Weekend in Reveiw Vol.#5- A low-key fall weekend

Our neighbor's front gate (a photo taken during my fall stroll).

Hello and happy Monday to ya! My weekend was pretty low key mostly, but I did get a few things accomplished. Friday was spent cleaning and organizing- I don't know about you, but I always feel more energized when my space is clean (which also helps my creativity and productivity). When everything is a mess, I feel stifled and don't feel like doing much of anything, but now, all is right with my world and the creativity is flowing!

On Saturday I met up with a close cousin for dinner and drinks. It was a much needed break from everything and some good quality time spent together catching up. Sometimes it's nice to just walk away from everything and recharge a little, and this was just what the Dr. ordered!

Mom and I also did most of our shopping for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, which was fantastic! I'm in charge of the dinner this year, and added a few new items to the menu, so I'm looking forward to it. Unfortunately I didn't get around to working on my DD album...however, I'm hoping to do that sometime this week. The positive thinking is key *wink*.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. Be back soon! xo

Handmade Inspiration Board #3: Thanksgiving

It's about that time- to start thinking about Thanksgiving and I can't wait for the day! I love this holiday the most because if focuses on family, thankfulness and AMAZING food! This year I am in charge of the Thanksgiving dinner (it's my first time, so all helpful tips are welcome *wink*), so I thought I would gather some inspiration for the day and build from there. Here is my inspiration folder, I hope you're able to gather some ideas from it as well! xo

Supplies Used; Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket and Crate Paper; Cardstock- American Crafts and Bazzill; Transparent Scroll Design- K&Company; Doily Rub-Ons- Hambly Studios; Gem Brad- Making Memories; Paper & Crochet Flowers- Prima Marketing Inc.; Alpha Stickers- Making Memories; Stitched Brad- Basic Grey

Images Used;

Leaf Printed Linens- Martha Stewart 

Thanksgiving Table Setting- Martha Stewart 

Fall Floral Basket- Martha Stewart

Give Thanks (Gobble Gobble)- Better Homes and Gardens 

Thanksgiving Poem- Better Homes and Gardens

(Photos of inspiration board by; Wahkuna)

Colors of Autumn

The other day I purchased a fall inspired bouquet (pictured above) and knew I had to capture its beauty some how! So I had the idea to create a fall color palette, inspired by the photo of my flowers and the photo of wine & pumpkins that I took while visiting a winery not too long ago (mentioned here). And to top it all off- today is such a lovely day to dedicate a blog post to the beautiful colors of autumn! Enjoy! xo


Photos taken by: Wahkuna

Just for you!

I can't even believe it's already Nov. 1st! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this time of year?!? I'm pretty sure I have, but I still don't think that's enough! So today I'm here to share another fall inspired card that I created.

I used products from the Mind the Gap kit by Studio Calico, a lace punch, lace trim and ribbon with scallop to create the feminine feel. The colors are ivory, green, orange and brown- perfect harvest inspired colors! The pumpkin in the background was actually picked during my visit to the Westport Rivers vineyard- which I posted about here. And speaking of fall, I think now that we are officially in November, I need to get started on my Thanksgiving inspiration board...so stay tuned, there will be more to come on that! xo

Supplies Used: Cardstock- Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper- My Mind's Eye, K&Company; Buttons- My Mind's Eye; Lace Trim- TPC Corp.; Rose Trim- Webster Pages; Letter Stickers- Sassafrass; Ribbon- Making Memories; Kraft Envelopes- Pebbles Inc.; Lace Punch; Martha Stewart Crafts; Distress Ink; Ranger/Tim Holtz; Stamps- Other

Photos by; Wahkuna

Handmade Inspiration Board #1: Fall + Quilting

I recently learned of a great (compact) way to create inspiration boards from the very talented Holly Becker of Decor8. I love the idea of creating a board the size of a file folder that you can fold up and take anywhere- to use as reference or store very easily! It's large enough to include all the important details, but small enough to take on the go!

The first board I would like to share on my blog is inspired by fall + quilting (very similar to the card I posted here). Obviously I can't help but create fall inspired things during this season, and now is the perfect time to share it! The colors are; brown, ivory, red and navy. I hope this board helps you to come up with some great ideas for your next craft project! Enjoy! xo

Missing You...

