halloween

Halloween 1986 with 2 of my sisters (my 3rd sister hadn't been born yet!)- I was a magenta crayon. My most fave memory of getting dressed up to go trick-or-treating. My awesome mama made us Crayola Crayon costumes from poster board. Are these not the best-est costumes. Ever. :) It was a tad bit hard to walk, or sit in the car (she would drive us around because our neighborhood was so big). We all still laugh about it :) What a treasure of a memory. 

working on.

Working on a bunch of Christmas Confetti Windows right now :) Lots of these heading out of the shop next week along with Tis the Season: Holiday Journal Kits. Thank you so much for your orders and support. I currently have a couple Kits left in the shop and have decided to do a few more. These will be ready late November, but will be shipped and ready for you to begin December 1 (unless you are international, in which it may take longer to get to you because of shipping). Thanks!

DIY :: Mini Envelopes

Mini Envelopes: A great way to use up paper scraps :) Inspired by this fabulous post I found via pinterest, I decided to take apart a mini envelope (2.5"x4.25") I had in my studio. I created several of these cuties and then incorporated them into a journal page and a gift wrap idea. I have created a template from the envelope I used that is available at the end of this post to save and print.

These cuties are perfect for the upcoming holiday season -- they will fit a little card or giftcard and could be made to coordinate with wrapping paper and add a fun whimsy to a present :)

As I was photographing, my sweet Joshua was loving the present and kept going for it. I love that I caught his cute little hand in this shot :)

Want to make your own mini envelopes? Right click, save and print on 8.5"x11" paper. Cut out and trace around on decorative paper, cut and adhere per the directions on the template.

giveaway winner!

Thanks to everyone who played along with the giveaway. Random.org chose #34 - Beth Walker.

Congratulations Beth! I will be emailing you shortly.

Be on the lookout for a Christmas fabric giveaway in the next several weeks. :)

Giveaway :: Fabric Fat Quarters

Happy Friday! I was at my local fabric shop the other day and they had these gorgeous fabrics by Michael Miller and Blank Quilting (four fat quarters). Sooooo, I  picked up a couple and thought I'd do a giveaway :) 

To enter: Leave a comment on this post (include your email address!). International entries welcome. One comment per person please :) I will choose a winner at random and announce on Monday, October 24. 

Have a fabulous weekend :)

New in Shop :: Black Number Tags

New in the Shop today: Black Number Tag Sets. These cute 1" tags are now available in my shop. Perfect to use in scrapbooking layouts or to add to your December Daily to document each day. These tags will also be included in Tis the Season Holiday Journal Kits.

Food: Fall Eats and Treats

I love pinterest. One of my fave boards is my "Food" board where I pin recipes :) Some fave finds that I've found recently, perfect for Fall. Fall Eats and Treats. Definitely want to make all.of.these. :)

1. Pull Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread
2. French Onion Soup
3. Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
4. Cinnamon Muffins
5. Sourdough Bread
6. Sweet and Salty Roasted Chickpeas
7. Tomato Basil Soup
8. Quiche Lorraine
9. Baked Cinnamon Breakfast Bites
10. Slow Cooker Potato Soup
11. Veggie Soup and Pizza Bread
12. Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
13. Mini Meatball Sliders with Basil Pesto
14. Banana Bread Scones
15. Scarecrow Crunch

New in Shop :: 2011 Holiday Journal Mini Album Kit

Holiday Journal Kit Pre-Orders are now available in my shop! I know, I know, it's only October, but it's good to plan ahead, right? :) 

If you are new to or thinking about documenting your holiday season, I can do nothing but highly encourage you to this year! This will be my 4th year keeping a Christmas Journal, or "December Daily". The amazingly talented and super encouraging Ali Edwards started the idea of "December Daily" - documenting each day in December leading up to Christmas. Documenting through pictures, journaling, saving momentos and such. Documenting about the daily happenings of the season - decorating, making cookies, being with friends and family. What a precious thing it is to look back each Christmas at what was happening in Christmases past! Go here to read more about the December Daily project.

These Journal Kits are perfect for documenting your Holiday Season. They are put together with carefully picked out papers, overlays, envelopes, and embellishments. Embellishments include buttons, festive ribbons and baker's twine, washi tape, vintage-inspired mini Christmas flashcards, journaling cards and more. 

Also to be included are number tags (numbers 1-31) to document each day, and a title tag that reads: Tis the Season: 2011 (Still working on these and will update with a picture this week :)).

The listings are for pre-orders, the kits will ship the first week in November.  

*EDITED 10/23/11: Thank you so much for all of the sweet comments and enthusiasm - I am SUPER excited about this year's kit and can't wait to start shipping them :) @Jenny Lynch: I have listed a bunch more Confetti Windows in the shop and will make sure to keep them in stock! :) 

Also available in my shop are Christmas Confetti Windows! If you would like one of these to go with your Journal Kit, there will be a 25% discount on the Confetti Window and it will ship free with the kit.

