Dot’s Mom’s Blueberry Pie:

Ingredients
Pastry for top & bottom of 9 in pie *
4 c fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen ones from my parents haul this summer)
3/4 c sugar
3 Tbs flour
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind (doh! no fresh lemons on hand today, so I left out)
dash salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs butter
*Although it’s certainly not that hard to make your own piecrust pastry, I cheated here and used the all-ready type rolled pastry you can find in the refrigerated section of your grocery store, near the cookie dough rolls and biscuit dough tubes.

(row 1)Combine sugar,flour, spices and peel in a large bowl
Toss with blueberries
Line 9″ pie pan with pastry.
Pour blueberry mixture into shell
(row 2)Sprinkle with Lemon Juice, Dot with butter.
Top with top crust**
Crimp crust edges together, squeezing with your fingers.
(row 3)To avoid too brown crust edges, use aluminum foil to make little strips to cover the edges of the pie. (Unless you have a pie crust shield like this or this)
Sprinkle with xtra sugar and cinnamon.
(row 4)Bake 375 for 35-40 minutes (reduce heat if needed to keep crust from over browning)
Pie is done with nicely tan on top, and blueberry juice is oozing through the holes in the top. Mine took about 15 min longer than the recommendation above.

**For my top crust I used a handy cheat – a Lattice Pie Top Cutter –basically a giant cookie cutter that gives the appearance of a lattice crust. You can do anything you want here (if you use a solid sheet, be sure to prick the top of the pie), including making a ‘real’ lattice top, or using cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

If you click through to flickr, the picture above contains notes explaining all the steps – a one stop recipe!

Several people asked where to get the lattice top maker: You can get a Fox Run Lattice Pie Top Cutter HERE!

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Recent

• Illustration Friday – “Poise”
• Tumblr as a Portfolio platform
• Illustration “Tuesday” – Subtract
• New Dabbled Buttons

This doll dancer was a creation from a while back–she was a character in a book I was collaborating on–so I decided to reinterpret her in watercolor. I think she shows great poise!

2-28-2011: Hi!  Although these instructions are, as far as I know, still quite valid, you may want to read this first.

As promised here’s a little info about making an art or photography portfolio using the free Tumblr blogging platform, like nancydorsner.com.

If you haven’t been following along, I set out on a quest to figure out how to use a blogging platform to create a portfolio site. (My first attempts were in Blogger, and you can view the write up here and see an example here.)

The idea was that “blogging” is easy, website design is not. Many creative types do not want to worry about keeping a portfolio site updated, and it’s easy for their sites to become out of date. Also, for struggling artists or photographers out there, they can get their feet wet with a portfolio site that doesn’t have any upfront or recurring cost to it.

Blogger had some limitations however, and while it was easy IF you already knew Blogger, it wasn’t as easy as I’d have liked.

Enter Tumblr.
Tumblelogs are incredibly easy to update. The Share on Tumblr bookmarklet added to your toolbar makes creating a new picture based post off a webpage almost effortless. Uploading a picture from your harddrive is also easy. For a portfolio site, these are key.

The one major con I have with Tumblr is it’s a relatively immature platform. It’s not got a huge feature set, and there are some buggy and awkward things. But I mostly encountered those in the customization of my blog, not in the actual post creation.

So, how to create your own:

First, create a Tumblelog. Takes 5 seconds.

Then from your dashboard, click Customize, then Info to setyour Title, Description (just make something up for now, its for testing purposes), and URL. You can either leave the address as yourname.tumblr.com or buy a domain (like $10 at Godaddy.com).

Also, grab the Share on Tumblr bookmarklet – it’s useful.

Now, don’t worry about format yet, just create some test content of pictures you want in your portfolio.
If you’re not already familiar with Tumblr, read this…
-If you already have pictures on flickr or somewhere similar, you can easily just go to the webpages and click your new bookmarklet button. In the window that pops up you’ll click Photo, then pick your picture. Caption it (replacing the current text/link). Click Advanced to tag it. I used the tags to create my categories.
-If you don’t have your work already online, just create a Photo post from your dashboard. Same process, just upload the file.

Also create a test Text post. (I use the Text post for my menus, and my About box)

Once you have a good number (say 10) of posts, you can now play around with the theme.

Your tumblelog’s look is determined by it’s theme. There are some interesting theme templates already out there. If one of these is to your liking, just snag it and go!

