feathers: plumes tutorial

I have a new feather embellishment tutorial up on the EntreArtistes blog. It's a simple little tutorial but feathery and pretty and perfect for gift-wrapping. It's true, I am forever thinking of how to wrap the next gift. :)

Monday's Menu

on a Tuesday.... because I run about a day late with everything. :) Have you ever had one of those weeks when you crave a certain fruit... or salad? Of course it would be easy to say no, I crave sour-cream & cheddar potato chips, but really, we're suppose to be healthy here. So, my answer is yes, I've been wanting nothing but nectarines, blackberries, coconut and cabbage. Luckily for me, our grocery stores have recently stocked white peaches & nectarines!! Oh joy - oh happy day!

menu - 4-11 by TaraAnderson on Polyvore.com

This weekend, I made homemade lemonade with blackberries and big sprigs of mint. Not only was it perfectly bitter-sweet it was oh-so lovely. Seriously, I'm going to make it again this week just for the photos, it's really that pretty! I also tried Coconut Gelato for the first time yesterday..... maybe my new fav. dessert.

Alright, here it is. This weeks menu for those that emailed me needing ideas this week! :))

Monday:
Chicken Salad on Wheat with avocado & romaine lettuce
Honeydew Melon & fresh berries

Tuesday:
Southwest Chicken Taco Salad
Sweet Corn Bread casserole
watermelon

Wednesday:
Swedish Turkey Meatballs
Brown Rice
Sauteed Peas & Almonds
Garden Salad

Thursday:
tBLT's (turkey-bacon) w/ turkey & avocado spread on Honey Oat bread
Cantaloupe

Friday:
Broccoli & Beef Brown Rice Bowls
Edamame Salad
Fortune Cookies

Saturday:
BBQ Chicken
Cherry tomato, roasted corn, avocado salad with green onions
fresh melons & berries
grilled white corn tortillas


I cut probably 194,568.12 pieces of vintage fabric today.... Well, maybe not quite that many but I did spend the majority of my day bundling fabrics into kits. My work table is covered with little stacks of vintage florals. It's quite the sight and I've started to realize that I may have a problem with collecting vintage linens... if there is even such a thing! I'm going back to the cutting table this evening while the house is nice and quiet. :) good-night all!

happiness is:

one over-sized mug filled with hot chocolate, 2 handfuls of mini-marshmallows and 3 spoons on a Sunday morning.

Be back tomorrow to post the weekly menu and a photo of 2... today's hectic schedule has worn me out and I desperately need some beauty-sleep!! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

a night-time hello...

Ok. I purchased a new camera and I'll admit, I really do love it. I had a Nikon D60 (the one that bit the dust unfortunately last week) and I was not too keen on having to shop for and learn how to use a new camera. I was just going to replace my D60, it's a sensible choice and I already know how it works, but I ran into the store and all they had was the Nikon D3100 and I needed a camera by 12pm yesterday. So Chase and I walked out of the store with a new camera in hand and ran back to the house to start charging the battery so that I could get back to work.

The kids were sweet enough to let me practice some of the new settings. My little guy is such a total ham when it comes to cameras or video cameras. No need to coax him into taking his photo!




I will say this, with the D60 I always had to edit my photos but with this D3100 there is almost no editing needed. The images are sharp, bright and clear which I love. It's been stormy and overcast here lately, so the lighting hasn't been optimal but by looking at the photos I took today, you wouldn't be able to tell. I think I'm sold!

and Alaina, I made her take a break from homework yesterday to take a couple of photos. I can't believe how much she looks like me in this one, I usually say that she looks just like her dad, but not so much here. It might be the lighting.... or my awesome new camera!



I had a super busy - half way productive day. I worked on 2 tutorials today,
(here's a peek:



I cleaned a little (that boy of mine loves to open and pour out every container I own in my craft room), and I'm putting together the next color combination for May. You're going to love it, I just know it!

Oh! and probably the best - most awesome part of today - I got to talk to this lady on the phone tonight! If you knew me in real life, you would know that I have a ridiculous fear of phone calls. Always have. As far back as I can remember I have never liked calling anyone for anything on the phone. I'm an email-instant messaging kind of girl. Even the idea of Skype makes me a little anxious..... ridiculous, I know. So it was kind of a big deal to me. :))

I'm off to make a pretty flower garland and then some reading time. I just purchased this book, it's looks fun and I can't wait to see the photos. I love re-purposing design books!



