The Macaron Craze!

I’m sure you’ve seen and heard and maybe even tasted  this sweet bite sized French confection that comes in all shades called macaroon macarons. You say macaroons and I say macaron, but in actual fact there is a difference because the macaroon is usually mistaken as the  macaron.  Many people  have adopted the French spelling of macaron to distinguish the two items in the English language. However, this has caused confusion over the correct spelling. Some recipes exclude the use of macaroon to refer to this French confection while others think that they are synonymous.

Theses little babies are almost like a plague with everyone wanting to taste them!

In Paris, the Ladurée chain of pastry shops has been known for its highly popular macarons and did you know that in France, McDonalds sells macarons in their McCafe’s? Wouldn’t you wish they were easily accesible in North American McDonald’s restaurants too?

2009_10_30_macarons_laduree

Click here for the story of  Ladurée 

goldmacarons

I’m in love with the pastel colors and the bits of gold on these macarons!  They would steal the show at any party!

Follow this link to get the recipe

chocolatemacarons

As much as I like the pastel macarons, these chocolate ones look so good too!

Click this link for the source

lacemacarons

Wedding season is coming up and wouldn’t it be spectacular to give your guests their own laced up box of delicious macarons?

click here for source

place card

These are the most adorable place card holders by Wildflower on Etsy!  Perfect for any event- weddings, baby showers, birthday parties, anniversaries…

South Asian Inspired Mint Wedding

MINT…this hot, fresh colour has been  making waves for a while now and the subtle beauty of this tone is magnetizing.  Since it’s wedding season, I thought i’d create a collage of mint inspired wedding ideas from favor ideas to decorations to cupcakes and accessories!

mintwedding3

Top row left to right:  Mint Sari , Floral Centre Pieces , Pearl Bracelet ,

Terrain favors , Drapery lights , Color chart ,

Feather  , Cupcakes , Mint tin favors 

Paris Post Card

I love digital art and the many possibilities of creating digital art.  So I came across this cool graphics website that had a vintage postcard of the Eiffel Tower.  With some tweaking in Picmonkey and Cinderella’s help, I created this:

Vintage Eiffel Tower dream

Clipboard Wall

Don’t you hate when there’s paper lying around all over the house but they are important so you don’t know where to put it and don’t think it’s ready for the trash yet?

Clean and crisp Scandinavian home decor gives a modern appeal to fresh white walls and a place where you can put important notes, doodles and show off your favourite color of the season.  Pin anything from to do lists, bills, a mini calendar, kids art work, crafts and more.

emmas clipboard wall

 

image via Emmas Designblogg

Glittery Gold and Mint

Mint is my favourite flavour.  I can eat mint ice cream, mint chocolate (After Eights are my fav and so is mint Kitkat), mint cupcakes, any spearmint flavoured gum and now there’s mint fashion…i’m beginning to think we as humans are starting to even incorporate food into our fashion!

I’ve compiled a sweet collage of mint, gold handmade jewelry pieces from Pearl Amour Jewels on Etsy (yes my shop!) and I also had to throw in a yummy mint cupcake made from Andes mints.  View and enjoy !mint collage

Sources:
Mint Jersey dress

Gold hand bag

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Gold Brocade Flats

Jewelry

Black Frid-eh, Cyber Mond-eh 2012

Black Friday is  is the day following Thanksgiving in the United States and traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Many major retailers open really early and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season.  It is similar to Boxing Day sales in Canada. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many non-retail employers also observe this day as a holiday along with Thanksgiving, giving their employees the day off, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. It is the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005!

There are deals galore out there but only if you are brave enough to withstand the massive long lines and crowded shops.  A lot of Canadians are still unaware of what Black Friday is but it is slowly catching on.

My shopping spree involved Old Navy and Gap.  Shopping for the kids, who else?  Old Navy was packed at 9:30 this morning as i sifted through the mess that was already starting to pile up!  I feel for these employees who have to reorganize and fold clothes at the end of the day!

