psst...my new blog is hosting a contest

Love the pandacub (now known as frolic) flaunt bobby pins and rings? They're my most popular collection in the shop.

Well, I'm giving away a set of the flaunt bobby pins and a matching ring in your choice of colour in my November weekly giveaway (which means there are lots of other goodies being given away all month!) on my new blog. Go check it out now!

new name, new shop, new blog!

Ok, I know I haven't been blogging for a LONG time, so I'm hoping to start anew and catch up on everything soon.

But first, some exciting news - pandacub has a new name and a new blog! After a lot of deliberation, I've decided to change my Etsy shop name from pandacub to frolic. This has been a decision I've been thinking about for over half a year, so it's finally taking shape.

I did want to keep my old blog posts active, so instead of closing down this blog completely, I'm keeping it open and starting a new one to match my new shop look.

I would love it if you joined me over on my new blog! You can find it at blogfrolic.blogspot.com.

I'll be launching lots of exciting new things to celebrate the new name of the shop, including a new e-newsletter, lots of contests and special discounts and other fun goodies, so head over to the new blog to stay up-to-date!

See you soon!

refocusing my blog

When I first started this blog, it was basically to talk about my Etsy shop and feature some of the things that I was making to sell, but as the blog evolved, I found that I wanted to talk more about other things outside of my Etsy work.

So I'm going to re-focus this blog in the next couple of weeks to reflect more of the personal nature of it. I'll still talk about my Etsy shop once in a while, but it will be only part of what I blog about. I hope you'll keep reading as you get to know a little bit more about me and I hope to get to know you as well!

Stephanie

and there goes march!

*sigh* So much for my resolution to blog more often! I've been so bad about keeping this blog up to date lately. I guess with work and trying to keep my life balanced, I'm trying to spend less time in front of the computer when I get home since I stare at one all day at work.

I'm definitely looking forward to the warmer months - more time to get out and do stuff and take some great photos!

I just wish the spring weather would get here! I'm feeling a little depressed because we're in the midst of a big snowfall and it seems like winter will never go away!

hair combs winging their way to milwaukee

A couple of weeks ago I finished a huge batch of pandacub hair combs and sent them all off to Sparrow Collective in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I loved the way they came out - and I'm hoping to make another batch soon.

Currently, Sparrow Collective is the only place that you can purchase my haircombs, but if there's enough interest, I may start to offer them in my Etsy shop soon.

deja vu...

My hubby and me were looking forward to watching this year's Heritage Classic. The 2011 NHL Heritage Classic was a scheduled outdoor regular season NHL game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames, played in Calgary this past Sunday.

But it was the Flames' jerseys that really caught my attention.

The Flames jerseys were made especially for the event and was a replica of the jerseys worn by the Calgary Tigers of the 1920s with the Flaming C in place of their logo. But beyond their cool retro look, their jerseys made me automatically think of something else...

Hello Harry Potter and the Gryffindor Quidditch team....

For the record, the Gryffindor lions, I mean, the Calgary Flames, won 4-0 over the Montreal Canadiens. :)

discovering tea: uji no tsuyu green tea with roasted rice

brand: uji no tsuyu

tea type: green tea with roasted rice

brew method: teabag

loose leaf, teabag or other: teabag

colour of brewed tea: light reddish brown

My sister recently dropped off several of these tea bags for me to try out and I was intrigued because of the "roasted rice" mention on the tea bag. It's something I've never seen on tea before, so it would be something totally new for me.

The tea steeps into a nice light brown colour within a few minutes and has a pretty strong aroma, which wasn't typical of green tea. I think it was the roasted rice. It was pretty strong - not sweet or fragrant...almost like a burnt rice smell.

I don't know if the smell turned me off but I didn't enjoy this tea at all. It had a weird taste that I can't really place, but not something I've ever had with the green teas I've tried before.

I left my cup on the coffee table and my husband caught a whiff of the tea and told me that it smelled "horrible" - this coming from another green tea fan. So, I guess this is tea is definitely in the "never again" pile for us!

hi february!

Wow, I can't believe it's already mid-February! I have been very remiss with my blogging for the fast few weeks and I've been feeling awfully guilty.

However, I have had a really busy time at work, plus our furnace broke down so we didn't have heat or hot water for several days (brrrrr!).

Anyhow, I'm hoping to catch up on my blogging now that things are a little more settled.

In the meantime, check out the fun groceries my hubby picked up recently! It's like we're back in my childhood!

discovering tea: tea oh Sencha Ceremony green tea

brand: tea oh

tea type: Sencha Ceremony green tea

brew method: glass teapot with infuser

loose leaf, teabag or other: loose leaf

colour of brewed tea: medium green/brown

I recently got a great deal for tea at Tea Oh, an online tea retailer based here in Ontario, so I ordered a bunch of different loose leaf teas. I had wanted to start brewing more green teas using loose leaf, but it's hard to give up the convenience of teabags!

