Kitsch love

Thought I would share a couple of projects that I've made recently for Kitschy Digitals. I got to use the Wood Grain cut-out sheets and I think I'm in love with woodgrain! They are so lovely, with soft muted colors and sharp detail. The frames are available Kitschy Digitals.




I made a thankyou gift for a family friend and then found this cute Martha Stewart gift box. It's tiny!! The feather accents are also available as cut-out sheets at Kitschy Digitals.






I'm learning to love velum all over again!!! (remember how popular it was when scrapbooking first started?)


& finally a tiny canvas frame was the perfect size for altering. I love little projects!! I glued alpha. letters to the canvas and then applied thick coats of paint. I used the smallest sized frame on the cut-out sheet for this project.



I want to make a few holiday inspired tags using some of the cutout sheets and maybe some gift adornments.... oh the possibilities!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie - Recipe

A few weeks back, I made Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes for dessert. They were a huge hit in my home, particularly with the 5 yr. old crowd. One morning though, I had a craving for another one, but the guilty part of me couldn't justify ice cream for breakfast. So, I went to work looking for ingredients already in the fridge that I could use to make something healthier. A pumpkin Pie Smoothie. Here's my version and I actually measured everything too!


Ingredients
3/4 cup canned Pumpkin Pie Filling
1/4 cup Plain Yogurt
1 1/2 cups crushed ice
1/2 cup Soy Milk
1/8 cup Applesauce
1 Tbls. Sugar (I have a sweet tooth, so you may want to try a 1/2 Tbls. to start)
1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

Directions
Put the ice into the blender and crush.
Add all other ingredients and blend together.

makes 2 large servings

Apple Butter, recipe

Now that apples are in season, here is the best Apple Butter recipe, and because it's my mom's! I love having a pot of this cooking on the stove in Fall. I add apple butter to almost everything, it's especially wonderful on toast, pancakes or waffles and pumpkin bread. Hope you enjoy the recipe!!


Apple Butter

2 lbs. Rome Beauty
2 lbs. Golden Delicious
2 lbs. Newton or Granny Smith
1/2 c. apple juice or cider
1-3/4 c. sugar
1 t. lemon juice
1-1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
a pinch of ground cloves



Directions:
Wash, peel, core & slice apples.
Combine with apple juice & bring to boil on medium.
Reduce heat & cover.
Stir occasionally until apples are tender, 20-30 minutes.
Puree in blender or food processor until smooth. (I used an immersion blender)
Return to heat; add sugar, lemon juice, & spices.
Bring to boil.
Turn down to simmer and partially cover until thick, stirring occasionally.
Can in jars or freeze.

long time, no update....

ETA: I'm adding the contact info in my side bar for Fate!!

Want to see what has been keeping me from being a diligent blogger? Hopefully you said Sure!! cause I'm going to show you either way!! (I'm also likely to toot my own horn and brag a bit, tehehe :))

Meet Fate, the newest Salon & Spa in North Scottsdale.



The hard work of my husband, Peter, and his business partner Michelle this past year, has finally taken shape and has been opened for business for 3 weeks now! It's very chic, and truly has an organic feel from the hard wood floors up too the high exposed ceilings.







I'm totally in love with the lighting through the salon and the small details that have given the salon some extra personality.





Next on the agenda, we're currently searching for a local artist, to display a few large pieces of work in a couple areas of the salon. With a salon called Fate, I must assume that the right artist will soon appear! :) My favorite Esthetician and Massage therapist has joined us at Fate and some of the hairstylists I use to work with, it's like a big family reunion every day! So, there's my reason for being absent these past couple of weeks.

Be back soon with some new recipes and craftiness!

and the winner's are....

First, let me just say thank you so much for spending the weekend here! I read through every comment and loved the responses and the art from the challenges! I really wish I could send out little packages to everyone who participated, you girls certainly deserve it! but I only made 7, so here are the winners!

Challenge #1: Birthday Wish
Random Number Generator : 10

Brenda said...
I think I'd have to pick Italy. Maybe a Mediterranean cruise would be nice.

