Bougainvillea Days

The Christmas lights are hung, and the bougainvillea are faithful to bloom. Sometimes, it's these little moments that take our breath away.

From our family to yours, as we enter this holiday season, we wish you peaceful nights and lots of bougainvillea days.

Studio Makeover Part Four

Over the weekend, I completed another portion of the studio beautification project. I made a little collage of wall hangings to fill up the empty space above the couch.

Two of them are set in these fun metal frames that I found at an estate sale over a year ago. I just wrapped a piece of embellished fabric around a cardboard cutout and slid them into the frames. I used a little metal pin and a piece of rick rack for this one.

This one has another fun metal pin and some more of those cute little blue buttons that I used on my cape.

The rest of the pieces are wrapped around art canvases and stapled to the back. I embellished each of these with various buttons and ribbons. On the one above, I attached a crocheted flower out of my collection of items that my great grandmother made.

All together, they add quite nicely to the increasing amount of vibrant color this room is boasting.

A "One" and a "Three"

According to this year's Thanksgiving issue of Martha Stewart Living, that's what these two recipes are: A one- for easy or beginner, and a three- for difficult or advanced. The pie shown above is the three.

It's an apple blackberry pie with a leaf cut-out top crust. It smells so good and I'm sure it's going to taste heavenly. You know how I know this? Because the way you tell when it's done is when it starts to bubble out of the top. Need I say more? Luke's words were, "Wow, that's some pie."

And here's the "one": a standard classic pumpkin pie with a shortbread crust. Quick and simple, and always sure to be a hit.

Well, needless to say, with all these tempting pies sitting around, we needed a little something to tie us over until tomorrow, so I took the leftover pie dough and cut out these little apple bites, sprinkled them with sanding sugar and popped them in the oven for a little late night snack. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Studio Makeover Part Three

My next project for this room was to make these wall pockets, another pattern from Anna Maria's Seams To Me book. I used some absolutely gorgeous Heather Bailey fabric from her Pop Garden collection. It is so soft and buttery, I really wish I could make some clothes out of it. I did attempt a dress a while back, but I got so frustrated with it that it's still half completed sitting on a shelf in my studio. Maybe I'll get back to it eventually.

Here it is hanging next to the desk. I really want to find some pretty, decorative hooks to hang it by. For the moment, nails will have to do. I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for and I just couldn't wait to get it up on the wall.

It's the perfect size for loose papers and that stack of mail that often threatens to take over the kitchen counter. These items look quite attractive in here don't 'ya think? Please excuse my shameless plug for World Vision by the way.

The Only Man

That's what Luke was at our brunch this morning. Unfortunately, Alex's husband was unable to join us, leaving Luke alone with me and my three former college roommates. Somehow, with all of this delicious food about, I don't think he really noticed or minded. Here's the lineup: We started with some very yummy virgin mimosas - sparkling white grape juice and orange juice.

A tasty selection of teas.

Got milk? We did!

A bowl of apples, bananas, and my favorite - California cuties.

The main course - A Provençal tart made with a thin layer of dijon mustard on the bottom of the crust, a layer of shredded Gruyere cheese, sliced roma tomatoes, a custard filling of eggs and cream, topped with sautéed spinach (which the recipe actually did not call for, but I thought sounded good), and sprinkled with a mixture of Herbs de Provence (which I sort of improvised since I didn't have this specific French blend - I used Marjoram, Thyme, Basil, and Rosemary). Simply heavenly!

A 'lil meat on the side. Yummy bacon and little smokies.

And for a sweet bite these orange chocolate scones with chocolate chips - flavored with fresh orange zest and juice and orange marmalade.

Eventually, the testosterone at our little gathering increased slightly when young master Patrick joined us at the head of the table. All in all, a wonderful morning fellowshipping with three precious friends over a quite tasty meal.

Ready to Rock... and a few other star moments

How 'bout those threads?? I think he's ready for his first Flogging Molly concert. Too bad he won't be allowed to listen to their music.

He has really been fascinated with the mirror lately. He just bounces around in front of it making all kinds of noises and gets so excited when he sees his little twin staring back.

Love love love those big beautiful eyes!

Studio Makeover Part Two (and a barrage of links)

So part two in this process was to do something about that unsightly and very old futon. My wonderful husband gave the formerly black metal frame a "quick" (haha, yeah right...) spray paint job, making it a soft ivory. Then, to cover up the formerly black mattress, I had this beautiful futon cover made (a project I wasn't willing to tackle on my own) by a fabulous seller on Etsy who responded to my alchemy request. The fabric is a luscious print from Anna Maria Horner's "Garden Party" line.

Also, we finally got a couple things hung that have been sitting on the floor for far too long: a framed map of Ireland's County Kerry and Luke's doctorate diploma. The room is really beginning to come together. I have a handful of other projects for this room (and a couple other spots in the house) in the works. More to come!

Beauty in a Bowl

I think the pomegranate is one of the most beautiful fruits. My mother-in-law got me hooked on these a while back, and now I just love to open one up and pull out all the tiny arils. The little snap it makes as you pluck each one out is almost addicting, sort of like popping bubble wrap.

A ripe pomegranate is so full of color, like a richly painted canvas.

They're almost floral in their design. This image reminds me of a blossoming orchid. When I think of all the magnificent creations, of which this is only one, that God placed here for our enjoyment and awe, I can't help but praise Him for His unsurpassed beauty... something we glean a fading hint of in these fruits. Taste and see that the Lord is good!

Flowers in the Studio

As if I didn't already love coming into this room enough, a vase full of fresh flowers just makes it that much sweeter. Fry's has had surprisingly beautiful bouquets on sale lately, so I have been keeping a lovely bunch in the window pretty regularly.

A Tart Pan From Luke

When I got home from my doctor's appointment today, I walked into the kitchen and found a gift bag on the counter and a smiling husband. When I asked what it was for, he said, "Just because." Inside was a new tart pan. I have been just baking these tarts in a regular pie plate, which works fine, but he knew I was wanting a real tart pan with a removable bottom.

Well, we just had to test it out tonight, so I made this sautéed spinach and mushroom tart with ricotta and parmesan cheese, another recipe from the Once Upon A Tart book. The recipe calls for a double crust portion so that you can make a lattice pattern on top. And here it is, successfully transferred out of the tart pan and remarkably still in tact!

My Protest to the Never Ending Summer

Despite the fact that it is depressingly still going to reach 92° on this fourth day of November, I do have hope that one day it will indeed get cold here. And so it is in that hope that I present this hat as a symbol of promise for all the overheated Arizonan's out there... and of course as a symbol of devastatingly precious cuteness.

This hat is another pattern by Leila and Ben, and one that I just couldn't put down. I started and finished it in one day.

And thanks to fun hobbies, gratifying finished products, and this heartbreakingly sweet face, I still smile... despite the moral wrong that is this weather.

Learning To Crochet

I picked up a new hobby over the weekend. With the help of many many online tutorials, some very friendly people in the Etsy forums, and a little advice from a friend at church, I managed to teach myself how to crochet. And for my first project, I made a little cape.

I used a very soft wool/cotton blend yarn and these two adorable little buttons that I dug out of my huge button collection. The pattern that I used came from a shop on Etsy called Leila and Ben. I actually ended up not following the pattern extremely closely because I made some mistakes early on that changed the way the pattern would need to be followed, and I didn't have the heart to unravel it and start over. So I sort of improvised. I think it still came out rather darling if I do say so myself. I also bought another pattern from them, which was the true inspiration for learning to crochet, and I will definitely be sure to share when it's done. Here's a hint: I won't be the one modeling this time :)