I haven't tried any of them yet, so I'm going to start brewing them up soon. The first on the list is this green tea, which was amazing!


The tea is a little more orange in colour than I had expected from a green tea but it's very clear and light.

I steeped the tea for about 5 minutes in my cute little single-serving teapot with built-in ceramic infuser. The tea has a lovely jasmine tea smell to it that was very promising. The tea is light in taste and doesn't leave any after taste or tartness on the tongue. It's one of the lighter green teas that I've tried and I really like it. It's definitely a tea that I could drink every day without getting tired of it.

hair combs at sparrow collective

A few months ago I created a new line of hair combs for my pandacub accessory line.

They came out really cute and adorable and then I shipped the whole batch to the lovely gals at Sparrow Collective in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Yes, that's right. Sparrow Collective is the only place on the planet that you can buy pandacub hair combs! :)


I had taken photos of the hair combs before I shipped them off, but for some reason, I can't find the photos anywhere, but luckily, Sparrow Collective posted some of them on their Facebook page.

Enjoy!

discovering tea: tassimo twinings green tea

brand: twinings

tea type: green tea

brew method: tassimo system

colour of brewed tea: medium green/brown

I was surprised at how dark the Twinings green tea came out of the Tassimo system, but since it's brewed using their "bar code" system I knew that the proper amount of water was being used.

This tea has a medium-strong green tea flavour, with no bitterness or tartness. It's relatively smooth, with no "tannic" leaf aftertaste nor is there a change to the flavour on the tongue. It's unassuming, mild and is a great "quick" green tea.

This is also an ideal green tea for those that aren't used to drinking green tea and want to try it out. To me, it's about average in everything and so there won't be any extra taste surprises to the new green tea drinker.

For those that drink green tea quite often and prefer something more suited to their own developed tastes, this tea will be a little boring, but it's the only green tea current in the Tassimo line-up, so it's a good T-disc to have handy.

ugh...

*sigh* Funny, I don't feel a year wiser...!

So, today is my birthday and I'm feeling kind of down. I'm crossing the line from "low 30s" to "mid 30s" and I feel like my life is still in limbo. Part of the time, I'm still asking myself, "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

Ok, ok, focus on the positive - it's just another day, right? And it's the start of a new year, so lots of new adventures and memories to come and I'm adamant that this year is going to be full of fun and good times!

Time to blow out the candles and make a wish! :)

photo a day aka project365

I never realized how hard it was for me to actually take a new photo a day. I guess it's because almost all of my days are the same, basic routine - wake up, go to work, sit at my desk, go home, make dinner, relax with hubby and then go to bed. Not the most exciting schedule, I know.

But, on the other hand, it's really challenging my creativity since I have to come up with a semi-interesting photo every day - and it hasn't even been a month yet! :)

Anyhow, I've updated my Flickr account, sc_wanderlust, with my first batch of daily photos, including a little commentary on each shot.

Would love to see some of your comments on my photos! And don't forget to add me as a Flick contact so I can take a look at your photos as well!

the great tea discovery

Lately, I've been trying to shift my daily caffeine intake from coffee to tea, with a focus on green teas.

There are a lot of claimed health benefits to drinking tea, and I love the taste of good green tea (we drank a lot of it when we were in Tokyo a few months ago!). So I've stocked up on several types of tea, both bagged and loose leaf, and I'm going to be trying them all and trying to find some favourites.

As I embark on this little journey of Tea Discovery, I'll share my thoughts on each type of tea with you. I'd also love to hear about any teas that you really love so that I can give them a try as well!

A little basic information about Tea (a lot of this information is from Wikipedia):

Tea can refer to:

- the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of various cultivars and sub-varieties of the Camellia sinensis plant, processed and cured using various methods

- the aromatic beverage prepared from the cured leaves by combination with hot or boiling water

- the common name for the Camellia sinensis plant itself

When I talk about tea, I'll probably mostly be referring to the drink.

After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world.

There are at least 6 varieties of tea: white, yellow, green, oolong, black, and post-fermented teas. The ones most commonly found on the market are white, green, oolong, and black.

The term "herbal tea" usually refers to an infusion or tisane of leaves, flowers, fruit, herbs or other plant material that contains no Camellia sinensis.

The health benfits of tea have been examined ever since the first infusions of Camellia sinensis about 4,700 years ago in China. Possible beneficial health effects of tea consumption have been suggested and supported by some studies, but others have found no beneficial effects. The vast majority of studies have been of green tea; however, some studies have been made of the other types of tea derived from Camellia sinensis, such as white, oolong, and black tea. Green tea has been claimed to be helpful for atherosclerosis, LDL cholesterol, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, liver disease, weight loss, neurodegenerative diseases, and even halitosis.

Whether or not green tea does or doesn't have the benefits these medical studies claim, I still want to drink more of it, and hope you'll find my trials interesting and informative! If you want to check out all the different teas I've tried, just click on the Category "discovering teas" at the end of this post, or in the Category list on the right hand side-bar.