I'll do a question/answer post too sometime this week. I have questions to answer from the blog and flickr, so I think I shall put them all in one post. If you've asked me something recently - I haven't forgot you!!

Spring Color Combos

Remember the posts Saturday Color Combination I did through the summer? Well, they're back, but with a new home & name. I'm going to be posting the color challenges on the Crate Paper Blog and because it's Crate there will be a fabulous prize for the winner of the challenge each month!

Here's my inspiration for this month's color combination - pretty - cheery and perfect for Spring! (although we are on day 3 of rain and cold temps. here - go figure!)




there's just a couple guidelines to go by if you'd like to play along with the challenge and the details can all be found on the Crate blog and here's my take on the color challenge this month:




I hope to see you over at the color challenge this month!

eeks!! - technical difficulties

The cutest boy in the world pulled my camera off the table and onto the tile floor below. Broke. I've been camera-less for the past week and it's not fun! So, tomorrow morning Chase and I are going on a mission to shop for a new Nikon. Be back soon with new photos from a new camera! xoxo~ t

I'm a guest!!

with Simply ATC for their Card #13 Which Magazine challenge.

When Angie asked if I'd like to be a guest again I couldn't resist another chance to create small art! The inspiration for this challenge was a collage of retro magazine covers and I must admit it was really challenging for me to create something.... less than frilly. :) Here's my take on the challenge!




and 2 of my atc cards have been published in the new issue of Create: Embellish Idea Book!! Both cards were made for Simply ATC, the very first challenge Alice and Wonderland & the Ampersand challenge. fun.fun.



I have no idea what this Saturday has in store for me, but I'm thinking maybe a trip to a thrift store with the kids to look for a few books and a little art making may be in the works for today! Happy weekend!

a little collection of pretty

Hello there, how are you this Thursday?



I made flowers all day today. Yellow ones, fuchsia ones, teal and green floral ones.. pretty layered fabric flowers, and while I was tidying up the craft room I spied one of my favorite mini's up on the shelf. A little vintage book filled with magazine clippings of pretty things and lovely color combinations. I made this book 2summers ago I thought it was about time that I posted some of the pages. It's my go-to book for color inspiration!
























I need to make a file folder for all of the extra clippings I've collected. I think saving things that you find inspiring is always a great idea for when you need a little boost of creativity!!

a little bit of this & a little bit of that

a glorious end to the weekend.



Alaina was on Spring Break this past week and me, well I was still in recovery mode. Recovery is such a pain, no lifting anything over 5 pounds, so that takes care of kids, little dogs, groceries... no pushing grocery carts, no exercising, and no vacuuming. I miss picking up Chase, when he sees me in the morning he'll run towards me and I'll catch him, lift him into the air and then he giggles and hugs me tight. It's so sweet and I miss my morning hug. I miss vacuuming too. I'm one of those weirdos who will vacuum a couple times a day because I like seeing the vacuum lines in the carpet. :) 5 more weeks, got to make it until then!

I've planned out my menu for the week. Has anyone out there been planning a weekly menu? Have you ran into any bumps in planning? With me, there is at least one day a week that I get stuck and cannot think of anything to make. nothing. It's usually the last day of the week and I just run out of momentum. I'm kind of thinking that maybe I should try a new recipe on the last day of each week? That might work!! So, here it is, Monday's Menu: (and it's actually being posted on a Monday this week - sometimes I surprise myself too!!)

Monday:
Organic Tomato Soup
Grilled Crab & Cheese on Wheat Sourdough (think grilled cheese, except imitation crab and jack cheese. it's a favorite of mine whenever I visit Florence Oregon and this little coastal cafe for soup and sandwiches.)

