I’m such a paper freak, and one of my favorite things about my wedding had to have been designing the invitations! You have seen my saved the dates and pictures of my wedding – now check out the break down of the invitations!

Again, our colors were Tiffany Blue and silver with a hint of organic paper bag to tie in the theme! I have been into embossing for awhile now and was able to find the perfect blend of silver embossing powder for the invites. I also had fun coming up with a way to showcase the map, reception card and rsvp card. I also always line my envelopes – nothing brings together a design than a pop of texture or color in the envelope! The gatefolds made it easy to keep my pieces organized and I made bands to keep the fold enclosed!

So Valentine’s Day was yesterday, Mija and I decided to make some yummy sweets for our coworkers. And because I like posting about cute things such as this. XD

So I have been wanting to learn how to knit a 3D heart for the longest time…ever since I first learned to knit to be exact. So this year I finally knuckled down and decided to learn. But I am the type of learner that learns better after watching someone else do it. So having two years of searching the net I found many tutorials for crochet versions and a few knitted versions. All of which were impossible for me to handle. Then my favorite knitter just happened to post a knitted heart tutorial on her youtube channel. I proceeded to learn how to make the flat heart and then decided to make two flat hearts and sew them together to make it 3D. It came out alright for a first try but I was not as satisfied with it. Then the next day she posted this wonderful tutorial on how to knit a 3D heart. And I was determined to master the pattern,after many crooked and lopsided hearts I have now memorized the pattern. I am still perfected it but I think I now have a handle on it. I decided to knit a few for my editors, I tied some around baggies of chocolate covered pretzels.

And because I was in such a hurry I didn’t even take a picture of the finished baggies. >.< But this isn’t the last you’ll see of these hearts. I intend to use them for many occasions.So we made chocolate covered strawberries, pretzels and even marshmallows. The chocolate pretzels were sooooo good, we had some leftover but they didn’t last for very long. :9 I’m also craving cheesecake at the moment. I always tend to update about food when I’m most hungry.  So frustrating!!!

Well that was my Valentine’s Day. I hope yours was just as nice and I hope you spent it eating delicious food. Because that’s how it should be spent. XD

So this recipe is a work in processes I’ve been wanting to make Pan Dulce for a long time now ( for those who do not know what pan dulce is its a Mexican sweet bread with a cookie shell on top.)

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup luke water
• 3 1/2  cup of water
• 4 eggs, beaten and room temperature

Preparations:

Mix 1 table spoon of sugar and yeast into lukewarm water. let it sit for 10 mins.

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Slowly add in eggs, salt, and yeast mixture. Add flour in 1 cup at a time until incorporated. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 mins.

Divide dough into 16 pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet with plenty of space between each ball. Press each ball slightly to flatten it. let dough rise for a hour. After the dough is on its way to rising make topping.

Topping ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of shortening
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Optional: food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. With you’re hands, divided the topping into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and roll it out on a floured surface. Until its large enough to cover each dough. About 5 inches in diameter. Lightly press topping onto dough and use a knife to cut a pattern into the topping, but not into the dough.

After you add topping bake at 350 for about 15 mins or until lightly golden.

I still want to work on this recipe so if y’all do decide to make it I would love your opinion on it ^^

Also since it doesn’t have preservatives it will only keep for two to three days.

Enjoy~

~Kat~

]]> http://mind-speaks.com/?feed=rss2&p=789 0 http://mind-speaks.com/?p=784 http://mind-speaks.com/?p=784#comments Mon, 31 Dec 2012 07:12:03 +0000 Mija http://mind-speaks.com/?p=784

I keep meaning to update but my wedding took over all our lives, but it is now done and we have lots of projects for Mind-Speaks for 2013!!

All three of us worked really hard on the concept and aesthetic for my wedding. Please take a look, we made over 100 pinwheels, pompoms, placemats, buttons, koozies etc.

It was an amazing day and I really do thank my sisters and my best friend who all stood by my side as my bridemaids and helped with making everything out of paper!

So I’ve been working on a few different sewing projects. But they haven’t been coming out like I hope. So I have stepped away from my sewing projects…for now. I’m the type of person who can’t sew if I’m frustrated. I end up making more mistakes so its just best to focus on something else.

