You know what I am loving these days??  Ruffles!   They just add a visually interesting and girly texture to just about anything… clothes, decorating, notebooks, accessories, etc.  Ruffles can make things go from blah to tadaa!!  To be honest though, I haven’t sewn my own ruffle yet but after looking at all the pictures below, I must try it out REAL SOON!  Here are some beautiful ruffle inspirations I’ve found lately…

rest: iviemade ruffle pillow covers on e tells tales
see: lundlund bersa seen on postcards and pretties
hang: urban outfitters curtain seen on knack studios
dress GIVEAWAY: harah designs dress on fancy pants
DIY: layered ruffle skirt on ruffles and stuff
accessorize: spring delicacy headband by in honor of design
won: waterfall ruffles top that i won on welcome to the good life
gussy GIVEAWAY: $30 gussy shop credit on etsy it up – i actually won some fabulous Gussy pouches on a we are that family giveaway!
tutorial: spring ruffle top tutorial on sew, mama, sew!
wed: toccata rambling rose wedding dress seen on lovely clusters
write: fabric covered mini journals made by meg brothers
purse: silhouette flower purse in sesame on shopruche – too bad it’s sold out though!

Are you crazily obsessed about ruffles like I am??

P.S. Don’t forget to enter The Pagestoppers GIVEAWAY if you haven’t already!  It ends on May 4, 2010.  Have a lovely weekend!

{shop} {blog}

I was so ecstatic when Grace (who is an absolute sweetheart) contacted me about doing a giveaway of one of her lovely items!  Grace is relatively new to the etsy world but she totally deserves to be recognized. Her signature items are her cute, whimsical, vintage and fun bookmarks, which are definite pagestoppers in every sense of the word. Aren’t you sick of marking up your books with dog ears, I sure am!! As stated on her blog… Au Revoir to dog ears and bon­jour pagestoppers! Besides bookmarks, she also expresses her crafty and creative side by making various other handmade items such as hairpins, rings and much more to come in the future! I am just so excited for Grace and can’t wait to see where her shop takes her!

{Meet the Artist}

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Grace Leong. I am 23 years old. I love Christ, pretty crafts, reading and playing the piano. I am presently teaching kindergarden children. I live in a small, tropical island- Singapore. We have all-year round summer here!

What made you decide to start up your lovely Etsy shop?

The Pagestoppers was birthed two months back. It was actually a fruition of my dream of setting up an online craft shop- to express my creative side! I have a fond love of handmade products as they express the creativity of a person’s mind. Also, my boyfriend, Timothy, has been supporting me silently in this arty project!  What inspired me to start the shop was actually this verse from the Bible about the Proverbs 31 woman: “She perceives that her merchandise is good and her lamp does not go out by night.” Thus, the Pagestoppers is one of my Proverbs 31 projects at the moment.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Anything and everything- nature, photographs, clothing, colors etc.

What is the one must-see place for a visitor of Singapore?

Well, I do not exactly have a one must-see place in mind at the moment. But one thing for sure, you must try the food here. As Singapore is known for her multiracialism, you can be sure that we have a wide variety of delicious food from the different cultures. Thus, if you are here for a short trip, do leave some time to scour the eating places in Singapore!

{Giveaway Details}

1. Win your favorite item from her shop. It could be a bookmark, ring or hairpin, anything that you like!  Just visit The Pagestoppers and leave a comment on this post with your favorite item.  Don’t worry, Grace has multiple stock for most of the items but if your item becomes out of stock or you change your mind, you can pick something else if you win!

2. (For additional entries) Blog, Twitter, or Facebook about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with each link. If you Twitter, please use @sandyalamode in your tweet and feel free to use this short link http://bit.ly/aqptOV.

Giveaway ends on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 5:00PM CST. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and will be announced on this blog on Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

P.S. You might just want to check out her blog, there might just be another giveaway of some sort on hers going until May 1, 2010! How’s that for your hump day?? A double dose of page stopping giveaways!

…or at least I can’t stop!

First spotted at Fogo De Chao. Also known as Pao de quiejo. Best paired with massive amounts of unlimited meat. Cheesy Goodness. The perfect appetizer. Recipe adapted from Chowhound.

