obvious positive and protective meaning, its relationship to Jewish culture symbolizes one of the many connections I feel with Melissa.
After months of choosing and designing just the right elements, and searching for the actual pieces, this bracelet has finally come to life and been delivered. This is why I so love making individual gifts, even when the specific meanings behind them are not as clear as this one. While I don’t believe that certain stones or materials truly have inherent ‘magical healing powers,’ as a student of psychology I believe that materials in a human or social context have meanings, that gifts, tokens and symbols can have a psychological and emotional effect, and that the mind and emotions have an effect on physical well-being. I sincerely hope this bracelet will help bring her joy, healing, and support. <3

Really Good Excuses for Falling Behind!

2010-07-28T19:27:00.000-04:00

I know, I haven't posted here in ages! I've had so much going on in life outside of the internet (what's that??) I went to Greece, I got a second cat (with one blind eye and a heart murmur), AND I've been dealing with family stuff and looking for a job! So busy . . .
But I've been just so excited to tell you all about Greece! First, we spent a week in Athens. We managed to get a cheap-ish hotel in a very central location, with a view of the Acropolis and everything!

Athens is just so much fun. A bit dingy in spots, and definitely HOT. But there are some really nice little squares, loads of history-very well-signed archeological sites and museums, and tons of shops and FOOD! The food was great, I've never had so much and such good feta cheese! Souvlaki, kebabs, pita, spanakopita, tomatoes, everything was delicious!

And then we went to Santorini! It was basically a full day's trip on the ferry, but totally worth it! It was much cooler there than in Athens, and everywhere you turned was a breathtaking view. We stayed in the village of Oia, which is gorgeous and perched on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
There are pedestrian streets and stairs and so many places you can't reach by car. The food here was amazing too-lots of things made with local tomatoes. There were also tons of shops all over the island selling jewelry made from local volcanic rock, but my absolute favorite shop was simply called "the Bead Shop." It was the only shop I found that sold mainly beads and not pre-made jewelry. Among lots of beads you could find anywhere were beads made of black and red volcanic rock, and also many of the little blue 'evil eye' charms. Of course I had to buy some, who could pass up the opportunity to make your own souvenirs??

The other thing I loved about Santorini was the unique beaches. There were lots of black sand and pebble beaches, and even a red beach with pebbles and sand made of red, black and white volcanic rock. The rocks are very light and full of holes and unusual shapes. I picked up quite a few of the smoother pebbles here and hope to find a way to use them in jewelry! I'd welcome any ideas on how to use them :)

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Poor neglected blog

2010-06-01T00:08:00.000-04:00

I've just been way too busy to post lately . . . so much going on! I've got a temporary (but full-time) job, working a shift from 3:30 to midnight, and just too tired/busy most times to get anything done on the blog. I'm postponing my etsy finds: dragons post, because fairly soon . . .

I AM GOING TO GREECE! LOL Sorry to shout, but starting to get excited here! We've got most of our hotels booked but things will be crazy until we leave, a friend is coming to stay soon and will be here until right before we go!
In the meantime, I've not had a whole lot of time for beading, but I did make a necklace to wear to my cousin's wedding, that I think came out great! My first try doing a wire-wrap on a briolette type pendant like this, check it out!

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Like Riding a Bike . . .

2010-05-02T22:09:00.000-04:00

This will be a short post . . . but I'm so excited! I've basically not ridden (or owned) a bike in YEARS. My old bike had been too small for me for quite a while before I ever gave it away, but after I fell down the stairs and injured my knees I just never got a new one. I think it's probably been 8 years since I've ridden.

My boyfriend really likes bike riding (he's a bit insane-rides to work in all kinds of weather-and this is all kinds of New England weather-so some intense rain and cold and snow) and we've moved to a really bike-friendly city, so we've been toying with the idea of getting me a used bike. There are bike trails and bike lanes all over here, like this one: http://www.minutemanbikeway.org/

But last weekend when we left the house, we saw this absolutely beautiful bike with a for sale sign sitting outside a house only a few doors down from ours! Great condition, not used very much, good price, and locks included! And today we finally made up our minds and bought it, and I just love it! It was kind of funny-the woman selling it was clearly very attached to it, and glad it was going to "a good home." I felt like I was adopting a dog!

