Hooked on These Bags!

Just received a great gift from a friend. Have you seen these? They're reusable shopping bags that are lightweight and roll up nice and small to fit into your pocketbook. They look great too! Makes it so easy for me, who has a ton of reusable shopping bags that I am always forgetting to bring into the store with me! They're from Envirosax and come in lots of great patterns including kid's designs. Just had to share these! Check out what Julia at Hookedonhouses and everyone else is hooked on today!

Tent Sale Tuesday

These gorgeous scroll hooks have just been listed HERE under the Tent! Have fun!

Creative Inspiration and a Giveaway!

My hope and reason for blogging is to inspire - it may be to create something, decorate a room a certain way or maybe to prepare one of the recipes that I mention. I have been working on this post to spread the creative bug. This is so important to me because I believe we all need to explore our creative sides. Maybe it will help to reduce some of the stress everyone is feeling today.

How do you explore your creative side?

In the kitchen?

On paper

With your camera

A paintbrush

Decorating your home

With your kids

In the garden

With your blog

etc....

Why do you "get creative"?

Stress relief?

Personal satisfaction

For pure simple fun

To show off your talents

It's an escape

etc....

What inspires you to Create?

Nature?

Supplies

Magazines

People

Life

etc....

Where do you create?

Dining room table?

Craft room

Basement

Altered closet

etc.

I am having a giveaway of a current copy of Where Women Create on March 8th at 8pm eastern time. I am so inspired by this magazine and if you haven't seen it yet, you need to! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment answering at least one of the above questions, or if you'd like, answer all of the questions. I am really interested in your answers and hope to inspire more women to Explore their Creativity through this post. I would love it, (if you have a blog) and would like to post on this topic. If you do, just link back to us and leave me your link as well for others to visit you. I've even created a graphic for you to use. Let's spread the creative fever through blogland!

So, here are my answers to the above.

I have always needed to create, since I can remember. Problem is, I love to do it all and there just isn't enough time! I love to cook, take pictures, paint, arrange flowers, work with beads, fabric, wood, actually I think just about any material.

For me, when I am able to get in "my creative zone", I am so much more relaxed and find that I don't think about anything else when I'm "there". This is why I can't be cooking anything on the stove while I'm in my zone (I have burnt so many things because of this). My family inspires me a lot, especially the cooking part, they love to eat and try new things. I am also inspired by nature, especially flowers and the beach. We fortunately live close to water and I can go there anytime for some quiet inspiration. I am sooo inspired by my supplies. This is why I like to be surrounded by all of it. I am finding it very uninspiring right now when I have to dig through a box to find what I need to finish something that I'm working on. This is why I have to share Where Women Create with you. This magazine and it's stories of all of the creative women is very inspiring! Let's not forget blogland and all of the creative inspiration that's out there. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at Melissa's Inspired Room blog and wanted to redecorate or even just organize or rearrange some furniture.

Finally, where? Everywhere at the moment. In the basement, in the garage, kitchen table, dining room table, temporary folding tables in the living room. This all brings me to my current project of organizing, and creating one main space for me to work. I've already started with this piece here. I will be sharing my progress here on my blog as I get there. Oh I almost forgot, I do most of my creative thinking in the shower!

So, I hope you will participate and share some Creative Inspiration with us! Don't forget to leave me some kind of contact info in case you are the winner. If I choose an entry without contact info, I will have to choose another.

Check out these Inspiring Creative Spaces!

My friend Cathy of Treasured Heirlooms and Elegance and Whimsy appeared on the cover of Romantic Homes Christmas issue. Check out her studio HERE. Scroll down to the bottom of her photo gallery.

Also, check out this gorgeous studio of Heather Bullard, The Present Past Collection. Click HERE.

HERE is another beautiful studio where my friend Michelle of The Raspberry Rabbits gets to create with her bunnies!

Gail Friend of Gail Friend Designs is being featured in the new issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors' Studio magazine. It's coming out March 31st featuring the studios of various artists. Check it out HERE.

I also just love where Dawn from The Feathered Nest creates her beautiful art. See it HERE.

Pink Friday - French Country Farmhouse

Close your eyes and imagine the sun-warmed tumbled stone tiles beneath your feet, take in the scent of lavender, listen to the sounds of the chickens in the yard.

Where are you?

At a lovely French Farmhouse.