Check out these themes below, and install them each in turn on your tumblelog to see if they work for you.

First, check out the several different versions at hasaportfolio.com. There are several example sites at the bottom of the page, I love this one. I love the way this theme opens up the pictures on top of the page. Great for usability. He’ll also provide you a free URL – yourname.hasaportfolio.com which is pretty neat. (Free, but it’s nice to Donate if you use it)
This is easily the simplest and most usable of the lot.

I based mine off of this one: Beauty by Milo317 (Go here, and scroll or search for Beauty). But I made a bunch of changes to it to fit my needs.

Other cool ones for a portfolio:
Photoboard by Ben Delaney
Museum Theme by paulgiacherio
(Instructions to install at links)

You now have the basics for a portfolio. You’ll want to tweak it so it has your contact info, and whatever else you want.
If you’re comfortable with it, don’t be afraid to customize the theme (click Customize on your dashboard, and many themes let you easily set colors). Tumblr has instructions.

Also set up the Advanced tab (# of posts per page, etc). It’s pretty self explanatory.

Note: If you want to customize your site past the free templates I’ve given you, and you don’t have even a very basic understanding (or want to learn) CSS/HTML, you’ll probably want to hire someone to get the initial set up for you. That will require an upfront cost, but you won’t have any recurring cost since you have a free platform.

Some things I specifically did on mine:
– I used tags to categorize the Photo Posts, to create my menus (like robots, watercolors, etc) and just linked them with a regular href link: http://dorsner.tumblr.com/tagged/robots
– I used “Text” Posts for an About page, menu pages, etc. Some themes i linked to above don’t display text boxes, so if your theme doesn’t, you’d need to put your menu (if you want one) in the Description, or elsewhere on the page. Same for contact info, etc.
– I used an image for the background. A pretty easy theme tweak. If there is already an background image, just replace it with a URL to yours.
– Items display in the order of post date, so to change the order I manually changed the date of the post.
– Changed the links on the menu bars to more appropriate links (an easy fix with basic html knowledge)
– and a bunch of other more complex stuff! ..hence my Note above!

Once you’re happy with your site layout, just add content!

I hope this was helpful, or at least interesting. I do like tumblr as a blogging platform as well. In fact, you can visit my tumblr link blog HERE–it’s mostly random cool stuff I find (some of which ends up on Dabbled) and also my twitter tweets.

Recent Stuff you might have Missed:

• New Dabbled Buttons
• New Art Site in Beta! Feedback needed.
• Tutorial: How to Make a Fabric Basket, perfect for Easter!
• More Robot Art, and previews of coming attractions!

Grab the RSS Feed!

Oh, and I created a Facebook page for Dabbled. So if you’re a Facebooker, go become a Fan! You can share your cool crafty links, post photos, whatever! If you’re REALLY into Facebook, I could use an admin for the page, too. Let me know if you want to volunteer!

Some background:
A while back I wrote about my quest to create an Art Portfolio website using Blogger (or any blog based engine). The idea was that didn’t look like a blog, but would be as easy to update as a blog, since most creative types don’t want to spend a lot of time keeping a website up to date.
Here are a couple of the sites I created using Blogger
-My old art portfolio site: http://dorsner.blogspot.com/
-A friend’s photography portfolio site: Grieg Wehr Photography

Several people wrote to me that they really enjoyed using my tutorial–and I’m really glad to have helped!

Well, not content to rest on my laurels, I’ve created version 3.0 of my art portfolio site: nancydorsner.com

This is created in another blogging platform, Tumblr, and I think it’s even more well suited for something like this.

I’ll write up a more detailed post about how to create a portfolio site similar to this, and some other ideas I found while exploring the tumblr platform, later this week. EDIT : Here’s the WRITEUP

So, I would really love some feedback on the new site. Usability, art choices, and so forth. Hope you like it! Feel free to leave feedback here, or email me at nancy [at] dabbled.org

Related:
How to Use Tumblr as a Portfolio site
An exercise in using Blogger to create an art portfolio site
Some details on how to create the art/photog site using blogger
Version 2 of the art site

My friend Heidi Bragg gave The Boy an adorable basket filled with goodies as a thank you for borrowing his tux. I found out that she actually made this gorgeously cute basket herself, and insisted that she tell us how! She did, and even provided a pattern for you to make your own! Check out the so cute monkey and banana coordinated fabric… the possibilities are endless. Wouldn’t this be special for a keepsake easter basket? Or a gift basket for a friend?

