Runs on Coffee and Cream

I have been blogging for at least 8 years now. Livejournal was my first blogging site and I actually came across quite a few talented and awesome female crafters and artists on there. One amazing blogger I came across was Lindsay, who at the time was known as 'Kid Pirate'. I completely fell in love with Lindsay's blog and all the wonderful designs she created. Within a couple of years I owned 5 or 6 of her shirts. I know I still have a few in a drawer now.

Well, life happened and I fell out of the blogging world for a couple of years. A year or so ago, someone posted a picture of some adorable Mary Jane shoes and as soon as I saw them I knew I was seeing Lindsay's work. Through some searching, I found her Etsy shop: Em & Sprout. If it's possible, the designs are even cuter now! And I was even more excited to find her on Instagram because she's adorable and her photos make me smile!

I have been contemplating purchasing numerous items in her shop and I finally placed an order about a month ago. When I saw the design for this shirt, I knew I had to have it in my life.



The shirt is so soft and it fits perfectly! I cannot wait to stock up on Em & Sprout t-shirts!! And I may have to splurge on some Mary Jane shoes in the Spring!

My current wishlist from her shop:

This upcoming Saturday is the Holiday Makers' Market. It's a local show that I have participated in for a few years now. The Makers' Market is apart of the monthly Art Crawls and the Supercrawl in Hamilton and then they do a couple of holiday shows. It's a fun show. Being inside the church with other talented vendors provides such a festive feeling. And this year they're having some food trucks parked outside!




To advertise for this show, there was a section in The Hamilton Spectator, our local newspaper, that showcased some of the handmade items that would be at the show and my tote bags were one of the items picked!




They also did a small interview segment on the CHCH Morning Live show:
http://www.chch.com/index.php/morning-live-blog/item/10561-christmas-gift-ideas-from-the-makers-market

If you're in the area, come check out the show and shop handmade this holiday season!!

xo Jen

Today I went to see Twilight: Break Dawn Part 2 with Mary. We've seen all the other Twilight movies together and it was nice to finish the saga with her.

Personally, I enjoyed how the saga ended. I never read the books so I can't compare them to the movie. I have heard that the movie ends differently than the book though. Either way, it was an exciting and interesting movie from start to finish. I really wanted to see how some things (won't give away any spoilers) turned out. Like all the previous Twilight movies, there was a good amount of 'cheese' in this movie... over the top sappy lines, sparkly vampires, and some pretty insane fight scenes. I did enjoy some of the other vampires that were in this movie that come to support the Cullen family. My favourite being played by Lee Pace. Though I'm biased because of Pushing Daisies.



Now, ever since seeing the first Twilight movie, I have been made fun of for watching these movies. Not only have the men in my life made fun of me, but some other females as well. It doesn't bother me since I will watch whatever movie or TV show that interests me. I could care less what others think. Plus, since I've been a huge fan of Harry Potter from the beginning and now The Hunger Games, I'm getting used to movies that have a huge fandom surrounding it. The young girls and middle age woman can annoy the hell out of me at the theatre when seeing these movies, but so do all the geeks when I sit in the theatre when I see any superhero movie. Everyone has an opinion and these huge fans of these specific movies become even more opinionated when discussing the movie. But I'm ok with that.

The one thing I'm not ok with, is that so many people judge movies without watching them. They are turned off by the fandom surrounding something and won't give it a chance. Yes, The Twilight Saga is cheesy and has quite the love triangle in it. But so many people brush it off. If you take away the screaming fans, the Team Jacob and Edward shirts, and the fact that the vampires sparkle, the Twilight movies are alright. The acting isn't the greatest and some of the fight scenes are over the top, but hell, isn't that like most vampire/werewolf/horror movies? I'm always shocked at the cult following of movies like Ginger Snaps. I recently watched this movie last year. I know so many friends who love this small Canadian horror movie. It's bad. The special effects are bad, the acting isn't good, and it's just cheesy. But yet these people won't give a Vampire/Werewolf movie, like Twilight, a chance?



Rant over.

Like I said, I enjoyed the entire Twilight saga. I don't own the movies, but I've paid money for each movie to see it in the theatre with at least one friend. I have found them entertaining and Breaking Dawn Part 2 wrapped everything up nicely.

xo Jen

I have already started to bake some holiday treats... chocolate mint Andes cookies and gingerbread cupcakes. And Pinterest keeps inspiring me with more holiday recipes that I want to try!





What are your favourite holiday treats to make?

xo Jen

Over the last couple of years I've been making stockings out of scrap fabric. They got a great response the first Christmas I made them so I've continued making some stockings every year. I decided to post them in my Etsy shop earlier than normal this year. This looks like it was a good idea since I have steadily been selling stockings. I made up 3 more last week that I will be posting in the shop tomorrow.



There's only a few stockings left in my shop at the moment.

I have also posted new pillowcases in the shop.Go take a look!

And, remember you can get 10% off using the coupon code: HOLIDAYS2012

There's still time to place Christmas orders, so if you're looking for something custom send me an email at sparklegirl.jen@gmail.com

xo Jen

The twitter universe introduced me to a really great lady, Kristy, who is quite the Star Wars fan. After posting a picture of some stockings I was working on, she put dibs on one of the Star Wars stockings. So along with the stocking, she also requested a Star Wars tote bag. I was more than happy to work on her request and send off a Star Wars package.



I used up most of the Star Wars fabric I had, so with the scraps I sewed up a few coin purses to put up in my Etsy shop and to send one along with Kristy's order.