Challenge #2: Tag Art
Random Number Generator: 13

Alicia A said...
Here's my tag:

Challenge #3: Birthday Wish
Random Number Generator: 2

Marolle said...
i know it impossible now, but i would love to see the beatles :o)
more realistic is Tori Amos

Challenge #4: Tiny Art
Random Number Generator: 11

Amy said...
how fun! Your artwork is so gorgeous! I have posted mine below, sorry for the bad lighting, it is very dreary & rainy here today.

Challenge #5: birthday Wish
Random Number Generator: 33

alexandra said...
a big scrap room ;-)

Challenge #6: Button Guess
Random Number Generator: 29

maiahs_momma said...
120 buttons, that is what I am guessing :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

Challenge #6.5: Color Combos
Random Number Generator: 8

Gina said...
teal, red, yellow and white :)


Please send me your addresses so that I can send you some happy mail! My email is rosas07@msn.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wouldn't having a blog-party every weekend be fun! I also wanted to wish Chris and Karri a happy birthday!! I have the longest to do list this week, and a pile of fabric calling my name, so I'm off to work. xo~ Tara
p.s. there were 274 buttons in my canning jar!!

Challenge #6.5: Color Combos.

Just when you thought the party was over..... I slipped in an extra one!! So sneaky!!

This one is all about color combinations!! Sometimes I like pretend that I'm an interior decorator, picking out paint samples and matching some crazy colors together. Here's my favorite color combination for the Autumn season.



Black.Grey.Cream.Lilac.Burnt Pumpkin




At this moment, what is your very favorite combination of colors?

Happy Saturday! Thanks to everyone who played along today and if you didn't have time today, I'm leaving all of the posts open tomorrow too! Make sure to check back on Monday morning for the winners of each post! xo~ Tara

Challenge #6: Button Guess

Good evening! (Or night, or very early morning depending on where you're visiting from:)) Want to play a game?



Remember the children's guessing game, usually a jar full of candy or gumballs, and you had to guess how many were in the jar? I rummaged through my vintage button collection and filled a jar, and now you get to guess how many buttons there are!



leave your guess for a chance to win!

Challenge #5: Birthday Present Wish

If you could a wish for a fun birthday present just for yourself, what would you wish for?

I think I would wish for the perfect set of dinner plates. Dishes are so very important to me and I've been searching for white-ish/cream dishes with a little floral pattern around the edge, for the longest time! Something tells me I need to wander on over to Anthro. some time soon! :)

leave a comment for a chance to win!

Challenge #4: Tiny Art Challenge

Ready for another crafty challenge! Last month for Bad Girls, I had to create a small (4x4) piece of art work. The small size was so easy to manage and still had lots of possibilities! So for this challenge, let's see what you can create on a small scale!!

Need some quick ideas? This little page is probably my favorite! I used a piece of painting canvas and sketched a few flowers and then I used Gesso to paint over them. I added a few little pieces of paper to the top and bottom and sewed the title onto a piece of fabric, to add some dimension. (I think I may add a few more penciled flowers too!)



This page is super simple too! Just strips of paper, sewn together, with a small photo, and some little embellishments clustered together.


A little tag with lots of mismatch scraps was worthy enough of it's page. I love using postage stamps!



Ready to create a little work of art? Don't forget to post a link when you're done, and you have all day and tomorrow to create something fun!!

Challenge #3: Birthday Concert Wish

If the tiny birthday fairy came to visit and could grant you tickets to any music concert, who would you want to see?

I really want to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. (kinda of dorky, but oh-well!) I love their Christmas music, traditional old Christmas songs blended with 80's-ish electric guitars. What's not to love! My sister said it was one of the best live concerts she had seen. So I definitely need to go!

and because I never posted a photo, these are the gift bags I put together.(there are a few more things, but I wanted my photos to be pretty, it'll be a surprise!) and there's one for each post today, so you can enter with each challenge that goes up!




Leave a comment for a chance to win!