Home Work

Over the last couple of weeks I have been doing a few little finishing touches at home. Last week I collected together some paintings I have and had them hung in a cluster on a wall in our kitchen. There are a couple of drawings Harry has done for me, a painting which I picked up down in Bangalow last weekend and a few other special things I have collected over the years. The trick with cluster walls is laying the paintings down on the floor in a layout you like first and then hanging them. I always have a professional picture hanger hang them for me, after I have laid out the design, as my husband is {unfortunately} hopeless with a hammer.

Soccer Snacks

It was our week to bring snacks to soccer. You'll never guess what we brought...


Let me just say...I HATE DRAWING PENTAGONS!!! Ugh!



These cookies were probably the most difficult ones I've made in a while....I am apparently polygon-challenged. They're not my favorite, either, but the kids liked them. I think everyone enjoys seeing their name on something, don't you?


Looking for more sports-related cookies? Try these:

• Baseball Season
• Bowl Me Over
• Forty-LOVE ♥ (tennis cookies)
  

Bracelet Trends for This Summer

This season, update your look by taking advantage of new up-and-coming bracelet styles that offer high impact style for just a fraction of the cost of a new wardrobe.

1) Big bold bracelets continue to dominate the style scene this summer. Chunky beads, oversize cuffs and bulky geometric shapes are haute, haute, haute. Wear one with a sundress, tank top or strapless beach cover up for just the right amount of glam.

2) Safari, tribal and ethnic inspired bangles are all the rage right now. Look for bracelets made from natural materials such as wood and cork. A little print can go a long way in adding interest and a focal point to your outfit.

3) Mixing different hued metals is big right now. So instead of piling on piles of gold or sterling silver bangles, try incorporating rose gold, brass, hammered metal and other textures to kick it up a notch.

4) Charm bracelets are always on the radar, and this year is no different. Try charm bracelets that use earthly materials like natural cut stones and charms in the shape of leaves, butterflies and your other favorite insects and animals. Wear your charm bracelet with other bracelets for a look that is all your own.

5) Nothing screams summer like bright vibrant colors such as citrus hues and bold jewel tones. Add a fun bracelet to a monotone outfit of white, black or neutral for a look-at-me outfit that is sure to capture all the right attention.

6) Layering is a must-do this summer. Whether it's thin bangle bracelets, beaded stretch bracelets or mid size cuffs, you've got to go big with your accessories this season. Don't be afraid to mix and match to create a unique style statement.

However you choose to wear your bracelets this season, have fun with them as you enjoy the lazy days of summer.

Related articles:
Big Bold Jewelry Steals the Scene
Fashion Trends: Spring and Summer 2009
Wedding Jewelry Trends: Summer 2009

Sunday Lunch

I love the idea of a Sunday lunch like this with family and friends around a beautiful old table with lots of flowers, wine and great food. Now that Winter is almost here I think I need to plan a lunch like this out on the grass in our garden under our big old tree around our old French dining table.

Image - via Interior Divine Blog

A Bed for Ned

Ideally it would have been great to have had a bed built for Ned just like this one above when we were renovating last year however, we weren't considering a new puppy at that time. So, after all my thoughts of where or what Ned will sleep in it seems he has opted for the easiest option of all. He loves to sleep on a towel, albeit an Ralph Lauren towel, on the floor right next to my side of our bed....yes I know I am a softie letting him sleep inside but that's just the way I am. I couldn't sleep knowing he was outside all on his own. He has found his resting spot and I'm thrilled.

Image 1 - via Brabourne Farm Blog

Summer Strawberry Jam - No Pectin

Bright red strawberries made into jam and used for swirling in cream cheese frosting, strawberry milkshakes, smoothies, homemade ice cream, over a freshly toasted bagel, on top of a belgian waffle, or swirled into hot oatmeal in the morning are all the reasons I had to buy fresh strawberries and make this jam. The recipe is so simple and any berry can be substituted. Blueberries will be next, then I will try a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. A fruit medley jam with no pectin. A simple sugar syrup is all that is used to combine with fresh fruit and a little lemon juice. A candy thermometer, pan, wooden spoon, and measuring cup is the only equipment needed and before you know it, you will be nibbling on freshly made (and still warm) strawberry jam right off the spoon.

