December 20, 2009

Crocheted Flowers

I've been considering starting an Etsy account for some time now. Once I decided to go through with it I, of course, had to consider many things: name of the store and what I would sell. The name has been the hardest. I spent a great deal of time jotting down random words that I felt related directly to me and that represented the fun, lighthearted side of my life. After much consideration I am 70% sure of the name: Peony & Co. I designed a logo, which by the way, is what made me love the name that much more. No it is just a matter of starting a new Etsy account with that name.

As for what to sell. I am going to sell a combination of my knitting and crocheting and my mixed media works on paper and canvas (still to come). Since I have been snowed in for two days I've had time to begin and work out the design of my crocheted flowers. Here they are:






November 30, 2009

Continuing the Renovation of the Nest

Luke and I have been continually working on fixing up our new home. Luke spends much more time than I do at the house. I am excited to be finished with my course work at school so that I can spend more time working on the home. So far, we have the living room and the master bedroom painted. It was our goal to have these two rooms completed first. After these comes the kitchen and main floor bathroom.

The living room is painted a cool white (it has undertones of green in it) and the accent wall is DARK blue. I love the dark blue accent wall. I have been considering painting the white walls another color, but I think the blue wall and the white looks classic and sophisticated. I'll bring in more color with curtains, throw pillows and rugs.

Below is a photo of my wonderful fiance painting the blue accent wall. I give him credit, he puts up with my ever changing mind.



Before we even began to paint the master bedroom I had a vision. Dark mauve walls, with butter cream molding, a light tint of green comforter, and chocolate brown sheets, picture frames, and furniture. Oh, and a grayish purple carpet. I must say- the room is fitting the vision. Unfortunately, the photos do not capture the true color of the room. It looks more brown in the photos.

The carpet is not in this photo.



While I was painting the door and Luke was touching up the molding he painted a heart with L + P in the center of the floor. I am so happy to have this secret heart under our carpet! Here is a photo of his sweet artwork!







And, last but not least, there is the outside. Luke's Dad and brother helped him rip out the two large bushes in the yard. Then my Dad helped us remove all the brush. It took almost 10 truck loads to remove all the brush. Here are photos of Luke's brother ripping out the bush and me cleaning up the aftermath. (The yellowish tan house in the background is my neighbor that I have yet to meet. I think they are waiting and trying to figure us out before they approach us.) The neighborhood is made up of properties that are 1 to 1 and 1/2 acres. So, we are close but there is a tremendous amount of privacy.



November 12, 2009

Lady Bugs Are Our Residents

I almost forgot to post about the lady bugs that Luke and I share a residence with! As I was taking down the previous owner's curtains I came across a group of lady bugs who found a cozy resting place in one of the folds of the curtains. If they were any other bug I would have jumped back 5 feet, but since they were lady bugs (which I love) I gently brushed them off the curtain. Hopefully when I have my garden they will help its success by eating all the "bad" bugs!




The Nest!

I haven't been blogging for a while because the future hubby and I just bought a house! We have been busy ripping out carpet and moldings and painting walls.

At first I didn't like how dark this wall was so we painted the bottom half a lighter color and I like it less. It is now back to the dark blue and I love it.



Changing the locks.


Of course I had to clean this place from floor to ceiling.



Carefully painting.


The dark blue wall again.

I am so excited to fix up one of the rooms on the bottom floor. We plan to use it as our studio! It has been so long since I made any art and I can't wait to get back into it. I have so many ideas!

October 20, 2009

My First Scarf of the Season!

This past weekend I made my first scarf of the season. It is made with homespun yarn that is super soft and crochets up quickly. It took me two sittings to make this scarf. If you have 2 hours to sit and crocheted that would be ample time to complete this item. I wore it to the inspection of our soon to be first home. (More to come on that later)



October 10, 2009

Weekends of Ceramics and Luna Moth Caterpillars

I've been away from the blog because my Fiance and I are buying a house! The past couple weekends have been mainly filled with paperwork but there has been some time for leisure. The photos below are of the past few weekends.






The photos above are of me wedging clay in the ceramics studio at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center. I haven't been working in that studio for about a year. It was nice to get my hands in clay again; however when we move into our new house I plan to work on mixed media art (paint, printmaking, and pressed flowers).


The photos below are of my future hubby and me kayaking at Parvin State park.







This last photo is a luna moth caterpillar that we saw while walking on the trails at Parvin.

September 23, 2009

My Final Term at Graduate School!

One more term to go! I've had a great time at Drexel!




September 17, 2009

Home Alone Baking Scones!

Today I made delicious peach scones! They are one of my favorite things to bake and eat!





Peach Scones
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup diced peaches (1 large peach)

Preheat oven to 400 F
Sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar)
Using two forks or a pastry blender, cut the butter to coat the pieces with flour.
The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.
Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate, do not overwork the dough.
Fold in the peaches, gently.

Press the dough out onto a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1/4 in. Cut the the rectangle into triangle wedges.
Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. (I like to put parchment paper on my cookie sheet)

Bake 15-20 minutes (I usually do 15 minutes) until beautiful and brown.

September 14, 2009

Wedding on the Beach

Luke and I went to a wedding in Atlantic City this weekend.




The future hubbie and me.


The family on the beach. (My favorite people!)




September 11, 2009

Backyard Photos

These photos are from my parent's backyard. As I mentioned a couple posts ago, I am an aspiring gardener. I label myself in this way because my fiance and I have not found a house yet. Once we do I can start my gardening!

After uploading these photos I realized that many are of my 1.5 year old cat, Beauie. Yes, that is a harness on him. He LOVES his leash and harness. When I take it out of the drawer he gets very excited, jumps up on a chair, and trys to put his head through the harness as quickly as possible.