Finally, The ULTIMATE Brownie winning recipe!

I'm sad to say that the brownie competition is now finished.
Yes, I'm sad! Now what can I tell my hubby when I want to make brownies. The "I'm doing it for the blog" excuse is no longer legit.
We got some amazing recipes, from fudgy chocolate goodness, peanut butter and chocolate bliss, nuts, caramel. . . mmmm, my mouth is watering.

We judged the brownies on taste, obviously, as well as convenience. I love a good brownie recipe but no matter how tasty it is it has to be easy or it never makes it out of the recipe box.

Disclaimer: My lack of pictures of all of our yummies can be blamed on sheer chocolatey deliciousness.

Luckily I did get pics of our winning brownie.

The winning recipe is chocolatey, but not too much. Moist, creamy, nutty, unique, and super easy to make.  In one word : droolicious!

Thank you to everyone who participated! Every batch of brownies was REALLY good! And if you ever feel like sending me more brownie recipes I will gladly take them and try them out!  ;)



Print this out, share it with your friends and let me know what you think of our ultimate brownie recipe!

Nesquik Brownies


Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons water

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups double chocolate-flavor Nestle Nesquik powder (regular Nesquik works fine too)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped nuts, optional



Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease 9 x 13 baking pan.

Combine sugar, butter and water in a large bowl; stir well.

Stir in eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour, Nesquik, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; stir in sugar mixture.

Stir in nuts.

Spread into prepared pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky.

Cool in pan on wire rack.

Cut into bars.



Congrats to our winner! I'll contact you about your gift card winnings! THANKS!

Spring-tastik & The Lovely Letter

Saturday's Spring-Tastik event was fabulous! I could have done without the wind knocking over EVERYTHING! Luckily I had kind neighbors that took pity on my lack of preperation and lent me some bungie cords to anchor it all down.  But dispite all that, I had a great time and met some amazing people!

Here's my wind blown booth. We had to attach the headband display shutters to the table with a bungie cord. Worked like magic. 

By far best part about any craft show is shopping the other vendor's booths. I was lucky enough to be parked across from some amazing crafters! I even picked up a new little trinket that I am head-over-heels for!

A Wax Seal necklace from The Lovely Letter.

They are modeled after the old wax envelope seals. Vintage and so classy! I don't want to take it off!

I love it so much I may even pick one up for my mom for Mother's Day.

She has every letter of the Alphabet, plus she has other stylin' stamps like a fleur de lis, peacock, heart, etc.  So you can pick the perfect charm for your mom (or yourself).

A spoonful of gratitude

Just like the rest of you bloggers out there, I go through out my everyday and when something cool, funny, amazing, profound, or soul-stirring happens, the first thing I think of is "I can't wait to write about this!".
 
Today I have had some of those moments as I played with my kids, spent time with my handsome hubby, and prepped for tomorrow's big craft show.
I had those moments but that's not what I wanted to blog about today.

Today I want to say "Thank you."

I have learned my entire life to be grateful for what I have.
I come from a family of 7 children. My dad was the fix-it guy in our tiny town and my mom stayed home to raise us. Needless to say, we got by on very little. But we never knew how tight the financial situation in our house was. We truly were happy!

Somehow, by roofing houses and unclogging drains, my dad managed to make enough money to feed his "gang" of kids and I never heard him complain, not once, about how hard things were. He taught us how important hard work and gratitude are. He let us help him roof houses and one year we were forced blessed to work in my dad's football field sized garden.  It was our job to weed and irrigate. It was hard work and we hated it! But now I can look back and see how much we learned. I have never been more greatful for the food we ate than when we grew it and harvested it with our own hands.

Now that I'm married and have 2 little ones of my own, I realize how hard it must have been for our struggling family to make ends meet. And somehow my parents even found a way to fund things like Cheerleading, Show Choir, Vacations, School Pictures, Dance Classes, etc.

So why am I giving you my life story? I'm not complaining at all. I wanted to share how truly grateful I am that I was raised under these circumstances. I learned that it doesn't take money or stuff to make people happy.


I will always be greatful to my dad and mom for teaching me to be thankful for what I have. 

I'm thankful that God blessed me with passion.  I do what I love and I love what I do.

I'm thankful for my talents. I'm blessed to come from a line of artists and musicians who gave a smidgen of their talents to me so I can share with others.

I'm thankful for your talents. Thank you to everyone who has taught me and inspired me. It is your passion that fuels my passion.

I'm thankful for everyday inspirations. From the lovely orange-ish pink-ish flowers that grow along my backyard fence, the color of the Arizona sky as the sun sets every evening, flocks of birds sitting on telephone lines, and the yellow dandelion that was lovingly plucked from my lawn and given to me by my sweet little boy.  As small as a grain of sand and as big as the universe.  It is all inspiring!

