We tried...

to make our "First Annual Holiday Tree Viewing/Skating in NYC" trip today. Cousin Joanne, who came along for the ride, clued us in that skating at Bryant Park on "The Pond" is free. (Free? In NY?! )

Marilyn is dying to try ice skating. Joanne wants to skate and is happy to teach Marilyn while Chris and I watch them from the sidelines (and take pictures, lots of pictures). A major photo op/scrapbook-worthy event was about to take place. I charged the battery for the big camera & cleared the SD card. We got up early, picked up Joanne in Staten Island at 9.30 then drove into the city via the Brooklyn Bridge. (I would have taken photos of this pretty bridge but it was my first time driving over it and I was a little nervous. Besides, I was making Joanne nervous taking pictures while I was driving.)
So much traffic - who are all these people and why aren't they at their jobs?

(that's Cartier with the big red bow)

In an effort to conserve time and stay warm (it was 21 in NY today), we decided to do a drive-by for the Rockefeller tree then try to find and unfilled parking garage near the park. We parked. Scurried in the freezing cold to the skating rink, only to learn it was closed unitl 1 for a private event. (grrrrr!) Early lunch it is, then back to the rink by 1 to skate.
We thought we were clever while we relaxed over our nice long lunch - until we arrived back at the rink to find a line twisting and turning down the block. Apparently, lots of people were wise to this "free skating" thing. At least a 2 hour wait they said. Ugh. I took a few pictures while we tried to figure out Plan B.

(the New Year's ball is on that spire in the lower left)

(frozen fountain at Bryant Park)

(frozen fountain with frozen kids)

(kids that want to skate and a small

section of very long line at upper left)

(looking up)

Back at the garage we learn it costs $43 to park for 2 hours near Bryant Park. (So much for our free entertainment.) Not ready to give up and hoping to recoup some of our investment, we formulate Plan B: locate Wolman Skating Rink in Brooklyn at Prospect Park. Luckily, Joanne knows how to get there. The line there is long, too, and now it's getting dark. We decide instead to drive around the old hood. Checked out my old school and childhood home, which looks so much smaller than it used to when I was a kid. We did a little shopping then headed back to Staten Island.
I thought Marilyn would be really disapointed but she was fine. I had to promise to locate another skating rink closer to home. Chris was mad I didn't take him on a subway ride. I promised I'd make that up to him, too. I think they both enjoyed seeing all the new sights and hanging out with Cousin Joanne. I know I did.

Design team work and the Disney question...

Well, I wrote a giant post about how I feel about Disney scrapbooking products. Then I accidentally lost/deleted it. (sigh.) It must be a sign.
Here’s the basic idea, because I can’t bear to retype it. Why is so much of the Disney themed product unusable? I contemplated this while I made this mini album of our most recent trip:

(Images removed for publication)

I used the crazy Sassafras Lass papers from my Scrappers Cove kit for this month. The colors in these papers worked with every photo I had and made the job of making this album so easy. It’s not the first time I’ve used this manufacturer to make a Disney album. Here’s one from 2007:

Here’s an SEI/Scenic Route combo from 2006.

No red, no black, no yellow. Why do so many Disney products have those colors? Does every sheet of paper have to be loaded with princesses and characters? I definitely don’t mind a Mickey head here and there, and I do understand that some scrapbookers like the super-themed papers, but there is a whole giant market out there of scrappers that want something a little more designed - in colors that actually enhance the photos.
Knowing I’d be facing the dilemma of putting together a book of this year’s photos (and last year’s which are still in a big box) I collected & saved every piece of paper ephemera I could on our last trip. Here are some of the spoils:

There are plane ticket folders, park tickets, unused paper napkins, a great popcorn box with this year's Halloween illustration on it. Maybe it’s part recession, maybe it’s and attempt to make the things I produce more authentic, maybe it's because the available Disney product is a little too foofy for me, but I am making a conscious effort going forward to use the “real thing” whenever possible in my scrapbooks - particularly the Disney ones.
Another thing I ponder is why there is not a lot of product to be had within the resort itself. There is resort-exclusive product all over the place, but not when it comes to scrapbooking. In fact, the 'regular' Disney scrapbooking stuff wasn't even available. Here are the only 2 Disney themed products I've ever purchased at the resort (and one is not even officialy a scrapbooking product):

I got the stickers several years ago, they have great vintage illustration and logos. The punch is from our last trip and I haven't used it yet - it's really tiny.

