heikkinen the forest

valentine treats for kitty

January 23, 2011

I recently listed some sweet catnip treats for Valentine’s Day on luckycatcrochet.

Valentine’s Day Mini Donuts – Set of Three

Chocolate Covered Strawberries – Catnip Toys

Much to my surprise, these two items have received quite a bit of feedback, not just favorites but also being featured in treasuries and even on DeviantArt. Actually, I’ve had a few different items being featured lately.

Valentine’s Day Mini Donuts: My Furry Valentine | for our feline friends
Chocolate Covered Stawberries: Pet Love | The new and shiny unknown, feature
Valentine’s Day Mice: Pink Love Affair | Be mine… (a kitty valentine)
Halloween Maneki Neko: Crocheted Amigurumi Cats
Green Maneki Neko: Random Distribution of Nerdic AWESOME

Not trying to brag or anything, as I really have no right to considering how teeny tiny and not lucrative my stores are, haha. It just makes me really happy that people like the things I make, enough so to feature them and even buy them. :)

The Spring Hill craft show is coming up in a few months and I’d really like to attend. I don’t have a huge assortment of items right now so I’m gonna have to work my butt off to get more stuff made before then. Hopefully my one and only friend in Spring Hill, Lindsey, will join me so I don’t have to sit there alone all day. If not I’ll just have to force Chris to. That’s what boyfriends are for, right?

posted in Arts & Crafts, Crochet | tags: amigurumi, cat toys, etsy, maneki neko | 5 comments

a new layout

January 22, 2011

As you can see, I’ve got a new layout. I was going for more of a ‘sketchy’ or ‘drawn’ look, though it turned out quite a bit differently than I had envisioned it.

There are still a few things I need to work on, such as possibly adding more widgets to the sidebar (a Categories widget would probably be good) and maybe another one to the footer. The ‘About’ page also needs to be updated. I just wanted to go ahead and announce the new layout because I’ve been working on it almost nonstop for days now and I want to start writing some posts. I think with this cleaner, more simplistic layout I’ll actually be more apt to post. The old one was just too busy for me.

Overall, I’m very happy with it. It’s also given me another chance to better familiarize myself with the inner workings of WordPress which is great. Every time I design a new site in WordPress, it’s so much better than the last.

posted in Graphic/Web Design | tags: blog, web design, wordpress | leave a comment

valentine’s day maneki neko

January 16, 2011

I’ve made two little maneki neko for Valentine’s Day. One is a fuzzy white kitty made with wool yarn and the other is a happy little black cat. Both are holding hearts. I think the hearts came out pretty decently, considering I rarely work with felt and am not the best at embroidery.

I left her paw unattached because I couldn’t decide if it should be up or holding the heart.

I find this picture really cute.

Both kitties are available in my Etsy store luckycatcrochet.

posted in Arts & Crafts, Crochet | tags: amigurumi, cats, etsy, maneki neko | leave a comment

buri animals

January 8, 2011

I don’t know why, but I love these little buri animals. I guess I’m just a sucker for woodland creatures made out of leaves and sticks.

Fat little squirrel ornament from Crate and Barrel

Cute buri fox ornament from Horse and Hound

Animal ornaments set from Barnes & Noble

A chili pepper owl! from shoplodgepodge.com

Adorable owl ornaments from Gardener’s Supply Company

posted in General | tags: all-natural, decor, owls | leave a comment

recipe: chicken noodle soup

January 6, 2011

I decided to make chicken noodle soup today and a friend pointed me towards this recipe from allrecipes.com. I would love to find a recipe similar to Panera’s chicken noodle soup, which is my all-time favorite, but I haven’t been able to find anything online. This recipe turned out pretty well, though, so it’ll probably be my go-to recipe unless I can find a Panera copycat recipe.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter (I used olive oil instead)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can vegetable broth
1/2 pound chopped cooked chicken breast
1 1/2 cups egg noodles
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

I didn’t really measure anything out and only used a pack of tenderloins. I also added some leftover potatoes and mushrooms and a can of cream of chicken soup.

My Directions

Saute onion, celery, and carrots in olive oil (or butter).
In a crock pot, mix all ingredients together except for noodles.
About 20 minutes before you’re ready to eat, toss in the noodles.

posted in Recipes | tags: food | leave a comment