Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Since I've been relieved of corned beef detail for this year's St. Pat's shindig (hooray!), I've been freed up to come up with a festive dessert. "Irish Car Bomb" cupcakes it is!

Well, kind of. No whiskey, since I can't stand the stuff. But it is a Guinness Stout cupcake topped with Bailey's buttercream frosting (adapted from Dulcedo's recipe). Nummy.

Bonus is, you don't have to eat is as fast as you can. Unless you really want to.

Be safe out there if you're celebrating tonight!

PS: I'm totally cheating, but I'm calling this entry two on my 12-month cookbook challenge. I've had this recipe bookmarked for ages!

Stitch & Craft Show, March 17-20

Okay, I know I've kept you all in mad suspense. You ask yourself, "what the heck is this news that she promised to tell us, then disappeared for three weeks?" Finally dear readers, I can share.

Two of my stitched pieces are showing at the Stitch & Craft Show in London this weekend!

Han Solo and Nibbler are a proud part of Mr. X Stitch's entourage at the show, and will appear on a wall o' awesome needlework.

This not only marks my needlework's first international showing, but its first live showing in general. I feel quite honored, and only wish I could travel to London to see the exhibit with my own eyes. Jamie (a.k.a. Mr. X Stitch) has promised pictures of the event, so as soon as I have 'em I'll share.

I'm so excited! If any of my U.K. readers are planning to go, please take a picture for me!

"Don't Puke" Cross Stitch

It's a rainy Saturday afternoon on a holiday weekend. Which means curling up under blankets with steaming mugs of coffee and pan dulce. Mmmm.

I mentioned in my last post that my friend Dana and I had successfully completed year two of our annual craft swap. I showed you the awesome hat she crocheted me, but I didn't show you what I sent her.




Dana requested a piece similar to one she'd seen posted on Apartment Therapy's tour of Liv and Jeff's Long Beach home.



After trying to figure out if the pattern was available, I contacted Liv at her blog, A Lovely Little Life, who told me she'd designed it herself.

I figured this was a good chance to make a custom one for Dana, so I asked her to pick her font and color scheme. The border I adapted from my copy of Donna Kooler's 555 Fabulous Cross-Stitch Patterns.




The result? A uniquely Dana cross stitch, ready to tell her cats to keep their hairballs to themselves.

I'm thrilled to announce that the week she got the swap package, she got an even more special delivery: she gave birth to her first child! Big congrats to her and her amazing husband Justin on the birth of their beautiful baby boy.

What's next on my crafting plate? I have another couple of geeky embroidery projects transferred and ready to stitch, plus a cross stitch pattern I'm developing. I'm really excited by it, but it's taking longer than I thought! I also have another couple of cool craft-related announcements to make later, but right now I've gotta keep things under wraps to not jinx anything. I promise I'll tell soon.

Now, to stitch, and enjoy the patter of rain on the window.

Holiday Hearts

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! I hope you spend it in the spirit of love, be it by spending it with those you cherish or by celebrating how awesome you are.

I love the red heart motif surrounding Valentine's Day. Hearts can be lovely and innocent, but through the right lens can easily be made into something little more…merrily morbid.

This year, in honor of the holiday, I bring you a handful of the sweetest, most “heartfelt” crafts I’ve come across lately.

First off, I have to share this amazingly beautiful crochet hat my good friend Dana Koster made for me as part of our now-annual craft swap. Not only did she whip this up in my favorite shade of red, she appliqued an adorable human heart to it. This is without a doubt my new favorite hat.



Dana also gets credit for pointing me towards this wee, blown-glass heart, made by Kiva Ford. I love how it looks suspended in space.



Anatomology is my favorite jewelry store these days, which you can tell from my recent Geek Crafts post. There are numerous heart-based designs, my favorite of which is this heart-in-hand necklace.



If I could go back in time to my wedding and register for tableware, it would be for these “Eat Your Heart Out” dinner plates by Folded Pigs.



What to serve on such plates? Why, heart-shaped cookies, made with this custom-made cookie cutter by West Tinworks!



Of course, the set wouldn’t be complete without some sweet anatomical diagram tea towels to dry them with, right? By Girls Can Tell.



Someday, when I win the lottery, this will be the first opulent thing I buy: an 18K gold anatomical heart locket, embellished with diamonds (because not only hookers can have hearts of gold, y’know).

Made by Peggy Skemp, who also offers a sterling silver heart for those of us who are still playing the numbers.

Now, off to celebrate with the Professor with some micro-brew beer at Triple Rock Brewery, our special Valentine's Day place. Don't judge. They're cracking a "White Chocolate Milk Stout" in honor of the holiday (well, and SF Beer Week). It's festive!