live . craft . learn

lunch

i've been spending a lot more time in the kitchen lately. each week, as each of our fresh boxes of veggies & fruit arrives, i get inspired to find a new recipe to make or i find i'm trying to recreate a favorite from a local restaurant or our little deli/grocerey store pacific market {it's my favorite place to shop.. go check out their recipe section... holy yum!}.

organic baby potato salad

2 lbs baby potato's {i used red norlands & yukons}
1-2 cups chopped dill pickle {i like mine extra chunky}
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup mayo {you can also use sour cream}
1/4 cup pickle juice {more less to your taste}
2 tbs finely chopped fresh dill {or more to your taste}
salt & pepper to taste

boil potato's 1/2 an hour until fork tender, drain.
mix it all in a bowl and chill
eat.

we had our's the first night with teriyaki chicken. but it's amazingly better after chilling for at least 12 hours as all those juices and flavors blend. of course eating it out of bright colored vintage pyrex refrigerator jars makes it complete.

happy wednesday!
xo

my favorite nook

this whole post started with a q&a i did over on the elle's studio blog and one of the questions, about where i create, got me thinking about how i don't really share that side of my life here {on this blog}, so i decided to change that today, and hopefully i'll change that more in the future... because i love this little space. it may be little but the memories and dreams created and shared here are what inspire me on a daily basis. this is where i make things with pieces of my heart. where parts of me leave messages about how i live and what i've learned and this desk is the center point of it all.

this is where i create, chat, write posts {like i am right now}, get inspired by favorite blogs and sites and generally do most things crafty. with barely 40" wide of space it's tucked back in a little alcove to the left of our family room fireplace and it's generally piled with projects, pages and alot of vintage odds & bits... this was one of the cleaner days, lol.

i love that i can sit or stand {usually i stand} here, but i also love that although it's a tiny space it is right in the middle of where we live most of our lives, here in the family room. i can hear the littles playing in that backyard through the slider in the kitchen and i can see them digging in the dirt and playing in the water table right through the huge window behind me.

i can sit here and make a page in the evening, after the house is quiet but have the man right behind me sitting on the couch watching a dvr'd show or laughing at jon stewart.

i adore that i am surrounded by pieces of my friends and family that are hanging on the wall; items sent from friends that i can look at everyday, little drawings and notes from maddie and ben and all of the towers of golden mediums that i adore. it may be tiny but it helps me live a full life.

happy saturday!
xo

this is my stack

practically every scrapbook page i have created in the last two years. and here they all are, stacked chronologically oldest at the bottom. every time i think i'm going to buy a few albums i open the cupboard door {in my dining room hutch} and then close it again. i think the biggest problem is that i have no idea what album to get. i have one american crafts 3-ring but the pages don't fit because i create so many 12x12 pages with items peeking off the page. one of these rainy days i'll do it. until then i'll just keep opening that door every week or two and add a few more pages. luckily there's another door on the other side if i fill this one.

make sure you check out my mini gift card with found paper envelopes tutorial up at elle's studio today. leave a comment and ask me a question and i'll answer on the elle's studio blog around the 24th of this month.

happy wednesday!

ps : ben's lots better and doing stunts {baseball slides} on our family room rug as i type. boy they rebound fast!

it's coming back to me.

creative therapy 48 : a secret you've been keeping

my inspiration and the need to create but most importantly that feeling i get when i do make things because it's such a process for me. for me the process is just as important, if not more so, than the end result.

sometimes i feel like my mind is overridden with so much visual stimulation that i just can't seem to get anything out. i read too many blogs. i spend too much time on the computer seeing and searching for art and inspiration until it just becomes an unmanageable jumble of images and thoughts and ideas all rattling around up in my head.

until last week when i was talking with gi and we made a little pact for february that is seeming to really lift me out.

just step away.
turn it off so the inspiration can turn on.

hambly dt : february gallery

obviously i'm not the first to do this, i know dina has, we've spoken about it quite a few times, most recently at cha. gain some distance from all of the stimulation so that what you want to create can break through, and i have to say i'm really feeling it right now.

so i have my creed for february and it's doing me good.

and i'm just making something.
everyday.

xoxo

two parts build. five parts destroy.

i've spent today in my jammies. playing with paint, which was an utter disaster. cutting paper. collecting and building and ripping it all apart again. i feel so lost in my little corner here. unable to get and truly feel what i want to make, and i want to make things so badly. i finally felt successful after about 5 tries. five times i started something and three times it ended up in the trash. fortunately the other items {my creative therapy prompt for next week - above; the beginnings of a ruffled garland - below} i feel good about. i just keep trying to remind myself that the process is just as important as the end result....

i know i'm not the only person who loves making things that goes through this, the slump. you've felt it too right, i know we all have. it just feels so weird right now because i just got back from cha and i feel so inspired. so in love with making things and art. i think it's partly sensory overload and partly because i want to start creating altered art more. i'll have to show you the few pics i took of the 7 gypsies booth, because it made me want to make things out of old things again. it was my favorite by far.

i've also been going over to kari's year of color blog {i'm guest blogging there in october} to read and be inspired by all of the other amazing women who are collaborating with her. such an amazing concept really, each month is a new color inspiration and the ideas, tutorials and pictures are wonderful.

ok.... back to my corner, i may be able to crank out one more project i've been dreaming about for a while.

happy creating.
xo