Tuesday:
Mandarin Chicken Rice bowls with peas, green onions, water chestnuts and cashews
Roasted Zucchini

Wednesday:
Fish Taco's
3 Bean Salad
Honeydew melon

Thursday:
Garlic Chicken with Farfalle Pasta
Caesar Salad
Cantaloupe

Friday:
Cobb Salad
Garlic Naan Bread
Peach, Nectarine Blueberry with mint salad

Saturday:
Grilled Petite Steaks
Caprese Salad
Honeydew melon
french bread

I spent most of the weekend working and taking breaks to play outside. It's so nice here. Warm and sunny.. I suppose that is the draw to Arizona, our weather. It's perfect picnic weather! I need to put that on the to-do list again soon because you can never have to many Spring picnics!! and I'm working on something big at the moment, I'll leave you with a sneak-peek tonight! :))



I'm calling it an semi-early night. I stayed up way too late last night watching the NatGeo channel. There was a new show-special on Egypt and I couldn't turn the tv off. Darn that channel, it gets me every time! good-night all ~

some girly stuff

I'm slowly getting back to a semi-normal schedule. That first week after surgery is always a doozy for me. If I could, I would spend every moment in bed sleeping away the days until I felt better again.... but alas, I cannot. A family, pets, and a house all depend on my speedy return to normalcy. :) (It's amazing how much work piles up if you don't stay on-top of it all day - every day!!)

I haven't really taken any new photos this past week, for obvious reasons, and there isn't really a spectacular menu planned for the week... So, instead I thought I'd share a couple of pretty scrap-projects! After all - paper does seem to take up a considerable part of my everyday!



First, there is a brand new project tutorial for the Crate Paper Blog. Emma's Shoppe is, in my opinion, one of the best-ever girls scrapbook collections. They are so many cute pieces of chipboard to use, the journaling cards are beautiful and the papers are oh-so lovely! If you're drawn to girly and vintage inspired scrapbook products, this whole collection is very much for you!




A simple layout I created for CHA. I don't think I posted it yet.. must have slipped my mind! Alaina received this big flowery headband as a Christmas present and wanted her photo taken. I knew I had to scrap some of those photos!





and two projects from last year for entreARTistes magazine. If you're able to get your creative hands on this magazine you won't be disappointed! Even if you don't speak/read French, the photos alone will be worth it!




I'm off to work a bit on a couple of new Spring inspired projects. Paper, fabric, paints and my sewing machine should be a splendid Wednesday afternoon!

menu time

I don't know why today continues to feel like a Monday. I should have posted this yesterday but Tuesday is the new Monday in my book. :)

Menu 3/14 by TaraAnderson on Polyvore.com

Monday:
Grilled Chicken
Greek Pasta salad
fresh melons

Tuesday:
mini Grilled Pizzas
Cantaloupe

Wednesday:
7 Layer Burritos
Spanish Rice
Honey Dew melon and blueberries

Thursday:
bbq pulled Pork sandwiches (I hate this type of pork, but since I can't eat anything that day, I figured it would be perfect to make for everyone else. :))
Coleslaw

Friday:
Garden Lasagna
Italian Salad
garlic bread

Saturday:
Chicken Casserole
Salad
fresh fruit salad

Sunday:
leftovers

This week is all about ease and planning ahead. I have another surgery scheduled for Friday morning.... I know it probably sounds familiar right? At least for me anyway. I'm so over it!! I've joked with my Dr. that because this is the 3rd surgery in 10 months I've now reached my limit. So no more.

For that reason, I've put a couple of casseroles and one crock-pot meal on the menu this week. It takes me a few days to bounce back from any surgery I've ever had, so I figured I'd help Peter out and try to make enough so that he has left-overs. I plan on measuring and chopping everything prior to Friday and that way Peter can put together dinner for him and the kids. I think a good-classic casserole is Lasagna. It's such an easy dish to make and yet no one makes it the same way. Have you noticed that? Since there's not a recipe really here's a list of what's in mine:

Tara's (almost) Garden Lasagna
Italian Sausage
diced eggplant
diced zucchini
diced onions
frozen chopped spinach
chopped mushrooms
1 jar of garlic and onion spaghetti sauce
shredded mozzarella
oven ready lasagna (noodles)

If I had company, I would make my own sauce and use 2 types of meat, but Peter is pretty easy to please so I can keep it simple. I sauteed all of my vegetables together and then cook the meat separately. Once everything is cooked through, I mix the meat, vegetables and spaghetti sauce together and then start the layering process with noodles, cheese and the meat/veggie mixture. I love lasagna and it keeps well as a left over for the net day too!!

Want to share what you include in your lasagna recipe?