 Thankfully there are many other things I can do to be creative. My best friend had her baby shower a while back and she had asked me to decorate a letter from her daughter’s name for her nursery. I got the letter L  but I was having trouble deciding on how I wanted to decorate this letter. I knew I wanted to use a minty color, and then while browsing around Hobby Lobby I found a shadow box picture frame. I’ve always wanted to make a shadow box of my own but just never got around to it. So I found a small L and decided to make one for my friend. I had planned on putting some pretty paper behind the letter but then remembered I had some really cute fabric that matched the color of paint that I chose for the frame. I think it came out exactly how I pictured it, added bonus the bedding she registered for at Target totally match the shadow box. So that worked out great. :3 Moving on to the next creative topic. I finally got my hands on a SMASH* book. I’m really excited about it. Mija and I mention it over at our personal blogs, so feel free to check it out. We here at Mind-Speaks love crafting so we each fell in love with the SMASH* books. I purchased the Eco book and I’m loving it. At first I was a bit hesitant, I didn’t want to “ruin” the pages. But once I started “smashing” I was no longer worried. And I’m now obsessed. Right now I’m currently working on my hobby page.  I first started with my more obvious hobbies. Writing and sewing are my big hobbies. But I like to think of myself as a collector of hobbies. I love learning new skills, however, I wouldn’t exactly say I exceed at them. But it doesn’t stop me from learning. I taught myself how to use a sewing machine and to knit. Thank goodness for the internet. Back to the page, so as you can see the majority of this page is focused on sewing. It’s the easiest hobby to smash. I was having trouble figuring out how to show case the rest of my hobbies. I turned to the net for some inspiration and I discovered a bunch of  free printables. I immediately started pinning and printing.  I do plan on making some of my own but I thought since these were done and ready for use I decided on making my own some other time. XD The ones I’m using on this page is a journal card from here and a capture this moment camera card from here. Great freebies if you’re interested. I used instagram pictures for this page, it actually helped clear the smashing block. I’m really happy with how my pages are turning out at this point. I kept thinking that I have to go in order when smashing but then I remember there are no rules to smashing. The point is to have fun with it and be creative. So this page is towards the back, I let the page speak for itself when I was deciding which one I wanted to use. The left page isn’t quite finished yet, there is actually a pocket on that side and I’m just trying to decided what I will smash in that pocket. I’m thinking maybe some poetry I wrote last semester or maybe a letter to myself. I dunno yet.

So what kind of planning do you do before you sit down to smash? Do you have rules you follow, or do you just wing it? :3

You don’t  have to head to a gourmet bakeries to indulge in this sweet pastry. This recipe is very easy and you can fill it with whatever your taste buds are craving!!  Mine were craving apples :9

For this simple recipe the ingredients you will need are:

1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast                                                  

1/2 cup warm milk

2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Butter mixture:

2 tablespoon all purpose flour

3/4 cup cold butter , cut into tablespoon sizes pieces

 

1. In a large bowl mixing bowl , dissolve yeast in warm milk. (make sure its not hot!! It will kill the yeast if its to hot) Stir in the sugar, salt, and egg; mix well. Add the flour all at once, stirring until mixed. set aside.

2. For butter mixture, (for this part I place the butter in between two parchment paper so it wouldn’t stick to the counter plus its better to do this while the butter is cold) chop the the butter in to pieces get a rolling pin and beat the butter until you get a small odd looking rectangle.

3. Next  roll the dough out into a rectangle, place the butter 1 inch above bottom edge and fold the sides over and pinch edges to seal.  Turn the dough and lightly roll into a rectangle. Fold third of the rectangle  and lightly roll in to a rectangle; repeat this three more times.  Then refrigerate for 30 mins.

4. Meanwhile start the filling; chop two apples into small pieces and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (taste to see if its sweet enough.) then strain it.

5. Roll out the dough into a 12inch square; cut the square into three strips. Spread the filling down the middle of each strip and fold in the sides length wise and pinch closes. Cut each strip into three pieces. Cut  four 1 inch down each strip to make the bear claw shape.

6.  Place on a greased baking sheet about an inch or two apart. Curve folded side slightly  to separate  stripes and allow  the filling to show. Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour.

7. Brush with egg. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-14 minutes or until puffy and golden. Remove to pan to wire rack. To make glazes combine 3/4 cup powder sugar with 2 to 3 teaspoons of water; brush over warm rolls. cool. (I sadly didn’t have powder sugar so I had to go without it, there were still delicious though )

]]> http://mind-speaks.com/?feed=rss2&p=718 0 http://mind-speaks.com/?p=706 http://mind-speaks.com/?p=706#comments Thu, 31 May 2012 23:40:22 +0000 Mija http://mind-speaks.com/?p=706

A year ago when my guy proposed I had an idea that maybe….perhaps maybe – I could design my own save the dates and invitations to the wedding. After my hiatus from an office job I decided to start working at a lovely store called Paper Source in my city. Soon after I started to teach brides to be how to make inexpensive, creative invites using our paper and products. Oh boy its one thing to tell ladies that they can make their own invites but when I started to make mine I was lost!

I don’t really design much for myself, you see when you freelance you rarely get to the time to design for yourself!! I first had to come up with a color theme. I always tell brides to consider the season of their wedding and the location. We picked October and the reception is in a green house, garden wedding sparked the idea of using creams, blues and organic paper bag.

Since my wedding invitations will be more formal I decided that I should have fun with the Save the Dates. I printed the cover on paper bag, and in the inside I printed on soft white cover. The outside is perforated so the guest could tear it open. And I sewed it shut. Well – Kim did the sewing portion.

