Easter Tablecloth

This Easter our family learned about a very cool thing to do while decorating Easter eggs.  A fabulous designer named Akwaflorell created this design for the Painted Eggs Contest at Spoonflower.

Great Easter Messy by Akwaflorell

In her description about the design she says that her family as a tradition put out a white tablecloth every year and decorate their Easter eggs on it and the result looks much like this!  I thought this is too cool.  We have to do this!  So here is our first year of trying Akwaflorell's tradition.  We had so much fun that I have decided to make this part of our Easter tradition as well!  Check out our first Easter Messy Tablecloth that I just adore!

Blueberry Muffins

We were craving blueberry muffins.  I whipped these up and then realized it has been a long time since I've shared a favorite recipe.  So I grabbed the camera before these yummy muffins quickly disappeared. 

Here is our favorite blueberry muffin recipe using ingredients that I like to use. 

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
3/4 cup organic pure cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons reduced sodium aluminum free baking powder
1/3 cup melted and cooled organic virgin coconut oil
1 cage free egg
1/3 cup organic whole milk
1 cup fresh or frozen organic blueberries

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup salted butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.  Makes 11 to 12.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place melted coconut oil, the egg and milk into a separate bowl and stir.  Mix this with flour mixture. Now fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

3. Crumb Topping: Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.  Pat it down into the top of the mixture a little bit and sprinkle more on top of that.

4. Now bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. Remove muffins to a wire rack, and let cool just a bit before serving.

These muffins came out so soft and delicious!  They were honestly gone in minutes!  I always bake using coconut oil in place of vegetable oil because the flavor is amazing.  Soon I'll share an old family banana bread recipe using coconut oil.  Best banana bread you will have ever tasted I guarantee it!

Oh and here is a picture of a little 18 month old hand that could no longer resist the temptation.  Mommy was taking too long in this photo shoot.  Little guy had waited long enough behind the scenes. :-)

Jane Austen

This week's contest at Spoonflower is the Jane Austen Contest.  As designers we were asked to create a design that reflects how life would be like in a Jane Austen novel.  Pride and Prejudice has always been my favorite so I thought about that novel the most while working on my design.  I also turned to my Mother who loves Jane Austen novels, the culture and that time period.  She sent me a link to a very interesting site that I thought I would share.  We know that there are the Jane Austen books and the movies but who knew that there is a... game?  The Pride and Prejudice Game is for sale in Prairie Village, Kansas!  Click here to check it out!  What a hoot!  

So for my design I thought about the book, the movie and the description of the game and came up with Stroll Through The Gardens.  This color palette is very popular for weddings and I thought it would be fun to create the design to be appealing for wedding decor.  So I started with a floral background and then scattered fans, parasols, roses and wedding bands.  I wanted the design to reflect the idea that it is a stroll through the gardens with hopes of wedded bliss.  

Here is my design for the Jane Austen Contest!

Stroll Through The Gardens at Spoonflower

I have already been contacted about making this design available for purchase so very soon it will be for sale in my shop at Spoonflower.

Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my newest design and the blog!

Spring Throw Pillow Collection

Spring Collection at Society6

Roses at Society6

Orange Roses at Society6

These throw pillows are currently for sale at my shop at Society6! 

Soon the designs will also be for sale at my shop at Spoonflower!

Thank you for taking the time to check it out!

Easter Birdies

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring! 

Easter Birdie Egg Hunt at Spoonflower

Easter Birdies Cheater Quilt at Spoonflower

Furniture Project

As a new designer nothing excites me more than to see my designs become something beautiful.  Recently a very talented buyer at Spoonflower purchased one of my earlier designs.  This was one of the first designs I did in a collection called Daydreams and Dandelions.  I was teaching myself placement and colors and figuring out basic repeat of the design while learning Photoshop all at the same time.  It was all very much a challenge but a good challenge.  It feels like every day I'm learning something new in the design world.  What I appreciate most about Spoonflower is that I've been learning as I go in an incredibly supportive community of fellow designers.  Their comments and supportive words keep me going, and seeing what they create on a daily basis inspires me to do more and do better.  

So getting back to finished projects.  It's such a blast to design but there are no words when someone actually purchases your design to make something beautiful and then takes the time to share it with you.  I was thrilled last week and on cloud nine actually when a purchase was made of my fabric design and created into this project you see here.

  

This fabric design is titled Daydreams And Dandelions Butterfly Trail.  I love everything about this project.  I love the shelves and the butterfly knobs and the white trim.  I also love the soft green and purple up against the white.  It is things like this that keep me going.  Especially when I hear that voice in my head that says... What are you doing??...Just quit now!  Gorgeous projects like this are exactly what inspire me to continue designing.  I'd like to thank the talented Butterflycharmangel who created this furniture project and all of the others who have created something fun or beautiful with my designs.  I am so very grateful for you all!  You all help me to keep on keeping on! 

Girl Power

Spoonflower's contest this week is all about girl power.  My design entry is titled Power of Books.  Girl power = Girls who read books!  Featured in my design is a young girl who does various activities with the help of books.  She also has her little pup pal by her side joining in the fun. If you would like to see the entire collection please click here. 

Power of Books at Spoonflower

  Girl Power Collection at Society6

  Go Girls!!  Go read a book! :-)