Snow day!

No matter how old I am, it’s always exciting to get up, peek through the blinds and find a winter wonderland outside.

I’m the one who posts school closing on our website so that announcement goes out early. I posted the info and started the coffee…

We enjoyed walking around in the snow…

tasting the snow…

And stoming the snow of our boots…

And it’s always fun to look back and see your home throughout the seasons. So here’s our real winter pic…

No coffee at home (which is rare) means a stop by the buck. This just made my morning

Makes you smile too, huh? Valentine’s is on the way!

love…love…love..

Happy 5th, JD. Can’t imagine life without you.

Thank you for loving me, supporting me, being patient with me, helping me, standing by me, being mine.

Here’s what he surprised me with this morning Does every girl love those little blue boxes with the perfect white satin bow as much as me??? Sighhhhhhh. thank you my sweet JD.

And REALLY looking forward to our date tonight – TSUNAMI! If you’ve never eaten there, you must. It’s the most fabulous restaurant in Memphis.

you…

I like too.

thank you leah for your valentine’s days-o-many…

and thank you emersonmade. you’re sweet. and cute too.

Happy February

It’s a chilly one here in Memphis. We’ve enjoyed a long weekend with plenty of ice on the ground.

With February comes my anniversary and Valentine’s and love in the air. HA!

Here’s a sweet craft (courtesy of Martha Stewart of course) if you like to sew:

You’ll find a 5 step photo instructions on that page.

Enjoy!

Drumroll please!

After months of planning, building, photography, meeting, writing, meetings, calls and conversations…. I am pleased to announce The Needle n Thread Sewing Studio ONLINE STORE! I’m really proud of my Mom and all the hard work. She finally has her own business! I think she’s wished for this for years and now has it. Congrats Mom!

The Needle n Thread Sewing Studio has so many cute things! From baby gifts to boys and girls to nursery accessories. All items are available for personalization with embroidery, appliqué or both! There are some cute Valentine’s style appliqués including:

an airplane with little hearts

and a heart lollipop flower.

Click here to see all the designs.

If any of you saw Garner at Christmas in her reindeer dress, you’ve see Needle n Thread! Most of Garner’s embroidered shirts, burp cloths, blankets, onesies and other baby items are Needle n Thread.

SHOP NOW!

when i grow up

I want to work for Louise Fili. If you know me as a designer, you know I love typography. If you know me as a teacher, you know I teach about the importance of typography in visual communication.

I had the pleasure of working for a creative one time that had a Masters in Typography – hand typography. He would stand behind me at work and peer over my shoulder at the computer saying, “YOU COULD PARK A CAR BETWEEN THOSE LETTERS! KERN KERN KERN!” It was at that firm that I learned the beauty of thoughtful typography, letterforms and layout using type.

I’m in awe and inspired by Louise Fili. Her work is absolutely beautiful.

Valentines makes me smile

I’ve been reading posts on great Valentines ideas and thought I might give some of my own. Or at least link to some I like.

Love this post at Twig & Thistle. She’s a designer too, so of course I’d love it!

For the how-to/post go here.

I think I should have my husband (who is a photographer) set up a copy stand for me at home so I can take beautiful photos of my creations too!

So I decided to give you a gift and created some stickers for Valentines goodie bags that can be use with bakery bags, cd sleeves or any other envelope or bag. Feel free to download the PDF below and print away!

For a PDF that you can print on label paper, cut and use for your Valentine’s goodie bags, go to my ValentinesCookieLabels PDF and download. Fun! Or if you prefer circles…

The circles are set up with 24 on a sheet and perfect size for a 2″ circle punch. Both the rectangle and circle stickers would print best on glossy label paper, or use double stick tape on photo paper. Click here for the Valentines Stickers PDF. Just makes you smile too, huh?

They can be used like this:

Or this:

Or this – just use two and stick them together back to back on a toothpick:

Check out the MSL photo gallery of Clip Art and Templates – very nice. I see cupcakes in my future.

blogs: the good thing

One good thing about blogs is that I can forget about them for a few months and then happen to see one in my favorites lists and then I’m in the middle of tons of inspiration once again.

I love the product blogs. I love the creative blogs. I love the blogs like odeedoh.com. The photography, fun products and creative ideas are endless.

Like this:

Pantone® Storage Boxes found here.

Or these great space utilizing book cases – Dad, take note because the dollhouse is going to eventually be used AS a doll house.

Or these fun DIY felt pom pom flowers. I made some of these in paper for Garner’s 1st bday. I love the felt too!