Photos 1-5 are of the save the date. Last photo is of my process of my wedding invitation.

Advice: If you do make your own invites, its helpful to have a supportive bridal party. I had lots of help constructing these, I love my bridesmaids and my man. <3

Not too sure why I haven’t updated about this project but better late than never.

So I’m always on the look out for easy knitting projects, still no luck on learning how to crochet, and awhile back I discovered this great tutorial on knitted bows. Easy to follow and the results are great. If you haven’t followed M-S on facebook you should because sometimes we post projects we are working on without posting about them. The great thing about this tutorial is that you can be a beginner knitter and still be able to create this. I use whatever size needles I have. The bigger the size the bigger the bow. I mostly use a size 8 or size 5.

These bows are great for anything really. I mostly use them for my hair, you can just slip them on a clip or a headband and that is that. No muss no fuss.  (odd phrase) I even made one for mys sister’s cat Tomo. As you can see from the picture he wasn’t very happy wearing it…but how cute does he look? Dogs might be a bit more accepting but I doubt it. You can also decorate a gift with these bows. I think it adds something special to the gift. And I’m crap when it comes to gift wrapping. So adding a bow usually helps me out during the holidays. But for some reason I never store those paper bows correctly and they always come out torn or squished. Now I can just slip this on a ribbon and call it a day.

You will get addicted after you make your first one. Fun and easy tutorial below.

So my lovely sister Mija got engaged some time ago and  her boss was nice enough to throw her an engagement party!! So to show how much I love her I offered to do the desserts and I decided to make apple and pumpkin pie pops! (If y’all do not know what pie pops are there basically miniature pies on a stick)*Note: I made two different version one I made with empanada (Mexican pastry)dough and the ones I made for the actual party were made out of  pie crust cause Empanada dough bloated to much which it did not fit in the little baggies but both versions are delicious . But in this I will be using the empanada version but you may substitute it for normal pie dough. So lets get started !! ^^

Ingredients you will need:

~Empanada dough~                                  ~ Pumpkin filling~

3/4  cup shorting                                                1/2 cup sugar

3 cups flour                                                    15 oz pumpkin

1/8 tsp baking powder                             1/4  tsp ginger

4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast                            1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp salt                                                            1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar                                                1/2 tsp cloves

1 cup water

~ Apple Pie filling~

4 or 3 peeled apples (I prefer granny smiths but use any type of apple you want)

Lemon juice

salted butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 corn starch

cinnamon and nutmeg

First pre heat oven to 350 then prepare the Pumpkin filling;  mix all the ingredients together and set aside.  At this point you can use a normal pie crust recipe or the empanada one.  When doing the crust soak the dry yeast in water first then add the sugar and salt, mix and add the baking powder, cinnamon, and 1 cup of flour gradually mix in more flour until it forms a dough.

Once you’ve done that let it set for 5 mins in the fridge ( so it will be more easier to roll out) once that’s done  roll out the dough until its 1/2 thick and use a dough nut cutter (or whatever you want your the shape of you pie to be) I just cut them into squares.

Next is the filling process  now with this you want to be care full  if you want your pies to be mini you must only put a little bit of filling so they wont over flow and get messy. (Now you can have normal pies or you can put the sticks in. when doing so make sure you put it in all the way and let them cool before you move them so they wont fall out.) Bake for 15 to 20 mins it depends of the size and shape of the pie so make sure to keep a eye on it.

Now for the  Apple pie filling. First dice up the peeled apples make sure you cut them up small or at least small enough to fit in your dough. Place the apples in a bowl and add lemon juice and mix 1/2 sugar  with a few dashes of cinnamon (Note: make sure to taste the mixture to see its sweet enough) Now strain the apples so we wont get those extra juices just to make sure the mini pies do not over flow. mix the rest of the sugar, Cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, cornstarch in a separate bowl.

Now time for assembling the apple filling; as its show in the demonstration above first get the get the dough place (the stick at this point) the apples then sprinkle the flour mixture followed but dotting it with butter then close it with the top half.  You can top both pies with Cinnamon sugar to give it a little more sweetness and color. Crump the edges with a fork so the filling does not come out and bake.

~ Now the finishing produce should look like this!!!  I hope you like this recipe and if you should make them I would love to see pictures!! ^^

This past Christmas we all decided to make crafty gifts – Kim knitted us gifts and I promised to redo Kim’s and Kat’s personal blog layouts.

Lets start with Kim’s: she had her layout since 2008. Even though at the time she liked vector-y green foilage she has been begging me to make something that was more her style. Kim is our knitting/sewing machine so I wanted to capture all of her craftiness with a hint of vintage style. I would like to point out little details like the button images near the comment links. Or the graphics on the quote box and comment box… this layout was seriously fun to make.

WordPress is so amazing…coding simple layouts like this only takes a few minutes and I loooove it! Hope the layouts truly show their personalities!