Nut Bar Cookies

I've been making these cookies for about a year. My friend Christine gave me the recipe and it is ridiculously simple. She was going gluten free and these cookies satisfied the need that she often felt for traditional cookies. Me? I just think they're delicious and have no plans to go gluten free.

Nut Bar Cookies

2 cups almond meal/flour *
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg

Mix all of the above in a bowl until well combined. It will seem like 1 egg is not enough "wet" to incorporate all the "dry", but just keep mixing. It will happen.

Press into a very well greased 11 x 7 pan. If you don't have that size pan, you can use a square pan. It may take a few more minutes to cook.

Bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes. At this point, you need to carefully cut the bars into the size desired. But be very careful to NOT try to remove the bars from the pan. That can only be done after it is completely cool.

Fresh from the oven and cut into small squares.

Cut and ready to be eaten!

Almond flour or almond meal is readily available, usually in the health food section of your grocery store. I often make this recipe with other nut flours. The cookies in these photos were made with a combination of hazelnut flour and pistachio flour, hence the green tint.

I found a great source for these alternative flours at nuts.com I've purchased yummy pecan meal in addition to the almond, hazelnut and pistachio. I find that I prefer the cookies with one type of flour, as opposed to combining as I did in this particular batch. While you're shopping there, have a look at their dried fruits too.

Oak Leaf and Acorns

Recently listed in my etsy shop, this necklace is one-of-a-kind. I drew an oak leaf outline on copper sheet, sawed it out, textured it with a leaf pattern and oxidized it to highlight the pattern. The center rib is oxidized brass that I riveted (with handmade rivets) to the leaf. It looked a bit lonely, so I added some brass acorns dangling alongside.

The leaf is fairly large, so it needed a long chain for visual balance. You can see some more photos of it here.

Working By the Batch

Today started out slow and I was sure I would get very little done. With Rick out of town (he reached California safely yesterday), Jet has been very needy and I've been indulging him. By this afternoon, we had just about enough of each other and I got serious about making some necklaces.

This collection of pendants were all made within a few hours -- I was on a roll! I always make the pendant part of the necklace in batches like this. Once I'm in Wrapping Mode, I figure I better just keep going. Tomorrow I will make the chains and add any other embellishments. That part isn't nearly as fun as working with the stones, so I'll probably procrastinate a bit. And I'll blame Jet for that.

In no particular order: bronzite, rutilated quartz with chrysoprase (also with peridot, ruby & kyanite), huge ruby, a couple of whiskey quartzes, hypersthene, garnet with labradorite,London blue topaz with turquoise, ruby in zoisite with an emerald rondelle, 2 moonstones with Botswana agate, prehnite/chrome diopside/tourmaline trio and prehnite/tourmaline/moss aquamarine trio.

If any of these combos appeal to you. let me know and I'll make the necklace especially for you! Just tell me which one and what length! If you click on the photo, you'll get to see it enlarged.

As a treat, here's JetMan in the snow. He had a haircut last week and looks like a totally different dog!

 

Etching Some Metals

In preparation of making some layered mixed metal pendants, I decided to etch some metal. I have sheets of copper and brass that are perfect for large images that can be cut up into smaller pieces later.

This is the set-up I purchased from Volcano Arts a couple of years ago. Previously, I used a small container. This larger vessel allows me to etch much larger pieces of metal. Click HERE to go directly to the etching page on Christine's website.

The "tank" contains ferric chloride, which is used to etch copper, brass and nickel. The gizmo attached to it is like a fish tank bubble unit. Aerating the etchant gives a more even and result to the etching process and it speeds the whole thing up. It can take anywhere from 1 - 2 hours. The plain container method can take 5-6 hours.

Because I'm working in my kitchen and ferric chloride stains everything it touches, I but the whole set-up on a plastic lunch tray over newspaper -- just in case something splatters or I drop a piece. Don't ask.

This is a sheet of brass on which I used a rubber stamp and solvent ink (specifically for non-porous surfaces). The stamp has very fine lines and I was hoping I would get a good etch.

And I did!

This is a very detailed rubber stamp image that turned out better than I could have hoped. There are lots of little elements that I can saw out and use on the pendants.

Here is another great image on another piece of copper, also with lots of usable elements.

I also etched some small pre-cut copper shapes for earrings. You may recognize the shape from this post on enameling.

I've neutralized the etchant with a baking soda & water slurry and removed some of the residual etchant with denatured alcohol. I still need to polish it to prepare it for a liver of sulfur patina.

Yes, etching metal is a long process with many steps, but the results can be so wonderful. They help make your work unique, especially if you draw your own patterns onto the metal. Other things (besides Stazon ink) that work as an etch-resist are sharpie marker, nail polish, press-on letters, rubber cement.

Feel free to ask questions!

Almost Spring Sale!

It's time for some spring cleaning, don't you think? How about 25% off your entire order? Sounds good to me!

Use coupon code SPRING to get that discount on everything in my etsy shop!

Be sure to check out my newest pair of earrings. They feature beautiful golden rutilated quartz briolettes hanging from a length of chain. From each link of that chain, I added alternating dangles of crystal quartz and small gold filled beads. Click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

Happy shopping!!

Experimenting with Enamels

After learning how to enamel using a torch just about a year ago, I've done mostly conventional things with the enamels. I started another conventional enameling session a few days ago and quickly got bored. Time for experiments!

This is how it started. I love this long shape, but it's tricky because it doesn't fit well on the trivets that are required to hold the pieces in place. As a result, I had to do a third coat and that's when the black spots appeared. They give the earrings a rustic look, but that was not my original intent.

 
Next up were these circles that I cut using two different sized circle cutters. Nice, but not so exciting. Love the colors I selected though! I still have the tiny circles that were cut from the center and I'm trying to decide what to do with them. 

On these next pieces, I enameled with a solid color and then sprinkled on a contrasting color.

I also experimented with counter enamels. I discovered that black works best for me, as it does not discolor when firing the top color. The flame is applied from below and most lighter colors will show some sort of effect from that. While black works, it's also a bit boring, so I did this next on the backs of a few pieces. I brushed Klyr-Fire (holding agent) on a tiny rubber stamp, stamped it on the copper, dusted it with black enamel, then covered the entire piece with clear. Then I fired it. I think a second firing with another coat of clear would have been a good idea, but I did not do that. Next time.

The last experiment was with two shades of brown enamel and some seed beads. A small Post-It note helped me get a clean line between the two colors (3 separate firings). The seed beads were placed during the third firing and I wasn't sure that they were secure enough. So, I followed with a coat of clear, sprinkled over the entire surface, included the beads. I really like the effect. Or maybe I like that they remind me of Hostess cupcakes!