What makes up the French Farmhouse?
A home decorated with cherished family heirlooms handed down through the generations asking to be touched and used. The nicks, scuffs and dents are the patina that only comes with time and offers a sense of history. The wear and tear is meant to be celebrated. French Farmhouse style lies in its eclectic nature of mix and match, use what you have, finding a new use for an old item. French Farmhouse juxtaposes a velvet sofa with a tattered linen chair and a Louis XIV armoire. All well loved and still meant to be used not to be put in a museum. The colors and patterns are a mixture of bright blue, red and yellow of Provence used next to the two-tone toiles of Jouy-en-Josas and silks of Paris. Rugs have a used and tattered patina of the past centuries layered with the newer brighter rugs of the past decade. To complete the French Farmhouse one must tell their own story by adding brocante- items that a bit to nice to throw away; not quite junk not quite art. Add flower frogs under bell jars, a row of children’s wooden boats on the mantle, an old tiara on a cake stand or vintage perfume bottles on the dressing table. If you love books, line every shelf with them and add stacks to all the tables. Wire bird cages, cast-off egg baskets, rustic ladders and garden trellis all find safe haven in a French Farmhouse. Bring the garden in to the house by adding florals here, there and everywhere. Fresh flowers are a must in nearly every room. Using what you love becomes the only rule to decorating in the French Farmhouse.

Enjoy your time in the French Countryside.

Sharon Wollman,
www.CestChouetteHome.com

Image provided by:
www.meadowstreet.com

Please visit us at Make Mine Pink for this special themed shopping event.

Click HERE for my French Country Farmhouse offerings.

A Fun Week!

Our kids were off from school this week for Winter break. Who gets a break? It's been a fun one. We started off with my birthday earlier this week. My husband gave me the day off from laundry and kitchen duty. He even made me a special dinner. My daughter made these really good cupcakes for dessert. She loves to bake. They were so good I have to share the recipe.

This recipe is from Kitchen Aid - Great Baking and More

Cappuccino Fudge Cupcakes

1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 C sugar

3 eggs

3/4 C milk

1 T plus 2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee granules

1 3/4 C all purpose flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Coffee cream (recipe follows)

Fudge Sauce (recipe follows)

Place butter in mixing bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed 6 and gradually add sugar, beating about 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Turn to Speed 4 and add eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Stop and scrape bowl. Dissolve instant espresso in milk. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Turn to Stir Speed and add a third of the flour mixture alternately with half of the milk mixture, mixing 15 seconds after each addition.

Spoon batter into 8 greased and floured custard cups (we filled 12 muffin cups). Place cups on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Remove from custard cups and cool on wire rack. Top with Coffee Cream and serve with Fudge Sauce.

Coffee Cream

1 1/2 C heavy cream

1/4 C sugar

1 1/2 t instant espresso or coffee granules

Combine cream, sugar, and espresso in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and wire whip to mixer. Turn to Speed 8 and whip cream until stiff.

Fudge Sauce

4 squares (1 ounce each) semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 C whipping cream

1/2 t ground cinnamon

Place chocolate, cream, and cinnamon in small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is combined. Enjoy!

We've been trying to do something with the kids each day (of course working around their social calender). Yesterday we saw Mall Cop. One of those silly but funny movies. Today with the weather so mild and around 50 degrees. We took a ride to the beach and walked to the Fire Island lighthouse. It's about 1/2 mile to the lighthouse. We then climbed 192 steps to get to the very top. I didn't think I would make it! Here are some pics I took along the way. It was so nice to see the deer so close up. They are not startled by people at all!

Tent Sale Tuesday!

These great corner scrolls have just been listed under the tent! Check them out HERE!

Furniture Makeover

This week I worked on setting up a piece of furniture for my creative space (more about that in an upcoming post). It's a piece that we got from a friend of a friend many years ago. It was going to be put to the curb and we rescued it. It's probably one of my favorites. We have many pieces in our home that we picked up curbside and gave new life to. So, in its former life, this one was an Entertainment Center (I think there will be many of those at the curb or second hand shops). We removed the top set of doors and cut back the shelf to open things up. The cast iron scrolls add a pretty detail to the corners. The bottom set of doors had these dated raised panels, so we removed them and replaced them with fabric and painted it in a light sagey green and cream. It's a great piece of furniture by Drexel Heritage that's perfect for my supplies.

Melissa at the Inspired Room has posted about finding beauty where you are right now. This week, I have accomplished a little piece of my goal, My Creative Space. It's where I find beauty each time I walk in this room. Even more when my little ones comment on how "beautiful it is in here mommy".

Make sure you stop by Sanctuary Arts at Home to see more Before and After projects!

