[uhp-steyt fan-see] - adjective

1. not exorbitant or extravagent by city standards, however in a rural setting (like upstate new york) it is in fact, quite fancy.

2. a wonderful blog dedicated to art, design and other things that are indeed upstate fancy.

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Feb
20
how-to
My stamp embossing tutorial

embossing_stamp_tutorial

I just finished my first true DIY tutorial. Embossing with rubber stamps is a really fun and inexpensive way to make your notecards and envelopes look like a million bucks! Check out the full tutorial on the Chatty Press Shop blog!

Apr
06
how-to
CREATE A backdrop for product shots

You don’t need an elaborate lighting setup or a designer apartment to take a great picture of your crafty endeavors. To me it’s all about working with what you have. I currently live in an apartment where we chose not to paint any walls in an effort to make moving out one step easier. But when I need to take some product shots of my new wall art pieces I thought hanging them on a painted wall was exactly what the shot called for. So working with what I had, I improvised. Here’s how you can do the same.

I took a 24 x30 piece of foamcore that I had ( I cut them down for packaging flat items) and spray painted it with my favorite shade of apple green. This creates an instant wall in any color of your choosing, and unlike a fabric of paper backdrop it’s sturdy and will never wrinkle. I looked around the apartment and decided that a bench we had would make a great surface on which t place the props, but a small table or book shelf would work great too. For props I decided on some flowers from the little shop down the street and a few of my favorite books.

For the setup, the spot with the most natural light happens to be in our stairwell through the skylight. So I used some 3m Velcro command strips to attach my new “wall” to the actual wall, and setup everything in an eye pleasing manner.  Using another piece of Command strip I hung the framed art to the foamcore. This setup is easy to rearrange and take away or add props as you see fit. Remember it’s all about the final shot, not the surroundings of your setup. So don’t worry if your shooting in your bathroom, outdoors or in your stairwell. Wrk with what you have and get creative!

Jun
24
how-to
THE BEST LUNCH EVER with jordan pond popovers

Since I’m still reliving my Maine vacation I have to share with you the best lunch of my life. Truly. The restaurant at Jordan pond, in Acadia National Park, is not only serene and picturesque, but the food is amazing! The waitstaff were the nicest people ever, college students from all over the country, and the popovers were to die for. If you have never had a popover, I hadn’t, they are big fluffy hollow pastries, best eaten with jam and butter. Just to give you an idea of how amazing everything was there, we ate there 3 times. We even bought a popover pan so we can make some at home. Just in case you want to try some for yourself, the Jordan pond recipe is below!

• Four eggs
• Two cups whole milk ( you can use 2% if you want)
• Two cups flour
• One-half teaspoon salt
• One-sixth teaspoon baking soda

They recommend making the batter a day ahead of time, refrigerating it, and then letting it return to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 450. Break eggs into mixing bowl and whip; add milk and blend. Add remaining ingredients and mix until almost smooth — do not overbeat. Fill greased popover pans, muffin tins or custard cups 3/4 full. Bake for 14 minutes at 450, then reduce heat to 350 and bake 15 minutes more. (DO NOT OPEN OVEN UNTIL BAKING IS COMPLETE!) They’ll be crispy brown on the outside and moist on the inside at this point; remove them from the pans and serve with butter and strawberry preserves. (Jordan Pond House uses Stonewall brand — I looked in the gift shop.)

popovers

May
26
how-to
MAKE OUR OWN record album storage files

If you are anything like me, you have quite a few record albums sitting on your shelf. While I really love the way some of my favorite songs sound when they are played on my ancient record player, I don’t really love the way they look cluttering up my shelves. I spent some time searching the internet for a great storage solution but nothing really suited my style, so I decided to create my own. Think about how great these are going to look lining your shelves! For full instructions head on over to the newnew blog where I have posted full diagrams and a simple How-to.

record