Rememberance

It is hard not to remember where you were 8 years ago on this date. I woke up late and was missing my poly sci class because I had the flu. Of course I would be sick on one of the most historic days in history. I woke up that morning and turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane hit the tower. It still seems very surreal. I called my husband (my fiance at the time) and asked him what had just happened, being that I was not quite myself thanks to the medicine I was on, and he filled me in.

I am sure we all have our stories and know people who's lives were touched directly and I would love for you to share them. But I would also like to take a moment and remember the fallen from that day, and say a prayer for their family and friends as they remember as well.

State Fair of Texas

I spent the last 8 years living in Texas just north of Dallas, where fried food is KING. Especially this time of year. The State Fair of Texas is just around the corner. If you know nothing about this fair, know this: they actually hold a contest between the food vendors on who has the most inventive NEW fried food. A couple years ago it was fried coke! Yes, you heard me fried coke, and it was delish. One of this year's contenders is fried butter. (see the rest here) Everything is better with butter right? Well Abel Gonzales Jr. seems to think so and he maybe right, he has won the Big Tex Choice Award for best new food several times. So if you happen to be in the Dallas area from Sept 25-Oct 18. Make your way over to the fair and enjoy some good fried food as well as some of the other attractions there.

Also, let me know which one(s) you are going to try, or tried...I won't be making it down there this year and would love to know what you all think of the new creations.

A Creative Walk

This morning while I was on Twitter someone was asking how do you get the creative juices flowing? A great question. Most of us don't take the time to figure out how we do what we do, we just do it. The problem with that is we tend to get in a rut. (even if we don't know it) My suggestion was a simple one. Get out, take a walk and sketch (or take pics) of the color combinations that you see. What better way to get ready for the fall colors than to take your inspiration straight from nature!

I liked my idea so much that I took my own advice and set off with my 2 year old and we took pictures. But instead of taking pictures of what I found interesting I took pictures of things that drew his attention. He loved this, he figured out what I was doing right away and starting pointing out all kinds of things and helping take the pictures too!

I love when I am able to include my son in what I am doing, if you are a parent you totally understand what I mean. So below is a few of the things we stopped and took pictures of, I hope you find them as inspiring as we did.

I would love to know what you do to get your creative juices flowing too. Feel free to share what you do or what you do to get your kids involved in the creative process.

Shopping Smarter

I know that most of us have changed our spending habits in way or another over the past year with the hopes that the economy will rise again. A lot of us have started thinking about supporting locally owned shops over the superstores with the hopes to revive what might soon be lost. Projects like the 3/50 Project are a great way to get the word out about this sort of spending.

But what if we wanted to do more? Not just for our country but others as well. What about supporting the arts all over the world? Sites like Etsy are doing an amazing job creating a global community where artists can get together and sell their goods. Some artists even support different charities with their proceeds like Bags with a Mission who is trying to help some boys in Kenya go to high school.

Another idea for you is a company called Trade as One whose mission is to provide Fair Trade employment in impoverished areas of the world and create a new way of thinking when you purchase something, by asking yourself "who made this?". Simply stating they take people out of terrible situations like slavery or prostitution and teach these people skills like sewing or farming and then provide them with 100% of the profits, so that they can make a real living on their own and begin to support themselves. Charity is great to a point but unless you can help people support themselves, charity will always need more help. That's why I love the concept behind Trade as One. The founder is an amazing man with a heart bigger than life itself. I hope you get a chance to visit their site and learn more about them and their views. The site offers everything from home decor, to food, to apparel and everything in between. The craftsmanship is amazing as well. I have a purse, a journal and a necklace from them and love them all!

I just wanted to give you another option when you shop, especially with the holidays right around the corner. If you know of any other sites that are like this please share them here, I would love to know about them.


This basket is perfect for going to the farmers market!


Perfect for back to school or a diaper bag. It's waterproof for the most part since it's made from recycled rice bages!

Fun Surprises

So I was googling my shop today to see where I was mentioned and stumbled upon this! This website is one of the coolest I have seen, where regular people recommend what they love you can check it out here .



I love finding surprises! I have a busy weekend of work and social obligations this weekend so while I have some quite time I best get to work on some new vinyl pieces for the shop. Happy weekend!

Vinyl ReCYCLED

SO I have been teasing you with hints of my upcoming new line of jewelry and homewares made from vinyl records, and I am proud to say they are finally here!

I have 2 necklaces listed in my Etsy Shop as well as 2 wall hangings!

I can't wait to here what you all think of these. Feel free to leave your comments here or contact me directly at my Etsy Shop. If you you like to purchase one of the four of these, mention this post and receive FREE SHIPPING on your order until Aug 31~

Happy Shopping!

New Line of Art Debuting This Weekend!

I have been talking about some new art that I have been working on for about a month now, and it's finally ready to be unveiled this weekend! Yay!

My new line will consist of wall art as well as jewelry, all made from vinyl records! How cool is that?! I can't wait to show you. If fact the first piece has already been listed. Check it out here . It's a wall cross cut from a vinyl record and then painted.

I will be listing at least 2 more items this weekend, but hopefully more and there will be several to follow over the next few weeks. I will also be taking custom orders on these so if you have a design you would like me to work on for you please contact me anytime. And it doesn't just have to be crosses if you have another idea that you would like me to work out for you, let me know that too!

I am super excited about this project and I can't wait to see what you all think too, so leave your comments. Also leave a comment if you have other things that you would like to see me try.