Hope that didn't sound too much like a rant. If  Disney would like to have me down for a scrapbooking brain-storming session, I'm available. (I prefer to travel in the winter months & I like to stay at the Wildnerness Lodge!)

My post-holiday trip to the bookstore...

the local Barnes & Noble to be exact, resulted in 2 fun discoveries yesterday. (Mind you, I love, love, love bookstores and after the holidays, alone in a big place like that with nothing but time on my hands, I'm bound to find a discovery or maybe even 10.)
Before wandering aimlessly through the stacks and tables, I head directly to the magazine racks (my favorite place in the store). I happen upon this, which I did not realize was in stores yet:

I worked in the magazine publishing world for a long time so I didn't think seeing my name in print would make me so happy. For some reason,though, this did. (Thank you, Paige & Scrapbook Trends!)

Even though I have an online subscription, I buy the print copy anyway. Figuring I can show it to family and hopefully get some down time to sit and pour over the glossy, scrappy goodness. And did I mention that it is square? I love that. Such a perfect shape, the square...moving along...I continue onto the next task at the book store...
Since I'm feeling the need/pressure to work on some paper projects today (Scrappers Cove is looming over me- due in 2 days) and I'm feeling a little style challenged, I thought I'd search for some inspiration in the fine art magazine area. There I rediscover 2 old friends: Print Magazine and How Magazine.

When I worked at Black Book (that is, the original Black Book, sourcebook of illustrators and photographers, not the magazine that liked the name so much they decided to use it, too) these came across my desk on a regular basis. I used them to identify new illustration talent to be included in Black Book, and also to stay on top of trends in graphic design. We called the people who read these magazines and used our sourcebooks "creatives" and I always wished I was one. They sounded so special - like an elite group of super artisticly talented people. I wanted in!!

Well, I think now is my chance - to at least draw some inspiration from their sources. These 2 magazines are loaded with a huge amount of creative inspiration. From type usage, to packaging design, to layout. All transferable to the world of paper craft. Exactly what I was looking for.
Now, guess I better go make some stuff with my newly found inspiration...

At long last, the day 12 cookie...

which is actually not even a cookie, but a small tart. These are the famous pecan tarts - a recipe given to me many years ago by my Cousin Maria. I've made them every year since about 1995.

And that concludes the 12 Days of Cookies. Next year I think I will give it a little more thought and planning before diving in. Thanks for tagging along!

I've already started to work out the layout of the mini album that will soon follow. I'll share as I go along. I'm looking forward to diving into my pile of Scrappers Cove material tomorrow. It's all due on January 1 - so it's time. This month's supply is Sassafrass Lass  - the crazy stuff - so it should be fun. Hopefully I'll have something fun to post by the end of the day tomorrow.

Day 12 and techincal difficulties....

Well, my day 12 cookie, the pecan tart, will have to wait until tomorrow. My dsl/phone provider decided to wish me and mine a Merry Christmas by providing no service whatsoever for the last 2 days. Extremely convenient when you are planning for a houseful of people and friends and family are attempting to call with holiday wishes. Luckily, hubby's blackberry is providing me with a temporary connection to the internet.

On the brightside, Santa has brought me a brand-spanking-new laptop, which I will use to post the final cookie tomorrow (hopefully). In addition to losing my dsl, my current laptop decided today that is was no longer acknowledging my camera usb cable. Santa's timing is perfecto!

