Sultan Bakery

I surprised my friend Holly this morning by calling her and asking if I could take her to breakfast or lunch for her birthday.  Breakfast it is!  She told me about this great little place near her house, which I had never been to, and we decided to meet there.  If anyone lives near Sultan, Washington and has not eaten at the Sultan Bakery, you are missing out.  It’s located just off of Highway 2 on the north side of the street and if you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss it.  It’s one of those charming ma and pop shops that are all (sadly) disappearing.  This little place was fabulous!  The food was so very good, so obviously fresh and portions were big enough to feed 3!  Even in this poor economy it would seem people can’t stay away from this place.  There was a consistent flow of people the entire time we were there.  I’m glad we got seats!  Don’t let the name fool you.  It’s more than just a bakery, they have more breakfast choices than you can decide on, and (if I remember right) I’m pretty sure I saw sandwiches for the lunch crowd too.  I will definitely be eating there again.

This is Holly’s birthday card.

• Papers: Basil Cardstock, Three Bugs In a Rug - Color Me Pink; a touch of pink & The Back Porch; Florence, White fiber paper from stash
• Making Memories –Buckle embellishment
• Ranger - Inksentials Memory Frames
• Ribbon from stash
• Me & My Big Ideas – icons stickers

And Then I Cracked It

A good friend of mine has been making Ukrainian Easter Eggs known as Pysanky.  I have always loved these eggs.  My Grandparents had a few over the years that they had brought back from various vacations.  I’ve never known anyone who has made these beauties and so the thought never occurred to me to attempt to make any myself.  The art form itself is over 2000 years old and has been passed down from generation to generation.  After a bit of information gathering from Jennifer, a bit of browsing around, and getting more inspiration from Jennifer’s sister Melissa’s eggs - I ordered a kit from Ukrainian Gift Shop.  It arrived about 3 days later – talk about fast, and I didn’t even expedite the shipping!  I sat down the next day, sketched out a design and gave it a shot. 

After dipping the egg into the second color dye I dropped it while applying the next layer of wax… oops.   It’s a pretty good crack, actually, but it managed to hold together while I finished it.  I’m not sure how long it will last in the long run though.  When I mentioned this to Jen, she let me know she had cracked her first too! I guess dropping your first egg is some kind of rite-of-passage or something.

So here it is.  My first attempt at making one of these eggs.

It’s not great, but I call it a good first attempt.  The design only barely resembles the one I sketched out and the colors aren’t what I’d pick if I did it again, but I learned a lot!  I think I’ll be sticking to the designs that came with my kit for the next couple of eggs to get more comfortable with it.

Mom

It was my Mom's Birthday on Wednesday.  She must be coming up on 30 now ;). We sure miss her and we're looking forward to seeing her in about 4 weeks, when she comes for a visit. It's been way too long! The kids are really excited to see their Grandma.

Have a great birthday, Mom! We love you!

 

Papers:

• Three Bugs in a Rug - Color me Pink, Blush
• The Paper Company - Flocked Stripes with Flowers
• Basil Cardstock (frame insert, upper right cir. & inside)

Rub-Ons:

• Sticker King (flower border)

• Little Yellow Bicycle (It's Your Birthday, Time to Celebrate + Swirls)

Embellishments:

• Ranger - Inksentials Memory Frames

• Making Memories - Vintage Hip Trinket Pins

• Making Memories - Shaped Clips (Swirl)

• Prima Flowers

• Baby Blue Embroidery Floss

• Small Red Button

• Translucent Baby Blue Ribbon