Ingredients:
• 1 lb Polvilho azedo (Sour or fermented Tapioca/Cassava flour) – I used Tapioca Starch because that’s all I could find at the store
• 1 cup whole milk – I actually mixed 3/4 cup skim milk and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream as I did not have whole milk on hand
• 1 cup filtered water
• 3 medium eggs beaten
• 1 tsp common salt
• 1/2-cup cooking oil
• 6-8 oz Parmesan cheese (grated)

Directions:

1. Mix milk, water, oil, and salt well in a large metallic container.
2. Bring it to boil. Turn off heat.
3. Mix in flour/starch well with the liquid using a wooden spoon/spatula. Let it cool so you can knead.
4. Add beaten eggs and knead until smooth. It’ll be too sticky. Have patience.
5. Gradually mix cheese until the dough stops sticking in your hand. Knead well.
6. Make 1-inch balls and place them in a muffin tin.
7. Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and put the pan on the bottom rack.
8. Let it cook for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the ball until slightly brown.

This recipe makes A LOT, I’m talking approximately 50+ little balls of cheese.  I actually ended up freezing half the dough and eating it later and it was still good!  They are really so easy to make and SO cheesy DELICIOUS!  Go on, go grill a garlicky steak and pair it with these poppers, they really do rival Fogo de Chaos’ (OK, maybe they aren’t as light and airy, but still pretty darn good) and are best eaten fresh out of the oven!

Spring has arrived, the flowers on trees have come and gone, and allergies are in full force (for some, luckily not me)!  Now let’s go back to those flowers on trees… of course, they were the perfect opportunity for me to practice my photography!  In our front yard and backyard we had a plenty, of which I don’t know the names of all of them as they are new to me.  I probably took over 100 photos and I won’t bore you with them all, but here are a few lucky ones that did not appall.

Original Photos

And after planting trees, fluffing clouds, stealing picnik basket, picking blackberries, warming breeze, laying blanket, sprinkling dew and applying sunscreen with the oh-so-simple and neat photo editing web program, Picnik, here are the edited versions!

Flower #1 – Magnolia

Matte – creates a heavenly white frame

Boost, Vignette, 1960s – color was enhanced, framed in black, and vintage feel
(and yes, this rooster is on top of the toolshed in my backyard, you’re jealous aren’t you?)

Flower #2 – Help??

Vignette, 1960s – a black border and a vintage feel

1960s w/ rounded corner option- soft vintage feel

Boost – color enhanced and brightened

Flower #3 – Unknown?

1960s - vintage feel (can you tell I love this effect??)

Lomo-ish – over-saturated colors and off kilter exposure

Flower #4 – Dunno??

Cinemascope – looks like a scene out of a movie

Flower #5 – Dandelion

Cross Process – developing one type of film in anothers’ chemicals… or in this case, a cool retro feel

Which of these effects is your favorite?
If you couldn’t tell, I’m a huge fan of 1960s and Vignette since I used those the most.  I also really love the Cross Process effect too.

Also, if anyone knows the name of Flowers #2-4, please let me know!

And just an FYI, I’ll be heading to Ohio this week to work five 12-hour shifts (eeks!) so I may be behind on reading and commenting on all your lovely blogs!  I just don’t want you to think that I am ignoring you this week!

As Earth Week draws to a close, I figured I just had to share some of my eco-friendly / earth related finds for this weeks Flavors to Follow.  I love the idea of repurposing and recycling materials that may have otherwise just been thrown away into something lovely, creative and useful.  Also, reusing grocery bags or snack packs instead of millions of plastic bags is really the way to go.  To be honest, I’m not always diligent about doing these things but celebrating Earth Week is always a friendly reminder that we all need to do our part to help keep this world a beautiful place to live in, awww so sappy.

giveaway: organic fabric on swankyswell + 11 other shops!!!
dine: eco friendly melted bottle cheese plates by mitchell glassworks found on modish
inspire: earth ice cream seen on drops of jupiter
serve: eco-cupcake stands seen on bake it pretty
jewelry: recycled silver necklace on elisa shere jewelry
wear: julie maes moo moo seen on the rikrak studio
eat: reusable sandwich wrap on the umbrella girl shop
paper: eco-friendly letterpress cards on night owl paper goods

What are some simple things you do to help save the Earth?

P.S. Sooki was the lucky winner of the little green contest I had yesterday!  I posted the word green 22 times b/c it was April 22! I will be sending you something green very soon!