Merry Christmas!! Now, back to the festivities and the giant pile of toys in the middle of my living room....

Day 11 cookie & an inspiring road trip.

Because it's getting a little crazy around here, I made today's cookie kind of easy. This one is a classic around here and they don't usually last more than a day or two in the jar.

The oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. My favorite, for sure.
Simple, crunchy, dunkable.
Good, good and good!

Yesterday was the annual holiday road trip at my office. Every year, my boss plans an outing that somehow ties into our design business, that way we are technically working and learning something. This annual event, which is a ton of fun, always puts me in a very festive mood and yesterday did not dissapoint.  We traveled to Trenton to this place:

The Trenton City Museum

Bad New Jerseyan that I am (I was born in Brooklyn, after all) I had no idea that Trenton was known for it's production of pottery at the turn of the century, and some big manufacturers are still in the area to this day. (Lenox, American Standard, Boehm) This museum houses a massive collection of beautiful Fulper and Stangl pottery which was made unitl about the 40's, from what I gathered. I fell in love will all of these pieces:

the colors

the shapes

the cool graphics

How can you not be inspired by all of this? And the cherry on top of all of this design-y goodness was this:

Santa's Truck

The musuem director is a part-time, well-known local (and very realistic) Santa. This is his official vehicle. How perfect!

Day 10 and some gift tags...

I'm in the homestretch of the 12 days. Can't believe I made it this far. (I'm a little relieved because I'm running out of creative ways to photograph cookies.) For today I've got another ice box cookie: chocolate ribbons. They look more complicated than they are and can be put together ahead of time and baked as needed. These are great for dunking in a glass of milk!

Today is my last day of work before the holiday on Friday so I'll be bringing in some of these cookies for a few co-workers. Time to start moving these babies out, lest they wind up in my belly. I thought they deserved some hand-made tags so I put these together:

I tried to keep them simple since I'm a little pressed for time these days. The stickers below inspired these tags. I found them at Target on Saturday and fell in love with the funky colors and graphics.

They reminded me of a Mary Blair illustration. Mary Blair is the illustrator who designed the conecpt for Disney's Small World and Alice in Wonderland, among many others. I love her work and could ride the Small World over and over just to soak in all the graphic details. (If they could just turn off that music!) I wonder who the illustrator is for this line? They are by K&Co. I also broke out the silver foil cardstock and thread again. I promise I will put these items away after the holidays (along with the baking pans)!

My favorite Ella-phant....

is Ella Publishing! I can't thank them enough for this post on their blog, featuring three of my Christmas layouts.

If you haven't checked out their e-books, you should. I own several but my favorite so far is the "Quick Creative Quizzes" book. Such perfect, simple layouts. It's so easy to be inspired by these books, and they even offer template downloads. What could be better?
I am truly honored to be on their blog. Thanks Ella for making my day!!

Day 9 cookie - disaster strikes...

hopefully this is the worst disaster I will have to deal with this week!
These were going to be my sweet, simple walnut shortbread hearts but something went wrong.

When I looked into the oven and saw them losing their crisp lines and running into each other on the baking pan, I knew what I did wrong. Either not enough flour or too much liquid (in this case the liquid = butter). I made so many cookies yesterday and all of them were '2 sticks of butter, 2 sticks of butter, 2 sticks of butter' but not this one. It called for one. Not thinking, I threw in 2 and ended up with these. In a normal recipe, if you add too much salt, or too much flour, what you get is inedible. Not the case with butter I've learned! Although these aren't the prettiest heart-shaped cookies I've ever made, they taste pretty darn good. Dare I say melt-in-your-mouth? The trade off is they fall apart if you breathe on them. Luckily, they don't have to travel very far.
I can't believe it's less than a week til' Christmas. It feels like we were just doing this:

Day 8 and the snow...

sick of cookies yet? I thought I would be but the stormy weather has put me in the baking mood. Hopefully I will get ahead today and 'bank' some cookies for the final days of the "12 Days of Cookies." The next few days will be a little crazy, complicated by the fact that there is now more than a foot of snow on the ground.
Here's my hubby shoveling a path to the front door which is blocked by a drift:

So, today's cookie is the Barefoot Contessa's Jam Thumbprint. You can never go wrong with a recipe from Ina Garten. Her recipes are so fail-safe, I've made them for the first time for company. I trust them that much.