I am also participating in Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After party. Check it out!

This post is also participating in Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special. Click below to check it out!



Also, visit this new site I just found called Reinvented for more great projects!

Pink Friday ~ "Shades of Rose"

Please join us for shopping with a twist on Friday February 13, 2009 as we present SHADES OF ROSE!

"The shade of a single rose so eloquently captures all the feelings of a special moment, reflects all the memories of everything that has happened before this time, and expresses the hopes of many moments yet to come.
The first single rose a young woman receives might be given while she is still a girl. Perhaps it is a delicate shade of peach, from someone who knows every ounce of effort that has gone into a special performance, or accomplishment. It's an appreciation of everything the girl is right now, and all she hopes to be. Later, a single rose in a deep shade of orange says, "I am so proud," and expresses admiration of everything she has become. She has graduated from girlhood and she is ready to take on the world.
Now that she is a woman, her grace and beauty catch someone else's eye. A pink rose, held in a hand made bold by sweet love, tells her of unspoken feelings. After a time, the same hand brings a newly bloomed red rose to announce, "I love you." A single white rose might follow, proclaiming a love that is stronger than death.
The shades of a rose, like a moment in her life, can contain a myriad of meanings. A single yellow rose might speak of contentment and happiness. Placed on a bedside table, it could celebrate the unbridled joy of a new birth or anniversary of another year together. It could also make the promise of a new beginning, or to make up for things that have gone wrong.
Soon it becomes the woman's turn to give a single rose. She carefully selects one in a delicate shade of peach. It's been chosen for another girl, not yet a woman, who is full of promise and life, and given with the hope that she too will experience life in all its beautiful shades."

Joyce Lucas, Founder

Visit the boutiques at Make Mine Pink HERE!

Visit my boutique HERE!

Thanks for the Awards!

I would like to thank a couple of special bloggers for giving me the Lemonade Award.

Thanks to Shirley from Plum Bush Cottage. She has the best recipes and beautiful gardening pics.

And thank you to Jena from Not So Shabby. She also has a beautiful blog and home. Her recent posts feature her gorgeous new landscaping.

I know I'm supposed to now nominate bloggers that show great attitude and/or gratitude. I'm sorry but I can't pick! I believe all of the blogs that I read are written by beautiful people with great attitudes. I choose not to read the ones that don't! So I'm sorry I'm not holding up my part. But I'm really not good at choosing certain people, so I choose all of you!

Tent Sale Tuesday!

This pair of embossed glass votives and bronze berry rings has just been place under the TENT!

Pink Friday "Be My Valentine"

Remember the days when we took shoeboxes and transformed them into treasure chests, sacred vessels ready to receive Valentines from our classmates? The anticipation we felt when we carved slots in the tops with blunt pairs of school scissors, making sure the openings were large enough to receive the dozens of cards we hoped would soon be delivered... but not so big that we would appear greedy. For that one day, we were willing to extend our friendship to even the boy who pulled our hair.
Later, the tingling excitement as we spent hours pouring over each and every sentiment that had been dropped into our box of hope... eager to find that one special card from a best friend, a boy we liked, or the most popular girl in class. Pouring over each sentiment, examining the carefully formed letters of each name.
The days of decorated shoeboxes and clumsily lettered names may have been long ago, but many things still fill us with the same little flutters we felt back then.
Finding a stack of vintage postcards in a favorite antique shop – some garlanded with roses, others with whimsy and fun. Uncovering a tarnished locket filled with memories of lost loves, at the bottom of an abandoned jewelry box. Picking up a weathered journal and discovering the dreams of a young woman as she embarked on her own journey of love.
A delicate hankie from a past generation, lovingly stitched with pink and red roses. Yellowed stacks of love letters, unfading feelings bound with a tattered ribbon.
As Valentine's Day draws near, I find myself feeling nostalgic for the things and feelings of the past. I'm opening the drawers of my memory and sifting through moments that have been stored away for a time just like this.

Happy Valentines Day,
Joyce Lucas, Founder

Make Mine Pink

Click on the graphic above for the participating Make Mine Pink boutiques.

Click HERE for my Pink Friday "Valentine" products.

I'm Ready for Spring!

I love the White Stuff - it's so pretty!

But, I've had Enough!

I don't think they have though!

I know I am ready for This.

How about you?

Tent Sale Tuesday

I can't believe it's Tuesday again! This week flew. I just added this pretty Pink and Green floral to the tent sale. There is only one in stock. Check it out HERE!