I'm thankful for good advice. Once piece of good advice is priceless. Plus, it saves you hours of "google" time.

I'm thankful for progress. The old saying says that "every journey begins with a single step". And every step along the path brings you closer to your goal. Even if you only take one step today, you are headed in the right direction and eventually you will reach your destination.

I'm thankful that I am happy.
 I have hard days, just like everyone else. I have days where I wish I could run away and join the circus, or just give up and not try any more.  I have days that I swear my kids are sent here to drive me insane.

But deispite those few bad days we really are happy! I just hope that I can teach my children the same thing my dad taught me. Be Thankful! 

Thank you to everyone who has blessed my life since we opened Cantaloupe Corner a year ago. I am truly and whole-heartedly grateful for this amazing oppurtunity.

{ Getting inked }

For all of you in the Mesa area, here's a sneak peek of NEW STUFF you will see at Saturday's event!

I will be debuting our new Women's Chandelier Chic tees!

Also. . .
I've been playing with ink!

Our new inked totes are each a one-of-a-kind work of art.

I love ink printing! It lets me mix designs and play with color!
Come see the rest of our totes at Spring-tastik on Saturday!

I have also whipped up a batch of new blossoms.

And there is even more new stuff to see!

 I'm so excited I think I'm going to explode!

(If you need directions of if you have questions about the event to go to http://www.springtastik.com/ )

Spring-Tastik

This Saturday, Raspberry Bliss Boutique and Power Square Mall here in Mesa, AZ are hosting:

"Please join us on Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10am-6pm , at Power Square Mall for 50+ unique vendors , live music, petting zoo, magic shows , yummy food and much more!

Benefiting East Valley Unified Special Olympics.

For more info and directions visit the event website.

Cantaloupe Corner will be there with a load of new items! I've even put together some unique specialty items just for this event! A little bit of vintage bling and even some ink-printed goodness.

If you have plans already, cancel them. Did I mention there is going to be shopping,  live music, and cotton candy?
If fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth cotton candy doesn't convince you to come then . . . Oh, it did? Good!

See you on Saturday!

Simplifying

Making life a little simpler with this:

I've had my heart set on this machine since the first time we met, almost a year ago.

It's called the Pazzles Inspiration and it is going to make my life easier! I just purchased it today and I will be anxiously awaiting the UPS man coming to my door.

What is it? 
The Pazzles Inspiration is a craft cutter, like the more famous Cricut machine, only so much cooler! The great thing about this particular cutter is that you don't have to buy those expensive font and picture cartridges. All you need is your computer, the software, and your imagination.
This beauty cuts out anything that you can come up with in whatever font you choose. It can also cut vinyl, and even fabric!

We have been talking about buying this for sooooo long, throwing around dozens of ideas about it's usefulness.
From custom tshirts, to bullet stencils (for my dad's biz, I'll have to talk about this in another post), to vinyl stickers, and also for the daily jobs like cutting out business cards, thank you cards, and such. I don't know why we waited so long.

So, hurry Mr. UPS man, bring me my new toy so I can cut to my little hearts content.

Flower bib neckace tutorial

Fabric flowers are EVERYWHERE! Bags, hair clips, necklaces, shoes, jackets. . .

Here is a fabulous tutuorial from The Woman Who Couldn't Sit Still for a fancy fabric flower bib necklace that would make a great mother's day gift for yourself, or your mom.

Click here to see how you can make your own!

A place for everything

My little office/studio is getting a wee bit cramped. And I'm in need of some major organizational magic.

I share my space with our big family computer desk and a matching desk that belongs to my father-in-law, plus my craft desk.  Yes, 3 desks and a business in one office is a more than a little snug. Since getting rid of the desks isn't an option I am doing my best to utilize every square inch I have left.

It doesn't help that I'm a craft pack-rat and I have seperation anxiety when I even think about getting rid of any of my precious fabric, or ribbon, buttons, lace, paint . . . 

But, I'm working on expanding my tshirt sizes and styles, and with that I need more storage space.

It will be a while before my space issues are resolved, but in the mean time I found a project on Ucreate today that makes me want to jump in and get started.

I have been thrift store and yard sale hunting for the perfect desk and a tall bookcase to store all my lovely, precious "junk" in. Once I find my bookcase I am going to use these to fill it.

These adorable fabric covered storage boxes are from Make it and Love it.

I was going to buy baskets but I'm so happy that I can make my own and use what I already have.

I'll keep my eyes open for a smokin' hot deal on a great looking, sturdy bookcase, and in the mean time I've found something to keep me busy in my rare moments of free time!

UPDATE: I've started cooking up our brownies from the Ultimate Brownie Challege. Holy Cow!  I think I've gained 5 pounds already! (No Joke) Great recipes!  I had the best intentions of taking pictures of every batch but somehow the brownies keep disappearing before I can even get my camera out! 

