Take a look at the new pages!

I'm so excited to be able to offer my work in newsletters, handcrafted photo albums, and custom Prezis! You can find samples of my work and my contact information under the page links at the top of this blog, or click below:

Handmade Photo Albums
Personalized Newsletters
Custom Prezis

I have some exciting projects underway and I can't wait to share them with you!

Pizza Night: Recipes

Who says you can't have a pizza and movie night in the middle of the week?  With everything made from scratch, this pizza is a healthier version; one you can feel good about on a Wednesday.

Pizza Dough Recipe
Mix together 5 cups flour, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.  Mix 1 3/4 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon yeast and mix into other ingredients.  Let rise at least 2 hours.  Divide in half and roll out two crusts.  Bake at 500* for about 4 minutes, until dough is just baked.  Put sauce, cheese, and toppings on.  Return to oven for 10 minutes.  (Yield: 2 Crusts)

Pizza Sauce Recipe
Combine 6 ounces tomato paste, 8 ounces tomato sauce, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon basil, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  (Yield: Sauce for 1 Crust)

Paper Crafting: Wedding Scrapbook

One of my favorite pastimes is paper crafting.  Mostly that means making cards and home decor, but occasionally I venture into scrapbooking.  For our wedding pictures I wanted something more personal than just an album printed by an online company (although I think those are really neat too); I wanted it to be more special and meaningful.  I wanted to put as much of our personality into a picture book as I could.  So out came the mountain of craft supplies.

A lot of the little touches that I put on each page are handmade.  But some of the sweet little extras I picked up at Hobby Lobby, along with the paper.  I love Hobby Lobby; you might say I'm addicted.  And the great thing about it is that if it's not on sale this week, it probably will be next week.  I got most everything at about 50% off.  A way to save money and tie the whole album together is to pick out just a couple extras (such as stickers) and then spread them across several pages. 

Our beautiful wedding pictures were taken by Evangeline Renee.  As you can tell from the sub-par pictures below, I'm still learning to use my camera...

Supper at the Beach House

We're at the beach this week. We're a sand and water and sunshine kind of family.

 

The dining room table at our beach house was calling my name, so I dug through the kitchen cabinets and found various pieces to pull together to make a table setting.  There were several small things (like ribbon and candles and flowers) that I'd wished I'd had.  Giving in to ho-hum would have said that it wasn't going to be just right, so it wasn't going to happen at all.  But truly enjoying life and loving where you are doesn't wait for situations to be perfect.  The fun thing about beauty is that you can create it wherever you are.

Random, whimsical, mismatched pieces can become delightful when put together.  Number one rule: USE and LOVE what you have.  Approach things you already have with a different perspective and appreciate the beauty that is already there.

Initial Inspiration

When I was young I used to spend hours reading and taking in the pictures in decorating books and magazines.  It became an obsession.

For as long as I can remember, I've been enthralled by the holidays and the magical atmosphere one could create around them.  But the more I grew and the older I got, the more I realized that it's not just the holidays that can be enjoyed in that overly-delightful, warm-fuzzy-feeling sense.  If we have the right attitude and perspective on life, every day life becomes just as wonderfully sweet and beautiful and enjoyable. 

I still really like the holidays.  I like throwing parties.  I like making crafts.  I love beautiful things.  And I really, really love my everyday life.  This blog is to inspire others to create an atmosphere and get past the "ho-hum" perspective on the delightfulness of everyday life.