And I absolutely love this idea by Darcy Miller (and Darcy herself), editor at MSL. She recently had an art show of her Scrapboxes at Kate & Jack Spade’s space. It’s a fun and beautiful reminder of those memories we often stuff in a box or book. And it’s art!

These boxes are a great idea for those of us who tend to save little trinkets and pieces of paper from every event and trip. I have large 12 x 12 x 4 clear storage boxes that I use to store and compile these items. I have one from Garner’s first year, one from our 1st anniversary trip, one from our engagement trip, and one from various Christmas cards and things. I can see what’s in them and am able to add to them easily. I’ve been doing this now for about 7 years with the hopes that I would use them for a scrapbook.

After reading the article in February’s MSL about the Scrapboxes, I’ve decided this will make be the best art for mine and Garner’s room. To see Darcy’s photo gallery, click here.

Time to quit talking about it and start creating!

good friends. good food. good times.

I had the joy of spending time with the Cowles this weekend. I love them. I love their easy way. I love eating with them.

When I pulled up, the chickens were running around. You might think they live out in the country on a farm, but no, they live smack dab in the middle of the city. They have a very large back yard for a city lot. And it wasn’t one bit unusual for me to see chickens in the yard. I love the Cowles.

I had made Butternut Squash Ravioli prior to that visit and thought I’d share with them. They were so sweet to invite me to stay for dinner, which I LOVED. E made grilled pork tenderloin and roasted asparagus. The sauce for the pork was SO GOOD. She just whipped it up out of jars of sauce. She’s so good like that. It’s a recipe that’s not for everyone and I knew they would appreciate it.

The recipe comes from Giada and can be found here. Her recipe calls for it to be made into tortellini, but I made them into ravioli so there was more filling. I recommend making it in stages. Roast your squash and make the filling ahead of time. It can be frozen.

The ravs can be made ahead also and frozen. The sauce should be made as the ravs are boiling and should always have fresh sage. Wonton wrappers can be found in the produce section of most groceries near the tofu. Talk about an easy way to make ravs! B suggested filling variations including spinach and cheese. The possibilities are endless.

This is Giada’s tortellini version:
The sauce is brown butter with fresh sage, cranberries and walnuts. It’s the perfect combination of savory and sweet.

With the silky goodness of the butternut filling – oh my…makes you want to eat way too much.

Thank you for a wonderful time Cowles family. I look forward to it again.

Simple things

One more recipe from simplifysuppers.com : Chicken Orzo Salad. I made this for a work function and realized while making it that one of the ingredients was missing from the list. That’s the second recipe from ss that I’ve come upon like that. After I got to work and shared the dish, and the missing ingredient issue, we collectively agreed that it must have been sliced almonds that was missing.

If I made it again, I’d get larger grapes and the larger orzo pasta. It was a little gummy but very tasty. It would have been even better with the almonds!

Crafting: Somehow I managed to get this dress done in December, but not before Christmas:

She wore it the Sunday after Christmas and that was ok. It’s called “Silent Mice” and is the sweetest little plate I’ve seen for Christmas.

I learned a lot of things on that dress.

1. Everything takes longer than you think it will – especially hemming a dress.

2. Never ever take that top holding row thread out until you’ve completed the finishing.

3. Finishing isn’t near as intimidating as I thought.

4. A French seam is your friend.

5. No one, and I mean no one will know if your stitching is exactly right – on the smocking or the finishing.

6. There’s a sense of accomplishment in sewing that nothing else brings. I created not only a beautify heirloom, but I created a necessity – clothing!

7. I’m glad I’m finally learning this craft that my Mother’s does so well. It gives me a respect and appreciation for her that I’ve never known. And I’m glad I learned it while she can encourage me and see the outcome!

Garner update (don’t read if you don’t like those silly little Mommy posts – but this is my only means of journaling at this point in my life) with less than 2 months til her 2nd birthday, Garner amazes us daily. In the last month she’s started speaking in sentences and alerting us to the need to potty. She loves Snow White and becomes so animated during certain  scenes. Scared when Snow White is scared

Saying:

Fro Whi – Snow White
Ssat? – What’s that?
Wook Mama – Look Mama
Pakka – Pockets
My poon  – My Spoon
Rob Bop – Rabbit
And a favorite during the holidays….You Got I! Hot Hot Hot YOU GOT IT! Hot Chocolate!
N Elmo (Nemo) has now turned into Meeemo.

Singing: ABC song, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and most recently Jesus Loves Me.

She bows her head and folds her hands for prayers.

I’ll hear her from the other room talking to her babies, to Fro Whi, to her kitchen. She loves to play dress up and color and show Mama and Daddy.

That’s all for now.  Happy Monday.