The amount of sugar used should be altered according to how ripe the berries are. I let my strawberries ripen for a few days before using them. I froze half of the batch so that I could use frozen strawberry jam in my smoothies and strawberry shakes. Note: Change a strawberry shake into a strawberry daiquiri by adding 3 T. strawberry jam, a few whole strawberries slightly chopped, a 1/4 cup of frozen strawberry daiquiri mix, and 1/4 cup of Bacardi rum. Blend and enjoy!
For the berry jam recipe you will only need 4 ingredients:

Summer Strawberry Jam
(adapted from Bon Appetit web site)
This makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
8 cups halved hulled strawberries (about 5 pounds)

Preparation:
Bring first 3 ingredients to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves and brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush. Attach candy thermometer to sides of pan and boil syrup until thermometer registers 225°F, about 6 minutes. Mix in strawberries. Return mixture to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until jam thickens and thermometer registers 216°F, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Transfer jam to small bowl and cool. Cover and refrigerate.

♛ AWARD

my 7th award from Ditty, makasi yah.





RULES :

1. Post the award asap


2. Tag the award to people as many as you like


3. Mention 5 of your fav blogs with the reason


4. Mention the person who gives you this award

2. i want to tagg..

Tada

Little miss day dream

Affy

Shida Aruya

Lia

Dwi Amtisari





3. my fav blog..

ahh semuanya favorite kokk. i can't choose to top 5, they're all the cutest xD





4. Ditty, yah si dityymizzlizzy my new friend from bloggers that kind enough to tag me awards.

& she's a beatlemania. xD





love.love ♥♥

Shaped card with flower power Tilda - Three Clovers Designs challenge

Boy am I ever showing my age with that title, huh?? LOL! Isn't she cute? First, before I forget, I've got to give a big shout out to my design team sista Suzy! Suzy has been making these adorable cards with her Nesties. Now I read somewhere a while back that making cards with your nesties was easy. But I had never tried it. But with lots of fabulous inspiration from Suzy, I came home tonight after work and did one. OMG, I love it! Sooooo quick and easy, and I'm a fiend for shaped cards anyway! I will be making lots more of these. I'll tell you that right now! LOL! But for now, this is what I came up with for Three Clovers Thursday Challenge by Kerry over at Three Clover Designs. Her challenge for you this week is to make a shaped card. Any kind of shape as long as it's not a square or rectangle. LOVE that kind of challenge.

I used this adorable Tilda with garland in her hair. I just LOVE her! I know...I know...I love them all...but I really do LOVE her! LOL! I also used the cute butterfly background stamp that is from the Chasing Butterflies collection. So cute! The stamps are colored with my Copic markers (pic below). All of this is available at Magnolia-licious!

Also did a quick faux chipboard word of "hi" with my Sesame Street Font cartridge with my Cricut Expression. Did a very simple decoration for the inside of the card too. This little cutie will be up for sale in my etsy shop if you're interested.

That's it for this one. Very quick and easy! Whatcha think?? Be sure and visit Three Clovers Designs to check out the challenge and the wonderful examples from the awesome Inspiration Team. Thanks lots for stopping by to see me tonight, and I sure hope to see you again soon! Have a fabulous weekend!!!! Big hugs!

Super quick post :: Heading out the door

Matt, I and his brother are heading out RIGHT NOW and need to make it up before dark so we can set up our campsite. Just wanted to say that I have the following orders finished and will list them Monday in my shop (I just ran out of time this afternoon):
1. myra1210
2. ccjt24
3. NicoleB
I have others nearly finished and will get those posted Monday/Tuesday also. Thank you so much for your patience!!!!

Grateful :: Blossom for a bride

Matt, his brother, and I are leaving to head north to Hoodsport, WA over the weekend and we leave this evening. We were scrambling to find someone to water our garden after a ton of plants wilted in just 1 day with out water (we planted a ton over the holiday weekend). Anyhow, at the 11th hour last night, I asked a lovely bride I'm working with, Janene, if she could do a totally strange favor and water our garden since she and her fiance would be passing through our town while we were away. She agreed! Whew! Thank you, Janene!!! Matt and I are completely grateful - especially knowing all our hardwork won't die during the hot weather this weekend! Among some other compensation, I whipped this blossom up for her:

I like! I added it to my Etsy shop too.

