weekends were made for the zoo

Warm Sunday morning at the zoo +
Picnic lunch under a shady tree +
Icees to keeps us cool +
2 Enthusiastic kids +
1 cute friend +
= a perfect weekend!

the hide-out queen

Sometimes you just need to build a fort and hide out for awhile. My imaginary fort is constructed of mostly vintage linens (the pretty floral ones) little twinkling white lights and lot's of big cozy Indian inspired floor pillows. I think that day-dreaming is lovely - even as an adult. It's been almost a month since I've posted here. I suppose, too much has transpired these past 2 months, certainly more than I care to share, so I did what any normal person would do: I hid. Metaphorically of course, as there is no pretty fort to take refuge in. But the much needed break from the Internet has proven to be a wonderful and creatively freeing idea. Just think: you cut out all Internet interaction for one month. Think of all the extra time you would then have to be creative. It's been nice..... and I didn't really plan to be gone for this long but hey, some of my best ideas have started out as mistakes.

live & learn

Creative, I have been. I've had time to scrapbook, to paint, to collage. I put together another Color Combo. for Crate Paper this month. I love color combinations, and Crate Paper and Christine over there just keep proving to be the perfect fit for me. I'm so thankful to have such a great place to be apart of.

I also put together a Push-Pin tutorial for Crate Paper last month. I ended up, clearing out most of my craft room and giving the room to Alaina to move into. So I made a little list of some things I was looking for, for the new craft room-space.

My new craft room - the process.

I found this beautiful end table while out visiting an antique store with Chase a couple of weekends ago. It needed a home and I was looking for something similar but more gold-ish, but for the price, this one was coming home with me. I've since found curtains for the room, light blue. As I complete the room I'll take photos however, I will say that I have had 2 people, just this week, walk by it and ask if that's my craft room.... I must have done something right with it. ;)

and finally, starting this Monday - Crate paper will be hosting an entire week of inspiring wedding themed projects.... and I may have a project or 3 to share next week for their wedding extravaganza!! Oh, and there will be 4 giveaways too, so be sure to pop in throughout the week - because you know you want a chance to win Crate Paper products!! :)

have a beautiful weekend. ~ T

May Color Challenge

I've been wanting to do this color combo f o r e v e r! I adore navy blue right now -just can't get enough. Since this is my monthly challenge for Crate Paper, I really wanted to challenge myself to use a color that, ordinarily, I would pass up. Purple. In any shade, I rarely use it, so this was the perfect challenge to try my hand at incorrporating a little lavender into my work.

This month's color pallete for the Crate Color Challenge is: Royal Blue - Sky Blue - Lavender

Pretty right! and here's the inspiration wire I put together for this month.

I had originally planned on creating just a layout, but the more I played with Crate's Neighborhood and Portrait collections, I thought a mini would be fun to make! Plus, I had chosen too many embellishments that I really wanted to use, and they were not going to all fit on just 1 layout.

My mini called: 5pm (because it's the best time to be in the front yard taking shadow photos!)

Since, I'm not that keen on the lavender color, I used it as an accent color. This way it didn't have a chance to overpower any of my pages. I custom blended 3 different paint colors (cream, magenta, royal purple) to create a lovely pinky-purple shade and painted all of the little paper flowers I used in the book. I would always say that if there is a color in the challenge that you don't particularly like, use it as an accent color!

I found this pretty navy Chanel flower and decided to add a few feathers & some vintage lace and make it into a gift adornment for the book, once it's wrapped with ribbon.

I hope you love this color combo as much as I do!! If you're feeling inspired this month and would like to play along with the challenge, I have the rules posted on the Crate Paper blog and you have until the 15th to create something! Oh, and did I mention there is an amazing prize for the winner each month!

hello!

I've decided that in order to really tackle that to-do list and accomplish what needs to be done, that sometimes, you must take a vacation from your computer. Plus, this time of year is always crazy, even without having a massive to-do list. There was Easter, a visit to a neighbors ranch to see the new babies, Alaina's school talent show, Dr. apts, teacher appreciation week - all week - packing/planning, lots of Spring cleaning and Alaina has just 10 days of school left and then it is official: summer vacation. Ahh summer, where it's perfectly acceptable to spend the day in the pool and be completely lazy. Looking forward to it!







I have a new post up on the Crate Paper blog! I'll post all of the extra photos of my project on my blog later this afternoon. It's a project that needs it's own post, all to itself - there are oodles of pics to share! xo ~ T

a bunny tale

Years ago, I want to say like 3 years ago, right around Easter time I was patiently waiting for Jessica to restock her famous Easter Bunnies. I had missed out the previous year and this time I was determined to purchase a lavender-chocolate (fabric of course) bunny for Alaina. I scored and the bunny arrived just in time for Easter!

I was so excited to give it to Alaina, it came wrapped just like a little chocolate bunny. Totally cute, and apparently our black lab Dutchess thought so too because within hours of giving it to Alaina, the dog had tried eating it. (In Dutchie's defense she was a puppy, but that year she tore apart 1 Easter Bunny, chewed off Barney's nose, ate 6 of Handy Manny's tools and destroyed 2 Foofa dolls. It was not a good year to be a toy in our house.) I was mortified for Alaina and completely embarrassed to tell Jessica that all her hard work was eaten. So I stayed mum for a year, until Easter rolled around again and I purchased another bunny from her shop. I also came clean about the fate of the previous year's bunny.

So, if your looking for a cute-vintage and one of a kind Easter basket gift, look no further than a little love bunny!!

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!