This is a pretty & classic cookie with a twist. The coconut adds some nice texture and crunch. I've made them without the flakes, too, and they are just as good. That might have something to do with the fact that the rich shortbread cookie base is made with 3 sticks of butter! (Ina doesn't skimp on the butter, that is for sure!)
Now I've got to make what I know will be a painful trip to Target- then hopefully I'll get to work on the paper projects I ambitiously planned for this weekend.

the Day 7 cookie and the snow is here...

but doesn't seem as horrible as they were predicting. We actually got to go out and do our usual Saturday a.m. things - which today included a long-overdue cut & color appointment for me. (Thank you snow, for holding off long enough for my hair!) Now, it's on to more cookie baking - it's snowing outside, Christmas music is playing - it's really the perfect cookie baking scenario. Hopefully we won't have a mood wrecking black-out or anything like that.
For today I've got these peppermint icebox cookies. I love icebox cookies -they are so precise and neat. If I was a cookie, I'd think be some sort of icebox cookie.

These are not the easiest to master but they are worth the effort. I like to split the batch in half before rolling it out, just to make it more manageable. The cookies are a little smaller but look just as nice.

It's looking very Christmas-y around here. I noticed today we have not one, but 3 gingerbread houses in our house this year. The most elaborate, a creation by my 4-year-old son, who up until yesterday, I categorized as 'non-crafty'. It takes a lot to hold his attention and he does not actively participate in crafts at school or home. I built this house for him (from a kit) hoping it would keep him busy while I iced cookies and wow, he worked on that house for at least 2 hours. It's the one on the far right.

My daughter is responsible for the other 2 - one from Daisies and one from a school craft. To keep up with her little bro, she's been adding things to her houses. The little boy keeps adding on though, and she can't catch up. Just warms my heart to see him interested in a project like this. Maybe he'll be a chef or an architect?

Day 6 and snow on the way?

For Day 6 (of the self-imposed 12 Days of Cookies) I made these chocolate crackles, a Martha Stewart recipe. I've made these before with a little dash of instant espresso for a little jolt of coffee and they are outstanding. Pretty, no?

One thing I've noticed with any chocolate cookie or brownie recipe that calls for dutch process cocoa is this: the quality of the cocoa will have a noticeable impact on the outcome. Because of this fact, I like to go 'big' on the cocoa powder and use Valrhona Dutch Process 100% Cocoa, which I get at this place. Anything chocolate made with this magical powder will be outstanding! It is definitely worth the splurge. (And if you like to bake, treat yourself to a visit to NY Cake & Baking Supply - you will not be dissapointed!)

On a subject un-related to cookies or baking....here on the East coast we have a prediction for a potentially huge snowstorm - which is really rare for the Jersey Shore so early in the season. If we are lucky we get a dusting or an ice storm, but nothing like what they are predicting for this weekend. I noticed this morning the sky near the sun rise was red/pink. (and you know what the sailors say about a 'red sky by morn') So, despite wavering weather reports, I feel confident that some kind of significant weather event is on the way.

While it will definitley put the kabosh on my visit with Catherine on Sunday, and potentially delay my long-overdue hair appointment on Saturday (yikes!) I have to say I'm a little psyched. Nothing like being snowed in at Christmas time. It will free up time for me to make all this into my "12 Days of Cookies Album:"

....and work on this stuff for the Scrapper's Cove:

....and maybe even dive into this pile (Disney 08), which I've been in denial over for at least 12 months. The photo only shows about a third of the photos that need to be dealt with. (Mind you, another Disney trip has happened since this pile was formed, so now there are actually 2 piles like this.)