Click HERE to view.
If you are a bride/lady in the Salem/Portland, Oregon area that might be interested in trading for a custom hair piece in exchange for watering our garden or maybe caring for Indy this summer, shoot me an email: info@twigsandhoney.com
Matt and I will inevitably be away some weeks this summer and would love the help!

"The Boys" & the Best Mom in the World

E and I haven't seen our dogs, Itchy and Moose, since Christmas, and it feels like ages. I've said it before, but they really are like our kids. We are "those" people. We look at their photos and sometimes watch videos of them, but nothing suffices for actually having them with us.

And this week has seemed harder than normal. While the photos and videos usually bring comfort along with a longing to see the "boys," this week they seemed to just bring a bit of heartache.

Melanie Acevedo

But that heartache will be remedied for at least a few days-- enter the "Best Mom in the World." After I expressed how terribly much we've been missing them, my super sweet mom decided to drive "the boys" down to our house over the weekend. The drive is not a short one for her; it can take upwards of 10 hours, especially when traveling with the pups in tow.

I know how very lucky I am to have the mom I do.

I can't tell you how very excited and happy E and I are right now! I can't wait to get on the road. Whatever your weekend holds, I hope, like mine, it will be filled with love and joy.

Hoorah! :: Lauren Moffatt dress is mine!

Remember that fabulous giveaway for the Lauren Moffatt dress I love? Well, I didn't win it, but I feel like a winner because I just received it yesterday after snatching it up for over 50% off from Gilt Groupe. It shipped quickly too and I cannot wait to wear it. Action pictures to come.

Photo from here: Shop Lauren Moffatt

It fits beautifully and has such an unexpected shape. The pattern is refreshing and the linen is perfect for summer!
Update on the last post: My sis and I both got fabulous pairs of Paige Premium jeans before they sold out. Yay! To enjoy Gilt Groupe benefits, click HERE.

Honeymoon snaps! Katie and Steve in Hawaii...

So, it's time for another installment of Honeymoon snaps! Woo- hoo! I LOVE finding out where our clients are going on their honeymoons. I LOVE to travel and so it's fun to live vicariously through my little snap buddies. Katie was particularly enthusiastic about her honeymoon... she and Steve went to The Big Island of Hawaii as well as Maui and Kauai. Apparently, Katie has been planning on a honeymoon in Hawaii since she was a little girl. How nice that she ended up with a super cute hubby to take along for her wild adventures. It looks like Katie took full advantage of her exotic location and tried just about every activity Hawaii could offer...

Here are the highlights:

Katie and Steve: thanks for sharing your photos! (You really should have cropped that nude photo before you sent it to me though... don't worry, I took care of it)... not sure if I can look at Steve the same way now though. HA HA.

Megan and Ryan's Photo Date at Castle Hill, Newport

Posted by Trish: These guys are getting married in just a few weeks, but we got the chance to meet up and do a little portrait session which I think was a great trial run before the day. Now they have their posing down and have gotten comfortable with the process and the camera staring them down. It's also fun to get to chat a bit and find out what's happening with all of the plans.

We ventured out to the lighthouse since it's a bit of a haul in a wedding dress but easy in sandals.

Too bad this location was so ugly...what!

The water view from up here is awesome. It's such a rich blue/green, I want to jump in!

Cute! poor Ryan was fighting the bright sun to keep his eyes open. He did a good job!

I think this is one of my favs from the day. What's not to like about a rustic lighthouse?!

Ok, they are loosening up here, looking very happy and cute together.

We got so lucky, Tuesday was a beautiful day and the rest of the week has been crapola!

Here's the classic Castle Hill shot with the house in the background, sweet!

And now with the lighthouse in the background...I love stuff in the background apparently. But I think everyone does, so this could work out.

We also hit the beach because they don't want to leave the reception to come down the day of the wedding. So this way we get the best of both.

More excellent posing... while being monitored by the Castle Hill 'guy'. If you are not staying there they don't really appreciate you traipsing around on the beach. But luckily we had the 'they are getting married here next month' card to use, whew.

I think that Ryan was really excited when this was over. But we had fun and it was nice to get to see them again and I look forward to seeing them yet again in June for the big day!

♥ Proses Pasang BEHEL

Alhamdulillah pemasangan behel udah dijalani.

