At the Beach

Our Florida Vacation was stunning and fun and too many hours of driving. But after these photos there is no doubt in my mind that we will go again. It's a few months since we've been back. I jumped right back into my Etsy shop and haven't sat down to show you these lovely photos until now. This was my first time to Florida and only my4th time out of Missouri.
I've been to Cancun on my Honeymoon, Iowa to see my husband's family, California for a romantic getaway and now our first ever family vacation.
Valencia at sunset in a dress I made her for this trip. She wanted an orange dress because it is her favorite color. The top of the dress is a 18 month shirt that I sewed a peachy fabric to for the bottom of the skirt and added some vintage lace from the Antique Mall.
Jaedin wearing his big bright smile :)

My sweet Valoria and I doing Eskimo kisses.
My sister deserves the credit for these beautiful photos! Thank you Jen for helping me capture such loving family moments.

Muslin Tags!

I am extremely excited to show you my newest Etsy addition. Muslin Tags! It has to be one of my favorite creations I've made for the shop throughout these 2 years. Right behind the coffee dyed manila folder tags. With weddings becoming more rustic and natural these would be so beautiful tied around napkin rings or wine glass stems. Custom Calligraphy is offered to be use as place cards or escort tags.

Father's Day Cake

For Father's Day my sweet little girls and I worked on making an all chocolate cake while Jaedin, my son wanted not much to do with it. Jaedin made Dad some cards but baking just wasn't his thing this year. The girls absolutely love any step of the cake I will let them do. They are finally old enough to start measuring and stirring. Still, I won't allow them to help crack the eggs. My little Valencia (on the right) loves to get out the eggs from the carton while I'm not looking and draw faces on them. I'm pretty sure she names each one so I 'm sure to crack them in the bowl while she isn't looking :)

Valoria took interest in working the icing bag. This is her 3rd time working with it. She did a fantastic job last christmas when she was just barely 3. I couldn't believe how controlled she was with a bag of icing for having just been 2 years old but now with this Father's Day cake she proved she can do some really great dots. So we lined the outside of the cake with dots.And here is the final product. Proud little girls and one happy Daddy :)

Summer Activities

Oh my goodness! It's been a busy Summer. We woman have an incredible knack for having to fill every second of every day. But, I suppose these are the funnest times in life. The kids are with me every second of every day accept when my lovely parents take over for a full day, and sometimes even my husband will take them for the day so my mom and I can have a day of rest or shopping:) This time, we went shopping ~! and here are just a very few of the things we got on our incredibly successful shopping spree.

We found Valoria this magnificent tinkerbell costume. we bought it for her Halloween costume this year but she will wear it about a hundred times before then. The wings light up and it came with a wand. All for only $8.50! As you can see in the photos she beyond Loves it.

Alot of what I can't show you today is Miss Valencia's Birthday Presents. She got a rocking pony and snow white shoes and a few other gifts she will love. I'll show those in August after her Birthday party. She will be 5 this year but will not be headed to Kindergarten yet, She missed the birthday cutoff by only 3 days. Oh well, I'd love to have her home another year :)
Here she is with her new Birthday party dress (for only $5.50)
Mr Jaedin is headed to 1st grade in August, so for summer we've been working on homework every day. He is really great at Math and writing. He's showing off his Yoshi candy despenser Grandma and I found for him

We also bought some more bathing suits. At $4 or $5 a pc these are just too cute. And Valoria's Strawberry suit was only $2.50
The kids and I went on a hot morning to the waterpark. We packed up Ice water, grapes and apples for snacks and I packed up some "basket projects" I call them. These are small projects that I need to work on for Etsy orders. Such as tying tags, and wrapping rose stems.
The kids had such a great time and for a good portion of the day, had the water to themselves. I sat under the pretty pavilion where there was a nice breeze and worked on orders. In front of me the kids play happily and to my right this beautiful view of a lake with a fountain.


Here are the Crepe paper and coffee filter roses that I completed while at the park.
Hope you are all having a Happy Summer!!

June Tags

New rustic coffee dye tags for the shop. These new stamp designs are refreshing to work with. Always fun to add something new.

Among adding new regulars to the shop, here are some custom order requests for the month of June.

Calligraphy and printing, double sided

Wedding favor tags
Business Tags

Placecards with Calligraphy and scroll work

Fifi's Blog

Photo by Fifi O'Niel

Hey there!! A very exciting post today!
My sweet Friend Sandy at My Streamside Studio just had her cottage photographed for Romantic Country. Sandy has decorated with my pink Ephemeral Coffee Filter roses so they were photographed by Fifi O'Niel herself!!! How exciting!
I can't wait to see the article and to see if just maybe the roses make it into the magazine as well :)


Fifi O'Niel's Blog Chez Fifi...


Photo by Fifi O'Niel



(Photo by Me)
(Photo by me)
The roses are twice as big and fluffy as seen in these photos because now I am using 2 coffee filters for each rose. They are 4.5 to 5 inches wide now. if you'd like to have some roses for yourself, they are in my shop ..right here~!

Beautiful "Good For you" foods

This spring after reading Natalia Rose's Women Detox Diet Book I was fascinated by a healthier way to treat your body. I knew eating Raw would not being something I would employ full time but it certainly effects every day life after you experiment with new foods.

I'm excited about being able to use these tips for the beginning of my adult life. Being in my mid 20s now I thought it very important to think about making some new habits for myself.
I am not an extremely active person. Being an artist is certainly a blessing but it comes with some down sides for me. I much rather be inside making a creation than outside working out.
I'm just not the outdoors type although I'd like very much to be.Here are just a few of the foods I experimented with this summer. The first photo shows thin whole grain buns with a mixture of tomatoes, goat cheese, olive oil, lemon juice and basil. set on the bun along with a piece of lettuce. It is a perfectly filling lunch with a glass of ice water or a glass of natural juice.
The 2nd photo shows a delicious juice that is a mixture of raw carrot, pears,lemon and apples..
It's addicting really.
This pretty blue salad bowl is filled with lettuce, onion, olive oil, lemon juice, goat cheese and a few torn up pitted cherries. The cherries mix with the olive oil to make an incredible dressing.



Alright, this may not be a "good for you food" but it certainly is healthy as far as desserts go :)
A strawberry shortcake with whip cream and fresh strawberries.

My exciting new purchase this summer was this juicer that I've loved using. Since it is a large piece of equipment, I make my juices once a week. I make my favorite juice recipes in bulk and store them in one glass serving screw lid containers in the freezer. They recommend drinking juices right after you've juiced because you get the most nutrients from the juice the same day but that is just not ideal for me at this time in life :)

Hope these pretty foods inspire you to add a little raw to your diet!