Conveniently, she just received her package this week which worked out since I had planned on blogging about this custom order today... oh how wonderfully it all worked out!

Go check out Kristy's awesome blogs,  Indie Girl Blogs and Kristy's Star Wars Friday!

xo Jen

The holiday season is underway for me... I have a good chunk of my Christmas shopping done, I purchased wrapping paper and Christmas cards (with kittens on them!) tonight, and my Etsy and custom orders are increasing!

I recently updated my Etsy shop with all my zipper pouches I have on hand. There are 28 in my shop currently. Earlier this week I photographed all the pillowcases I have so I will be starting to update my Etsy shop with those later this week.

And remember, if you are looking for a specific item or fabric, send me an email at sparklegirl.jen@gmail.com

On Facebook, I currently have a giveaway going. I will be drawing a winner at the end of November to win any zipper pouch of their choice from my Etsy shop. So head over to my Facebook page to enter!

Finally, I'm offering 10% off in my Etsy shop with the coupon code: HOLIDAYS2012

Happy Holiday Shopping!!

xo Jen

Last month I came across an awesome recipe that I wanted to try out. I had a hard time locating candy corn after Halloween though, so I ended up buying discounted Halloween Mellowcreme candies instead. So this recipe is inspired by Cakespy's Candy Corn Upside Down Cake that she posted on her site last month. 



Halloween Mellowcreme Upside Down Cake

1/4 cup margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups mellowcreme candies
1 box cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Butter Pecan)
Ingredients for cake mix:

• eggs
• water
• oil or unsweetened applesauce

Heat oven to 350 degrees. 


Melt butter in oven using a 13x9 pan. Take pan out of the oven and tilt the pan so the butter coats the entire pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter and then sprinkle mellowcreme candies over the brown sugar.



Make cake mix according to the instructions on the box. Pour cake mix over top of the candies in the pan. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes. 

Remove the pan from the oven and run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. I used a baking sheet to place on top of the cake and then flip it over with the cake pan now on top. I left the pan on for 5-10 minutes to allow the sugary mixture to drip down into the cake. 


(Apparently a lot of the pictures turned out blurry so this is the best shot of how the cake looked.)

When I removed the pan from the cake, it did stick quite a bit. I think I overdid it with the candies and it created quite the sticky, gooey glaze. So even though the cake didn't come out perfectly rectangular, it still tasted so good! I shared this cake with a lot of people since there was no way I needed to eat this much sugar. And everyone said that looking at it, it didn't look like much more than a coffee cake with a sugar crumble on top. But once they ate it, they loved the taste and the sweet 'crunch' on top of the cake.

I'd like to try making this again over the holidays. Maybe using candy canes or something else peppermint and with a chocolate cake mix.  

xo Jen

It's no secret how much I love winter clothing and I'm on the hunt for some dresses and clothes that can be worn to family functions over the holidays. I recently stocked up on tights at Target over in the U.S. and I bought new boots from Payless. I need just a few more things and I'm ready for the winter holiday season!

Winter Wishlist:








What's on your wishlist for the winter season?

xo Jen

It has gotten cold outside! This week has been extremely chilly and it's making me want to snuggle up in sweaters and blankets.

It's funny because on the weekend while I was shopping with family in the U.S., I mentioned to my cousin that I wanted to live in cozy tunic sweaters or jersey knit dresses and leggings all winter. I fell in love with every knit sweater dress I saw while shopping. And that dream, cozy outfit would be ideal for this weather. I may have to invest in a sweater dress for this winter.






And of course, boots and socks are necessary with every outfit if I head outside!

I just love this weather and the cozy clothing choices that come with it!

xo Jen

A couple of weeks ago I made some Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips. I had found the recipe via Pinterest.



I changed the recipe slightly - I used unsweetened applesauce instead of butter and I omitted the almonds and toffee bits. They turned out really good. They're soft and chewy and the pumpkin flavour is very evident in these cookies, unlike others I have tried. You can find the recipe here.



During the last week of October I was able to squeeze in a couple of Halloween-themed treats. Last year, my Dad bought me a Halloween Wilton cookie mold sheet. They turned out so well when I made them last year, so I made 2 batches this year. They don't even need icing or sprinkles. They're a really tasty sugar/shortbread cookie.



I also made Halloween-themed cupcakes for a family member's birthday lunch. I made chocolate fudge cupcakes so the cake part looks almost black.



I have one more Halloween-themed treat to bake this week with some leftover Halloween candy. I hope it turns out!

Do you have any recipes you plan on trying soon?

xo Jen

I was really stumped on a costume for Halloween this year. At first we had no invites to any parties to go to so I never 'really' looked for a costume. We just talked about it. But once we got invited to a Halloween party, I just didn't have the time or money to put together a creative costume. Adam told me I should go as April O'Neil from the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show. Initially I shrugged it off. But then we kept watching the show... and I completely fell in love with it. The humour, chemistry and personalities of  the turtles on the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show is so awesome!



So after countless trips to thrift stores and Google searches for a costume that would be easily and cheaply attainable, I decided to dress as April from the new show.



Her outfit is very straight forward and I only spent $4 on a pair of socks. I did, however, go on a search for a crew-neck yellow t-shirt but apparently that's impossible to find at this time of year. So I had to go with a v-neck I already owned. Either way, it was a quick and fun costume.



Most people had no idea who I was at the Halloween party but me and Adam were happy with what I put together.

 xo Jen