Alhamdulillah gue gak ngerasa sakit apapunn.. prosesnya cepet.

pertama-tama gue di bersihin dulu karang giginya..

terus gigi kelinci depan gue kan ada yg patah & bengkok sedikit, yg itu di tambal ama dokternya biar rataa gigi gue.

abis itu mulai deh dipasangin kawat, tadinya gue mau yg warna baby pink cuman tipe behel gue kan yg crystal safire jadi kawatnya dasarnya bahan transparan, soo gue ganti warna yg shocking pink aja supaya 'keliatan' warnanya. hehee. xD

pokoknya gue bersyukur bgt prosesnya gak sakit sama sekali, dari awal sampai akhir aman.

sariawan juga Alhamdulillah sama sekali gak ada.

tapi proses pemasangan behel buat gigi bawah gue bisanya minggu depan karena pas dibersihin karang giginya gigi gue meradang.. darah kga berhenti2. jadi musti nunggu seminggu.

gakpapa.. dehh.

gigi gue tambah monyong nee~

mudah2an hasilnya giginya cepet masuk biar pede lagi. hehee.

love.love ♥♥

Gilt Groupe :: Paige Premium on Friday

Remember how I love Gilt Groupe? Well, I already have my sister signed up and she put an alarm on her cell phone to make sure she doesn't miss the Paige Premium sale tomorrow at noon EDT. I've been waiting for this sale for a long time now. I hope they have this pair available:

Woman Blue Heights. Perfect for summer. Clean and modern.
Remember, you need to have an account (free to sign up) to get in on the sale. You can click HERE to be invited. :) Enjoy!

Friday Flowers & Ned

It's been kind of a crazy week in our household. Yesterday I went to the airport to pick up our new little family member, Ned an 8 week old Golden Retriever puppy. He is divine. I thought I would take a photo of him with my Friday Flowers. He really didn't want to sit on the chair, hence the not-so-great photo. I hope you have a great weekend wherever you are, whatever you do. See you next week!

Whimsical and versatile new piece :: In my Etsy shop today

I felt inspired by the sunny weather to create a fun new piece... multi-purpose! It's in my Etsy shop and you can view it HERE. You can wear it as a...

Bridal belt or strap embellishment (great for spaghetti straps or create one for a strapless gown)...

a necklace...

a headband...
So many choices...

Edible Image Cookies

I realized when posting Terri's birthday cookies that I've never posted about her 40th birthday cookies.

Now, I hope Terri won't mind me stating her age, since she looks younger every time I see her.
{In a few years, I'll be making "29" cookies for her. I know, you'll want to hate her, but she's really nice, so you can't.}

So, I had this idea to use a drawing of Terri and have it printed on icing sheets for her cookies.

First, you need a really talented relative that you can guilt into making the drawing. (Thank you, Maura.)

Then, format the picture to the size you want it to be on the cookies. If you're lucky enough to own an icing printer (oh, how I would LOVE an icing printer!), print them off. If not, do what I did and take the file to your local bakery supply store for printing.

When you are ready to make the cookies, trim the pictures to the right size. Outline and fill the cookies as normal.

While the icing is still wet, peel off the backing of the picture and place onto the icing.

Now, here's what I learned the HARD WAY...add a day to the drying time. The icing sheet traps the moisture in the royal icing. It really needs 2 days to dry totally.

I made them the night before, started to bag them up and hop in the car to drive to the party, and OH, NO! The cookies were still wet. I cranked down the AC, turned the fans on high and prayed for the best.

Well, by the end of the evening, some of the cookie icing was stuck to the interior of the cookie bags. It's the thought that counts, right? :)

If you like these cookies, check out more cookies I made using my cousin Maura's fabulous artwork!!!
Cookies from Art

Pia and Scott's Photolounge Fun...

Melissa and the photolounge were super excited to make an appearance at Pia and Scott's wedding at Castle Hill on Sunday. As usual the lounge was a huge hit... and we may have a new record for number of loungers in the lounge at the same time...18 (actually I think the record is 27 but 18 is pretty good!) We've said it before and we'll say it again...

Photolounge+ wedding guests = guaranteed fun!

Clearly this gentleman has had too much coffee, someone cut him off!

Pia and Scott! So cute!

These guys are my favorite... genius!