We just got it a few hours ago, but I test rode it, and although not quite confident with it yet, it really is, as they say . . . just like riding a bike!

Isn't it beautiful??

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Who doesn't love MAIL?

2010-04-30T23:37:00.000-04:00

Anyone who uses Twitter has seen a million posts along the lines of "retweet this post to win a . . ." or "Follow me for a chance to win . . . " etc. Usually I ignore them, I mean, what chance do I have, honestly? Well, a few days ago one of my Etsy "tweeps" did a slightly different giveaway, and I WON! Her contest was for the next person to do . . . something unspecified . . . would win a surprise! Luckily she gave hints, and as the next person to favorite her Etsy shop, I was the winner! My surprise, from Tubby Tabby's Jewelbox arrived in the mail yesterday. I was so excited, I just had to make a post about it here :D

Everything about the packaging was beautiful (yes, I'm building the suspense on you, deal with it :-p . . . ) I opened the envelope (which looked as thought it was being reused-very green!) and found a little box tied with ribbon.

Wrapped along with the box was a kitty tag, made from plantable paper, that reads "Plant me, Water me, watch me grow!"

The two Tubby Tabby's Jewelbox cards inside were absolutely adorable, and so professional!

And . . . inside was a gorgeous necklace! It has a very dark red pendant, which is a color I absolutely love. There are silver swirls on the bail and also two separate swirls on the string. And you'll see, it looks gorgeous when worn! I've been wearing it all day, I love it so much!

I just can't even say how much I loved getting this little surprise in the mail. If you like it too, check out Tubby Tabby's Jewelbox, it's full of beautiful things, including more necklaces like this one, and beautiful pendants made from upcycled dominoes or scrabble tiles. You can also check out Tubby Tabby's SquawkBox (blog) and the Top Cat graphic design shop, or follow her on twitter.

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Beading Experiments: Wire-Wrapped Wine Glasses

2010-04-29T23:28:00.001-04:00

These were a wedding gift for a friend, so I'd been waiting to hear from her that she'd seen them before uploading any pictures . . . but now it's time!

This is something new that I was trying out. I made a set of wine glasses wrapped with silver-plated copper craft wire. Each glass has a different color of beads in the wire wrap, 2 crystal beads and one square bead with silver foil inside. The design of each glass is otherwise similar so they match as a set. Almost as though they've got built-in wine charms! They do need to be washed carefully. I made an open spiral at the top and bottom of the wire wrap, and hammered just a bit to harden them. In between the wire is wrapped fairly freely, so each looks slightly different.

I've uploaded more pictures to my website. I thought they made a great wedding gift, but I'd love to hear your feedback. If people like them, maybe should I add a set to my shop!

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Late-night musings . . .

2010-04-29T01:44:00.000-04:00

With the great help of my friend Becca, I've come up with a late night stroke of GENIUS!

Forget e-harmony, people should be matched by which chores they most HATE to do! That way, they can live together happily, each doing the other's most-hated chores! Laundry-haters can meet dishwashing-phobics, or those absolutely grossed out by toilet-cleaning can remove spiders for arachnophobics! It's the perfect recipe for a dating site! I could make millions!

LOL . . .

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Preparing for The Hippo's Quest:

2010-04-28T14:43:00.001-04:00

Hi all! I'm preparing my second post in my "Hippo's Quest" series, where I showcase etsy finds! Click here to see the Hippo's Quest Earth Day post in my old blog.

The next theme I am working on will be dragons! Please let me know your suggestions for great handmade dragons listed on etsy! You can leave a comment here or convo me on etsy. Let me know what is special about your pick, and I just might show it off in the Hippo's Quest!

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo

Old Blog, New Blog . . .

2010-04-27T22:57:00.001-04:00

Welcome to my first post in my NEW Blogger blog . . . I've decided to switch here because it just seems like it will be easier and faster to post in than my Weebly site! Click here to see my old weebly blog which I will be keeping attached to my website so that people can find my old posts!

Copyright 2010. See more at Voyage of the Hyperspace Hippo