Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Hurray for new candles!

 I am so pleased to introduce three new candles recently added to our Tattooedgeek Soy Candle line.


The first one up is Sun Kissed Sugar. 
Sun Kissed Sugar is a warm and sweet candle with wonderfully  fruity undertones.


Next up is Snake Bite!
Snake Bite is a vibrant and clean scented candle with deep Asian herbs and earthy amber undertones.  Snake Bite also features a beautiful violet color.



In the past Valentines Day has provided lots of inspiration for some of our best selling candles. Candles  like our Red Velvet Cupcake candle and our True Love Strawberries and Champagne candle.  With this years Valentines Day fast approaching I knew the shop needed a new candle inspired by Cupids special day.  Now you can get a typical lovey dovey candle just about anywhere, but where else can you find a Zombie Love candle.  http://www.mrstattooedgeek.etsy.com/, that's where!


 And my favorite, Zombie Love
This Valentines Day show somebody how much you love them with our Zombie Love candle.  Zombie Love is a truly unique candle, buried deep in a green grave dirt scented bed lies a sweet pink calla lily scented brain.   Perfect for the Zombie lover in your life!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

What do the Vegan de Guadalupe, Frankenstein and his bride all have in common?

The walls here have had their awesomeness dramatically increased by a couple of new prints  recently snagged off  Etsy.

Vegan de Guadalupe
(patron saint of vegan kitchens)
Our kitchen needed a patron saint and so does yours!  You can get your own over at http://www.vivalacraft.etsy.com/.  Be sure to check out all of  the other adorable unique prints available at Viva La Craft.


I first fell in love with the Vegan de Guadalupe when on saw her on the Vegan de Guadalupe Cookzine for sale at http://www.hortencia.etsy.com/. I bought this super cute vegan cookzine last year.  It's full of great Mexican recipes.


Last but definitely  not least are the excellent prints we picked up from Point Blank Art & Design.  The prints arrived in about 4 days, and came with lots of extras.  There are dozens of great  prints available. I've got my eye on Point Blanks Christopher Lee's Dracula.  http://www.pointblankdesign.etsy.com/. We will be back there for more!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Even though I'm busy working on some really fun Valentines Day products I'm still having trouble saying good bye to the ones I designed this past Christmas.  November and December the Tattooedgeek family was hit with a steamroller of a flu.  The germ incubator that is our second grader brought it home.  And with stealth precision it effectively knocked all 7 of us for a loop.  Being sick during a candle & gift company's busiest time of the year really sucked!  The flu robbed me of the opportunity to properly promote the candles I had designed for the '09 Holiday Season. Two designs never even made it to production.  In the interest of closure I am  finally saying goodbye to my holiday friends.  It is time to move on.  I must pack you all into boxes and shove your images into the dusty back corners of my hard drive.



So long my lovelies you were fun to work with!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Peachy Keen

  Allow me to introduce little Miss Peachy Keen.

This retro inspired doll  made her debut in the shop last night. I just love her, don't you!
Peachy Keen is our first new candle for 2010.  Not only is she a new scent ~ she's also the first to be listed in one of our newest tin sizes.  All of our scents are now available in a small, medium and a soon to come double wicked large 8oz tin.  The small is the same 2oz we've been using for the last several years.  Our new medium size is a much larger wider tin.  While it holds the same amount of wax as the 6oz tins we've used in the past, it allows for a bigger label and a much larger image.  You'll get the same amount of candle as before only our original  label art will be bigger, brighter and better.
 
There's a few more newbies waiting to make their debut as well.  Check back often ~ you won't be disappointed!
 

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Good Bye 2009, Hello 2010!



Christmas is over and the New Year has thankfully begun. This Christmas was a crazy one for Tattooedgeek. We were still taking & shipping Christmas orders on the 24th! Once our last trip to the post office for the 2009 Holiday season was completed we pushed aside all of the Tattooedgeek candles, balms and ornaments.  We realized Christmas Eve was here and we had no idea what to make for dinner. I really wanted to try the recipe for Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I decided to let the cookies set the tone for our Christmas Eve dinner.  We had a Mexican Fiesta.
 
I LOVED the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles. The recipe was super easy to follow and made the most moist, delicious, chocolaty vegan cookies I've made yet. The cayenne in the recipe gave the cookies just a little bit of a kick. Unfortunately the rest of the family didn't share my love for Mexican Chocolate cookies. Our youngest didn't want me to put any out for Santa. He was afraid Santa would burn his tongue and not leave any presents.  I baked a quick batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies using the Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe. I used ground flax seeds mixed with vanilla almond milk to replace the eggs the recipe called for, and I used Earth Balance for the butter.  I replaced the raisins with vegan chocolate chips. Everybody eat the Oatmeal Cookies and left me the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles. Everybody except Santa Claus, he eat all of cookies we left out for him even the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles (it seems he didn't mind a tingling tongue after all.)

For Christmas Eve dinner we made Black Bean Soup, Creamy Avocado Potato salad (from Vegan Brunch), Seitan Taquitos and Jalapeño Hush Puppies with a creamy dipping sauce.

For the Jalapeño Hush Puppy Dipping sauce I blended 2 cups of Vegenaise with 1 cup salsa and a couple of dashes of hot sauce. The sauce was cool, creamy, tangy and delicious!  The kids dipped french fries in it and used it on veggie burgers the next day. 

  For the Christmas Day festivities we veganized some of our traditional Italian favorites. Stuffed Red Peppers, Sicilian Rice Balls, and Spaghetti w/Marinara sauce. I think everybody agreed, the veganized winner of the day were the Sicilian Rice Balls.

The key to good Italian rice balls is the rice itself, always use Arborio rice.  Make it ahead of time so it's completely cooled when you're ready to use it.

 With 2010 already here I'm looking forward to great year of vegan food and cruelty free crafty fun.  I'll be posting lots of new Tattooedgeek products, so please check back often.  Or check the shop:  http://www.mrstattooedgeek.etsy.com/