Hello darlings! In the spirit of the season, today I'm going to show you one of my newest fall inspired cards. I created this card using the Napa Valley Studio Calico kit from November 2010. The colors and prints are truly fall and I love them! I referenced the tear sheet pictured above (in my mood board) from Flea Market Style magazine for the quilted stitch detail. I love the stitched quilted basket holding the apples (its so cozy) and thought it would be a great feature to incorporate into this card. Hope you like it!

Supplies; cardstock- American Crafts; patterned paper & gem brads- 

Making Memories; ribbon- Sweet Petites; thread- other

images by; Wahkuna

 

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping in! xo

A day at Westport Rivers vineyard

Hello all! I'm finally back from the weekend (better late than never)! I had a pretty awesome "fall" weekend which consisted of; visiting the Westport Rivers vineyard in Westport, MA where we tasted 6 (really good wines), went on a hay ride around the vineyard, picked pumpkins, took a tour of the winery/wine making process & enjoyed the gorgeous scenery! It was a lot of fun, and the best part of the experience was that it was a random stop- totally unplanned (which usually ends up being the best time). I'm really happy to have discovered this hidden gem in the area and would like to visit more frequently. It's definitely a great place to enjoy with a group of girlfriends or for a nice date. Wine + beautiful scenery = simple luxuries of mother nature. So if any of you are ever in the area, please do check it out! That's it for now, I'll be back tomorrow to share one of my most recent creations. See you then! xo

Fall in the City

Its officially Fall in the city and I'm loving every minute of it. The weather is not too hot and not too cold, it's just right :-). Humid days are now few and far between and the two block walk from Penn Station to the office is much more comfortable. Leaves are changing color, the boots are coming out and pumpkin coffee is back at Starbucks, these are signs of the change in season.

There are many things I love about this season, but one of the main things is how apples are ripe for the pickin' and there's so many things you can make with them! Since I was a little girl, apple pie has been a fall staple in the family. It was my grandfather's favorite and he always relied on my mom to make it from scratch. She's what I call the Apple Pie Pro, she even makes her own crust, its delicious! So naturally I learned to make this tasty treat and for me, it's never really fall until I've made my first pie of the season!

Unfortunately life has been so hectic lately, that I haven't had much time for baking, but I did manage to sneak in a little Apple Crisp yesterday in honor of the season and Football Sunday. What I like about apple crisp is that it only takes 1/2 the work of an apple pie, still smells the same and contains all the yummy flavors. It's almost like apple pie cheating...who knew it would be so sweet!

So with all of this talk of yummy goodness, I'd like to share my tried and true recipe for Apple Crisp. It's simple, quick and tasty, so there's no excuse, you MUST try it!

*this is a picture of only half a recipe baked in an 8x8 pan*

Apple Crisp II

(All Recipes "Tried & True Favorites" cookbook www.allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

10 cups thinly sliced apples

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13" pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.

3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.

4. Back at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Serve warm

Suggested toppings- Vanilla Ice Cream (preferably Vanilla Bean *smile*) or a dollop of Cool Whip.

(I apologize for the picture, but we were so excited to dig in, that I forgot to take a picture of the whole crisp once it came out of the oven!! Ooops!) Enjoy!

What are your favorite fall recipes? I would love to hear about them, I'm always looking for new recipes to try!

Love You Forever

Now this post is going to feel a little like fall, a little pumpkin spice, a little apple streusel, reminds me of all the things I love about the change of seasons.

This card is titled "I Promis to Love You Forever", the colors and design create elegance and sophistication. Accents of pearls give it just enough texture and pop. The solid cardstock mixed with a herringbone print is also a great touch to add interest and the stitching creats that homespun look. With the fall season just around the corner, this spicy color palette is sure to stir some delicious creations!

Supplies; Cardstock-Bazzill; Ribbon-Cosmo Cricket; Border Embellishment-Cosmo Cricket;

Patterned Paper-Studio Calico; Pearl Flourish-Want 2 Scrap; Pearl Embellishments- Recollections