Monday, February 24, 2014

Springtime At The Vintage Marketplace!

Hi Friends! The Vintage Marketplace is back for the Springtime! Me and my sister will be there along with lovely vendors showcasing their wares! The theme of the show is "Through the Garden Gate" and we have been working on lovely springtime themed items. The show is March 7th - March 9th rain or shine!




Here is a sneak peak of what me and my sis have been up to:


Handmade French Lavender Pouches

Handmade Tissue Pouches


Re-purposed coffee tins and jars (made by my sis!)




Re-purposed Jewelry Box and Lovely Glass bottles
Handmade Herb Markers

Lovely Vintage Vignettes (made by my sis!)




If any of you dear friends are in the area March 7,8, or 9th, please stop by The Vintage Marketplace in Fallbrook, CA. I believe it's going to be a lovely spring day. Oh yes, we skipped winter and went straight into Spring out here in California. How do I know, I saw butterflies flying around the other day!

See you real soon!!

CreamCraft


Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Heart Day!

Hi Friends! Happy Valentines Day to you!


Image from Free Pretty Things for You


Me and the hubs celebrated valentines the weekend before (to avoid the craziness and high priced dinners!), but he still got me roses today and I baked him the best Chocolate Chip Cookie ever. I got this recipe from the browneyedbaker, which is sourced from The New York Times. I've scoured books, online, everywhere for the best chocolate chip cookie and I swear, this is the holy grail of them. Try it for your sweetheart or heck eat it for yourself (I've been...oops). 

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever!


The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever (via The Brown Eyed Baker/New York Times)

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8½ ounces) cake flour
1 & 2/3 cups (8½ ounces) bread flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1¼ cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 & 1/3 cups (20 ounces) dark chocolate chips, or semisweet (I used these) or milk chocolate chips
Sea salt, for sprinkling - optional


DIRECTIONS:

1. Sift together the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Place the dough in a large plastic zipper bag and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, up to 72 hours. I actually didnt follow this step because I couldn't wait that long! I did however refrigerated for about an hour and they turned out fine and yummy.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
4. Scoop gold sized balls of dough and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until you have six mounds of dough on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 12 minutes ( recipe says 18 minutes, but I found 12 minutes is the perfect chewy texture I prefer). Transfer the parchment or silicone sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough (or keep some of the dough refrigerated for up to 3 days, and bake cookies at a later time). Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Browneyed Baker noted she used all-purpose flour instead of the cake flour and hers turned out great. I bake a lot, so luckily, I had cake flour. I probably wouldn't replace the bread flour though, as I think this may be why the cookie is magical (probably to do with the higher gluten content than in regular flour).
 
Enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk!

Next up, I'm working on a lovely quilt for one of my friends soon to be bundle of joy. I'll post the preview soon!

Hearts,
CreamCraft




Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Crafty Excursion and my New Scissors!

Hi Friends! A couple of weeks ago, I had a fun filled day with my sister out in her neck of the woods. We hit up crafty locations, book shopping (my favorite), and had a pretty cute lunch. 

I've always wanted to check out The French General out in Los Angeles, so that we did! It has been a dream of mine to see her store, and it did not disappoint!

The French General Store

The French General is a wonderful company that sells antique french goods, ephemera, beads, jewelry findings, fabric, she also has published books out there as well.

An hour and a half later my sister and I emerged with wonderful pieces to make jewelry, french badges, and paper crafting items. I can't wait to get started on the earrings from one of the kits I purchased!

My Goodies from French General

We had lunch at a wonderful farm-to-table cafe in old town San Gabriel near the Mission called Alexandras Table. She makes delicious fresh seasonal sandwiches, salads, and soups, french press coffee, and delicious cookies and such.


Alexandra's Table

Did I mention how cute this place is too? It's decorated with cheery colors, and she also sells gourmet foods there as well.

 
Gourmet Foods and Goods for Sale


Pretty Tabletop Decor

I loved this soup - Zuchinni and Potato Soup. Yummo!

Zucchini and Potato Soup
 
Book shopping finds - antique and new. I'm currently reading Susan Branch's new book - A Fine Romance and I'm in love with this book!  It's basically her diary of her trip to England. I highly recommend this one. A New England Nun and Other Stories is a funny one. Basically about women who sew and drink tea all day (hmmm.. sounds familiar). 

Antique and new books

When I got home, I received my Japanese scalloped pinking shears!!! I've searched high and low for these darn scissors. Unfortunately, these are not available in your average craft or sewing shop. Sure there are scrapbooking scalloped scissors out there, but not ones for fabric. I found them on Etsy, and sadly, this was the only pair the seller had. You can find more made from Germany and such just by searching on Etsy for Scalloped Scissors.