...and most importantly, these people will be over-the-moon beyond happy!

Yes, a big pile of snow this weekend would be most excellent - I say, bring it on!!

Day 5 and some cards...

Well yesterday was a very busy day off but I got a lot done.
First order of biz was to ice Christophers's cookies - the snowmen from Day 3. Here is how they turned out:

Also on the to-do list were a couple of cards that I will probably send in for the Cards Blog challenge. I tried to make the background of the snowflake card glisten so I used rock candy Stickles. I love the effect but it made the card a little lumpy. I should have made it thicker or sewn it to a heavier background.  Here are the 2 cards I made, and the sketches that inspired them:

I bought myself this little sketchbook in the Fall. I carry it everywhere in case inspiration strikes. It's particularly handy when I'm waiting in school parking lots or for client deliveries. I resisted having one of these for a long time but I am amazed at what a great, time-saving tool this has turned out to be.

Day 4....cookies...12 days.....

(sigh).
I do actually feel a renewed sense of cookie purpose since I found out yesterday that my best pal Catherine is coming to visit on Sunday. We haven't seen each other is ages and I don't want to let her down in the cookie department. We are old cookie-baking cohorts and she will know if I've been slacking. So the news of her visit, plus another bit of news I received (that I will write more about on Monday), made yesterday a pretty great day!

So onto today's cookie, not really a cookie but more of a confection. If you've never had this.....

Cracker Toffee

you are missing out. The first time I had this, I could not believe how delicious it was. When a friend told me it was made with saltine crackers, I was shocked. Done well, this recipe rivals some of the best chocolate/cookie combos I've ever had. (I do consider myself an expert in this field!) All it is, is a layer of crackers, chocolate chips, brown sugar and butter. It's virtually impossible to mess it up and it only takes about 10 minutes to make.  I only make Cracker Toffee at Christmas because I can not control myself around the stuff. It's that good. It's also really nice to give as a gift because it looks pretty in a cellophane bag.

On the crafty front, today I'm going to pick up some white felt at Michael's so I can make a card or two. I need a little desk time today. I'm starting to get that twitchy need-to-be-creative feeling.
And I will also be icing cookies, wrapping cookies for Christopher's school party and trying to bake a little more. It will definitely be a busy day.

Day 3 of the 12 days of cookies...

whose idea was this? Oh, mine, that's right. Well last night I rolled out these babies:

Snowmen for Christopher's pre-school Christmas party on Thursday.

They are a very sturdy shortbread recipe (that is actually a recipe for cookies to be used as ornaments) but they are tasty. And they last a really long time. These are the base cookie for most of my iced cookies. The snowmen above will be iced and wrapped individually for the kids. I think a custom tag is in order, too.

This picture,  that I took in Macy's the day I took Marilyn to the ballet....

inspired this year's cookie theme. I've had these circus cutters for ages and think I can make them fun for the holidays. That dancing bear has no idea she is about to become the Sugarplum Fairy.

 All this baking is making me want to sit at my desk and make something out of paper. I had a unique opportunity to do a little scrapbooking at work today. I helped my boss make a book for a colleague who recieved a very high honor from the ASID. This is a really bad photo but it's shows the binding of the 8 1/2 x 11 album made entirely from cardstock. The covers are 2 pages of cardstock (taupe and powder blue) sewn together. Then front and back were folded and attached to the pages like a post album. It came out pretty cool. I feel hundreds of similar mini books coming on....

 
I also had the exciting opportunity today to sit and wait for a client delivery. My delivery window was between noon - 2. Naturally, the truck pulled up at 2:15. Had I gone and gotten the Dunkin Donuts coffee I so desperately needed and wanted on my way over, making myself a few minutes late, it would have come at noon on the dot. Anyway, while I waited I worked on some card sketches that I think I'll use for this weeks Cards Magazine blog challenge. I'll post what I come up amidst the cookies...