I’ve updated the photo at the top of this post to include a couple of the baskets that Dabbled readers (Gina Allen & Justine Wilson)  have made, using these instructions.  Really nice job, guys!

Welcome CRAFT, Tip Junkie, and Whip-up readers…
Look around, we have lots of cool projects here!

More pics and the pattern below the instructions.

Materials for basket:
½ yard of fabric (¼ for the outer basket shell; ¼ for the liner)
1 yard Pellon, double-sided fusible interfacing – you can make 2-3 baskets from a single yard of interfacing, but since you need the length for the basket handle, you need at least 1 yard even if you only plan to make one basket.
Iron on backing (WunderUnder) for letters
Contrasting fabric for letters

Step 1: First things first, you’ll want to design your basket or download the pattern I created. The basket I designed is a tapered square design, but you could easily create a rounded basket with just a few modifications.

Step 2: Cut out the pieces as shown in pattern from both the outer shell fabric and liner fabric. You’ll also want to cut out a 2.5” wide x 25” long piece from each fabric for the handle.

Step 3: Trace the interfacing pattern pieces onto the Pellon. You’ll also want to measure out (2)1.25” wide x 26” long pieces of interfacing for the handle. Cut out all the pieces.

Step 4: Iron each piece of fabric to remove wrinkles. Fuse the Pellon onto the outer shell fabric (follow the directions on the interfacing to do this), leaving about a ¼” of excess fabric around the edges (the basket side pieces will have additional excess at the top).

Step 5: Sew the outer shell together keeping the needle of the machine as close to the interfacing as possible. I found it easiest to sew all the sides together and then attach the bottom of the basket. The basket should now be formed – simply turn it right side out (this might seem a bit difficult to manage with the stiff interfacing, but don’t give up. Any wrinkles that appear can be ironed out later.) Iron the top edge of the basket down over the back of the interfacing.

Step 6: Sew the liner together – sides first and then attach the bottom. Insert the liner into the outer shell and fold the top down so that it is even with the outer shell. Iron into place, following the directions on the Pellon to complete the fusing process.

Step 8: Follow the Pellon directions to fuse your handle fabric onto each piece of your handle interfacing, wrapping the fabric around the interfacing so that the raw edges meet. Sew the wrong sides of the handles together.

Step 9: Attach the handles to the basket by sewing them onto the interfaced-lined outer shell. Ideally, the handle should rest at least 1.5 inches below the top of the basket on each side.

Step 10: Stitch the liner to the outer shell using a decorative stitch. Or if you prefer, you can use sewing glue to close the seam.

Lettering:
Follow the directions provided here to add lettering to your basket. I choose not to outline my letters with stitching and therefore applied them after the basket was complete. If you prefer to edge stitch your letters, you will need to do this before you fuse the fabric to the Pellon or stitch the basket pieces together.

–My friend Heidi’s tutorial and pattern to make a cute fabric basket.
-Making Sushi… Me and The Boy!
-Finally, a write up on the Limoncello

For today, another robot watercolor. This one is Very Blue. (For some reason, my scanner is making these look really red. Odd. — the bricks are much more muted in the original!) And below that, you can see The Boy’s robot he painted!

Per D, this is Robotcha, a ‘one eyed robot with pokers, who floats like Eve [ed- from Wall-e] and bounces.’

I like it!

1. Lego Cake, 2. This is a steak cake!!!!, 3. Bikini Beach Bear Cupcakes, 4. Frankenstein’s monster heads, 5. Sushi Cake II, 6. Chicken Cupcakes, 7. Reuben-sandwich-cake-1, 8. spaghetti cupcakes, 9. HamburgerCupcakes

Do you have a cool sweet treat you’ve created that fits the theme? Leave a comment with a link!
If your work is featured here, be sure to grab a Featured on Dabbled Button!

Related:
Faux Food flickr roundup (looks edible, but isn’t!)
Upcycled Cool Craft Ideas flickr roundup
Cephalopod flickr roundup

So this was supposed to be my IF for “Intricate”, but I suppose it’s I could stretch it to make it a second “Legendary” (previous). Since it’s my world, I get to make up the legends, right?