Nifty Gifties

More brand new stuff! (can't get enough!)
I just posted our new Girly Gift Sets in my shop. It is your choice of a baby girl bodysuit (6 designs to choose from) and a glam headband to go with it.
These make great baby shower or 1st birthday gifts.

Check out Cantaloupe Corner's shop to see what designs and colors are available.

1 year? Already?

Happy Etsy-versary to me!

I can't even put into words how much I have changed and how much I have learned in the last year.

Just to show you how far I've come in the last year, here's a picture of the first shirt I made for myself, a year ago.

I found this chandelier somewhere on the world wide web I had to hand cut out that  every stinkin' part of the dang chandelier! Greuling work and I could only use the stencil one time. bleh! But I loved that shirt so much that I wanted to do more.

Then I learned about copywrights, and legal stuff and blah, blah, blah.  I knew someday I would have to design and create my own chandelier for Cantaloupe Corner.

I made some new designs and I was ready to hand-cut a stencil for every shirt I made. And I did, for a while. Then I discovered screenprinting!

Now I can create whatever pops in my little head. Creative Freedom at last! ( I love my job!) 

You can also clearly see that's I've learned some photography tips. The red backdrop is terrible. lol.

To celebrate this momentus day I have finally, a year later, created my own Chic Chandelier design!  It is now available on baby bodysuits and soon to be available on women's tee too!

You are going to love the new women's tees! (I'm wearing mine today!)

Here are the new Chandelier bodysuits: 

Thank you to our customers who have supported my dream. And thank you to everyone who has given me advice and helped me out so I could make it to my first year milestone!  This has been the best roller coaster ride I've ever been on!

It hasn't been easy being a mom of 2 little ones and running this shop, but it is definitely worth it.

Drumroll please. . .

Thank you to everyone for participating in our 300 Party Giveaway!  We have 5 prizes to give away today!

First up, Winner of the Cream and Sugar metal headband is # 24:  Lily

Second, Winner of the Delila Blossom Clip is #26:  Lizzie 

Lizzie also told the best knock knock joke and I HAVE to share it!

Knock Knock.

Who's there?
Interrupting Cow.
Interrupt...
MOO.
 
 
Ha ha!!
 
Third, Winner of the Orange Hydreanga Clips is #35 : Michelle
 
Fourth, Winner of the 2 cute cards from Redeemed Designs is #7: LaMaMaLa
 
And Last but not least, the winner of the Cootie Pants Toddler Belt is #43:  Erica
 
(All of the wnning numbers were generated by an automatic randomizer at Random.org)
 
 
 
And just for fun, here are a couple more knock knock jokes that made me smile:
 
Knock Knock

Who's there?
Cash
Cash who?
I always knew you were a nut!


Knock Knock
Who’s There?
Says.
Says Who?
Says me, that’s who!



Thanks again! That was fun!
I will contact the winners via email. Please reply within 5 days or the prize will be given to someone else.

Seeing PINK!

No, you aren't just looking though rose colored glasses. You really are seeing pink!

New little versions or our bigger designs debuting on Hot PINK onesies!

With all the boy stuff in our shop it's quite refreshing to see something cutesy and girly.

Birdcage

Girly Owl

 Fleur de Lis

All of these designs are also available on black onesies.

And the fleur de lis would be great (in black) for a boy too.

Check 'em out in our Etsy Shop

Showin' off

I dropped all of these goodies off at Creative Works Boutique, along with a bunch of Women's tees. I had to show them off since they aren't being put in my online shop.
I snapped some shots of them before I sent them off.  It looks like a jumbled pile of blossoms but that pile is a really bunch of clips and headbands.
Goodbye my creations! I hope you find wonderful new homes!

And now that they are gone I have an excuse to make MORE! Yippy Skippy!

Making tshirts is tons of fun, but I love getting to take a break from screenprinting to make some lovely blossoms. (And it gives me an excuse to go fabric shopping!)

Ode to Arizona Sunshine

Oh Arizona sun, how bright you shine
You shine on the cactus and flower and vine.
And I will always let my love show
because you shine down to help Cantaloupes grow.
(Cantaloupe Corner, that is)

This time of year I remember why I love living in the Arizona desert. The sun shines almost everyday and the weather is beautiful. It's always beautiful here. Well, exept during those dreaded 3 months of intolerable heat we like to call summer.  During those months everything in sight shrivels and hides away from the scortching hot desert heat.

But even then, I LOVE the sun!

I use the sun when I make my Cantaloupe Corner designs. Just this afternoon I was using it's brilliant light to make brand new silk screens!

Because the sun is always shining here, I can burn my screens any day of the week, be it winter, spring, summer, or fall.

Shine on, Arizona sun!