That’s why it’s smart to have an online shop..no mess to clean up.  So this year i’m offering my first Black Frid-eh and Cyber Mond-eh sale in my very own Etsy shop, Pearl Amour Jewels.

Exclusive offer for my Bloggers…25% off my entire shop….use coupon code BLACK12

http://www.etsy.com/shop/pearlamourjewels

Red Wedding Inspiration for Spring 2013

Red Wedding gowns are classic, clean and timelessly elegant. Red is a traditional wedding color in China which symbolizes prosperity, love and joy. South Asian brides also wear gorgeously embroidered Red Langha’s that would make anyone feel like a princess.

Many designers such as Vera Wang, Oscar De la Renta and Ramona Keveza have introduced red wedding gowns for spring 2013 and let me tell you these red bridal gowns are stunning!

1. Red gown courtesy The Gown.ca

2 and 3. Table inspiration, red cake and cupcakes courtesy fusion events.ca

4. Cake courtesy Dessert Trends.ca

5. Red and White Wedding card courtesy Wedding Designs.ca

Would you wear a red wedding gown on your wedding?

Get Organized!

If you are a crafter or have some sort of hobby i’m sure you have all your materials everywhere…like me 😉  but then there are some who are very organized and take only what they need.  I wish I was like that !

So i’ve gathered some neat tips that you can use to help you organize yourself around the home:

Good Old Fashioned Romance! (An Etsy Treasury)

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I haven’t posted anything lately.  It’s been a busy 2 weeks with Eid celebrations, feasts and  spending time with family.

I thought I’d share a new treasury on Etsy that has been created by Crafty Mrs P who sells wonderful handmade wool accessories on Etsy.  Why am i sharing this treasury you ask.  My new Pumpkin Spice Rhinestone Bracelet is the start of a new collection and its been featured! So exciting!    There are other great items in this treasury as well.  Enjoy!

‘Good old fashioned Romance!’ by CraftyMrsP

Bringing back romance, from the craftori team x


classic french literature Le…

$12.00

Pumpkin Spice Chiffon Rhines…

$25.00

Christmas Cards, Beautiful O…

$18.00

Gemstone Hot Pink Rubelite C…

$82.00

Bridal Turkish Oya needle la…

$45.00

Flower Hair Comb,Flower for …

$12.75

Original watercolor painting…

$90.00

LOVE Sign Antiqued Mirror in…

$42.00

Laptop Lap Desk or Breakfast…

$46.00

Love stone, the word love on…

$30.00

Handpainted silk scarf (ligh…

$65.00

INSPIRATIONAL “Dancing …

$15.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Peacock Greens, Purples and Beautiful Turquoise

Been sneezing and sniffling all day today because i have this horrible cold and just about now i’d like to have any kind of hot liquid to soothe the throat.

Anyhow, to cheer things up i thought i’d create a gorgeous, vibrant treasury on Etsy (excuse me while i sneeze).  I tried to get as many great Canadian sellers on this treasury as I could because I like to support the few that are selling on Etsy.

By the way, a treasury is a collection of handmade items from other artists that I choose on etsy to create a theme.

‘Purple, Turquoise and Greens’ by PearlAmourJewels (that’s me!)

Hope you enjoy these vibrant colors!


Peacock feather and water dr…

$15.00

Turquoise and Purple Lava St…

$30.00

Cute small multi-coloured co…

$22.50

Coiled Yarn Handspun Art Yar…

$32.00

Felt Scarf – Long Cobweb Tur…

$40.00

Hand dyed wool fleece spinni…

$14.00

Ivory Freshwater Pearls Wire…

$17.00

Bridesmaids Hair accessories…

$65.00

Hummingbird Art / purple and…

$28.00

Neon Bicycle Abstract, Art P…

$12.00

Feather Fascinator – Small F…

$19.95

Turquoise, Purple and Gold I…

$30.75

NEW Turquoise and Purple Vin…

$18.00

WINDSOR – Peacock Belt Brida…

$82.00

ACEO Painting Kismet -Abstra…

$22.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house