Food: Coconut Cake

My hubby's birthday was about a month ago. He loves, loves, loves coconut cake, so I decided to make him one. From scratch (!!!). I have not made many coconut cakes, and this one was absolutely fabulous. Very time consuming (for me), but fabulous. This recipe is by Paula Deen, so you know it has to be good :)

Sneak Peek :: Christmas Journals

I know I just shared my Autumn journal yesterday, so I feel kind of silly sharing Christmas journal kits now, but I'm so excited to share just a sneak peek :) Lots of cutting paper and putting fun paper goodness together happening in my workspace. So excited about how these are coming together- by far my fave Holiday journal I have put together :)

I have had some emails inquiring about pre-ordering - I will be listing a "Pre-Order" option in the next day or two in my shop if you are interested. I will post here when that goes live :) The journals will be ready to ship around the end of this month or early November. Thank you for your interest!

Autumn Journal: Thus Far.

Am glad to be able to share my autumn journal thus far! :) After awhile of being super busy, I was able to finish and catch up on some of the little happening around here :) I used some customized mini flashcards throughout as sort of a theme of key words. I like how it is making it feel cohesive. Some of the words I kept in their original size (1"x2.5"), and some I cut down to "fit" better on the page. Love the flexibility with using those.

This is the first time I've kept a journal of a season, and I am a fan. I love keeping a Christmas Season Journal (December Daily!). I created a spring journal awhile back for my shop, but never kept one myself. I am kind of liking the idea of keeping one for each season. Just documenting different little happenings here and there, but also creating ones for bigger events, like my vacation journal I recently completed.

Are you keeping a journal for the season? How's it coming? If you would like to start one, it's not too late! Go for it :) If you need a journal to help you get started, I have one left here. 

Don't you LOVE the vintage dictionary definition of Autumn: "the third season of the year, between summer and winter." Love this :)

Fall is Here.

Food: Rosemary Bread

I found this bread recipe via Pinterest over at Make and Takes. I was a little skeptical at first since it looked so incredibly easy to make. Wow, was I wrong. This bread is fabulous. Ok fabulous doesn't even describe it ;) Which is why there was only half of a loaf left by the time I was ready to take a picture (the other one and a half loaves had been eaten. Quickly.).  This is by far one of the easiest yeast breads I've ever made - it doesn't require kneading, just stirring all of the ingredients together and letting it rise, then forming two loaves and letting those rise, then baking. :) Simple as that. The best part is that it makes 2 loaves (from one packet of yeast!). So keep one and give one to a friend :)

Rosemary Bread - adapted slightly from Make and Takes

1 packet yeast

2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

4 cups flour

1-1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary, divided

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Combine yeast, sugar and water in a measuring cup. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and 1 tsp. fresh rosemary, whisk to combine. Add yeast and sugar mixture and stir to combine. I also used my hands at this point to make sure it was fully combined - do NOT knead.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place (I put mine on the back burner of the stove, turn the oven on to warm for 5 minutes, then turn it off) for about an hour.

Divide dough into two equal mounds (I sprinkled a little bit of flour to make the dough easier to handle-- it's super sticky) onto a greased cookie sheet. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise again in a warm place for an hour.

Combine melted butter and half a teaspoon rosemary, brush onto each loaf.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and then adjust oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 10-15 more minutes.

around here.

Around here. My hubby got back safe and sound from the Ukraine yesterday morning. Thankful to have him home. He had an amazing time. Difficult traveling with airports, connecting flights and such, but an amazing time with the people there. Am loving hearing his stories and seeing pictures from his trip. Am hoping to be able to go back with him at some point. 

My sweet little loves. These two are such a joy. And our miniature schnauzer, Biz, is hilarious. They (all 3) love to get into my paper scraps. Both Biz and Joshua like to eat paper. Haha :)

We have a crawler! Joshua started crawling yesterday afternoon. Now he won't stop. He's growing way too fast. Both he and Jimmy are. I love it and and don't love it all at the same time. :)

Lots of orders going out from the shop right now. Keeping me busy. So much so that I haven't finished my first month of my autumn journal. Hoping to do that soon :)

This is what my workspace looked like the other night. I seriously don't know how it comes to this. I am somewhat of a neatfreak, but this picture would make you think otherwise ;) I (usually) clean it up as soon as I finish whatever I'm working on. Or whenever we have people coming over. ;)

Starting to cut paper and put together Holiday Journals. So excited to have pretty much all of the pieces (still need a few embellishments!). So excited about how they are coming together. So excited to share them in the next several weeks.

Adjusting to fall pretty much being here. Adjusting to the cold nights, chilly morning, but hot afternoons. The awkward in-between-season season. The heat on at night (my babies get cold!), but windows open during the day.

Blog redesign is on the back burner for now. Mostly complete on my test blog, just not having time to load it here. At some point in the future. :)