Scalloped Scissors


What am I gonna do with these you ask - everything and anything! These will add a cute girly touch to some of my projects. Wait and see!!


See you real soon!

CreamCraft

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

A Little Friend for a Friend and a Sneakpeek

Hello Friends! During the holidays, I handmade dolls for my little friends as gifts. I have twin nieces, so of course, I made them twin dolls. In this case, this doll is for my childhood friends cute daughter Ayla. Here she is...

Little Friend Doll

Little Friend Doll

I love making dolls, so I decided to make limited edition "Mori Girl Dolls". What the heck is a Mori Girl you ask? Well if you look it up on Google, it's the "Japanese Girl of the Forest Style". Huh? Yes, I'm kinda obsessed with anything and everything Japanese (all the fabric used in my bags, yep Japanese).It's pretty much a cute, girly, sometimes grandma chic style. This is a style I follow and frankly, my husband says I'm weird, but hey I like it and I'm gonna stick with it. I'm still toying with the design, but I want them to have a cute outfit, leather boots, and a satchel of some sort. 


Mori Girl Dolls and Mini Pincushions

I'm also designing new bagettes, cross-body bags with a tablet insert, and cute mini pincushions.

Ideas for New Bags

Don't forget to stop by Earth Cookie Creations for my little bagette give away. I think it ends today.




See you real soon!

CreamCraft

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Happy New Year and a Friendly Giveaway from Earth Cookie Creations!

Hello dear friends! It's been awhile since my last post. I hope you had a wonderful holiday. The holidays were crazy, but fun fun fun! I had to sew a bunch of gifts, cook and bake, wrap presents,family parties..whoosh! I'm sad it's over but excited for what the New Year 2014 will bring! I have some new ideas for my shop and I'm gearing for the Spring Vintage Marketplace in March (fill you in on the details later).

My Handmade Christmas Tree


Dolls I made as present for my little friends

On another note, my dear friend Jessica, over at Earth Cookie Creations is having a sweet posting about me and my store with a give away from me! I met Jessica from The Vintage Marketplace about a year or two ago. It was friends at first sight! She always seems to have the exact thing I'm looking for at her booth.  She is an awesome person, and gave me and my sister the boost to participate in TVM. Go check her out:

Earth Cookie Creations 

I hope to post a vignette of ideas for my upcoming spring product line in about a week. See you real soon! 

Best wishes,
CreamCraft

Thursday, December 12, 2013

The Vintage Marketplace Recap

Hello friends! Just a little recap from The Vintage Marketplace last weekend to share with you. I'm only posting now because I'm still recovering from its aftermath! My craft lab barely got reorganized, and I just started my Christmas shopping!

So here we go:


Our booth - Cream Cottage Chic



Cream Cottage Chic

Array of vintage goods


Handmade Goodies - Pin Cushions, Tissue Pouches, Cute Birdhouses, Leather Hair Bows


Array of Handmade Bags


Vintage Postcards, Herb Markers, Vintage Goodies


Our Little Information Center


Me and my sister in action!

Here are some other great booths at the show:

Booths!


Earth Cookie - We heart Earth Cookie!!!



The Shabby French Home - Our wonderful neighbor

Cute booth (but I don't remember the name!)






Adorable glass door display!

The Vintage Marketplace Photo Booth



The Vintage Marketplace Photo Booth - Isn't this just too pretty?

Me and my sister had a blast! This was our first time ever participating at a show. We didn't even know how to assemble our booth, but luckily our dear friend Jessica from Earth Cookie helped us out. Friday was fun, Saturday rained all day (but hey it felt like camping!), Sunday was sunny and beautiful. We made great new friends and had fun with the best customers we could have hoped for.  It was such a wonderful experience that we are going to participate at the next Spring Vintage Marketplace in March (details coming soon)!!!

CreamCraft

Thursday, December 5, 2013

It's Here It's Here!

Today is setup for me and my sister at The Vintage Marketplace!Boy are we nervous and excited too. This is our first ever show where will both be selling vintage wares, furniture pieces, handmade goods, and Christmas goods.If you want to stop by, it starts tomorrow December 6 and ends Sunday, December 8 (our booth will only be there Friday and Saturday). 

Here's more of what I will be selling:


Pin Cushions made with Vintage Honey Cups 


Large Cross Body Bags




Array of Tissue Pouches

Leather Bow Hair Clips



See you real soon!

CreamCraft