Love Notes

Hello my dears! Valentine's Day is just around the corner and as you may or may not know, it is absolutely my favorite holiday-that's-not-really-a-holiday.

I just love love and I don't care who knows.

I decided to use that as the theme for my first gift in the 2013 Pay it Forward Creative Challenge.
At the top of my list of things I love is, of course, writing. I am partial to Moleskine for jotting down notes, so I picked up a package of plain softbound journals and decided to decorate them in a Valentine-y fashion.

Here is the result:

Ha! Just kidding. As usual, I got busy with a paint brush before figuring out what I was going to do and things got weird from there. Obviously I thought glitter would make it better. It did not.

After reevaluating my skills, I decided the simpler, the better.  With a thin coat of glue, I made a little glitter heart on the second notebook (as pictured at the top of the post).

The third notebook, inspired by Cupid's arrows (so cheesy!) I painted on a big red chevron, using a bit of washi tape as guidelines.  Don't scold me for wasting pretty washi tape, it was the perfect width for my needs.

Et voila! Two simple but pretty notebooks.

So watch your mailboxes, Challenge winners, someone will be receiving these shortly.
(As for the first attempt, I am keeping it on top of my desk, as a glittery reminder that less is always more. )

Now get out of here and go write someone (or something) a love note.

I'll start:

Dear Gruyère Cheese,
You complete me.
All my love,
Ellie

---
Supply List:
-Moleskine Cahier Pocket Ruled Notebook (Set of 3) in Kraft Brown
-Washi tape
-Martha Stewart Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Craft Paint in Tartan Red and Wedding Cake
-Martha Stewart Fine Glitter in Smoky Quartz

Happy Weekend

Source

Wow the weekend couldn't come soon enough! For the last two weeks I feel like all I've had time to do at home is sleep so I am looking forward to staying in and getting caught up on projects and also do some much needed cleaning and organizing. I probably shouldn’t share this but this morning as I was getting ready for work, I noticed a pungently sweet odor coming from my closet. On the floor in a purse I forgot to clean out, I found a clementine that had shall we say, given up the ghost. I know, that’s atrocious and why would I even tell you that but friends, this is real life and sometimes we let citrus rot in our closets because we are terrible at prioritizing in our free time and “do it later” turns into “do it never”.  My point here is I really need to stop ferreting away fruit in my bags like I’m some sort of hoarder.

And also clean the floor of my closet more often.

Anyway, my deplorable habits aside, after the cleaning frenzy, I’m excited to get my crafting on in preparation for Valentine’s Day and sending out the first round of Creative Challenge gifts! What are your plans, friends?

In the meantime, here are some links I liked this week:

+ A simple but yummy recipe for homemade pop tarts inspired by our favorite pies (via A Beautiful Mess)

+ Anytime I was feeling blue this week, I just looked at this photo with the caption "Who am I?" and couldn't stop laughing. I don't know why it's so funny to me.

+ Add this to your list of places to visit: a glass beach in California (via Colossal)

+ A 23 year game of tag. The commitment in their friendship is amazing.

+ Loving the beautiful simplicity in this collection of prints. (via Note to Self)
Also, have you entered to win a 16x20 canvas from The Canvas Tree yet? I've got my eye on this one!

+ "Riverside" by Agnes Obel
AGNES OBEL - Riverside by Pias France

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

Hello from the middle of the week! We all need a little pick me up on Wednesdays, right? Well here’s a pile of freshly chopped chocolate for your viewing pleasure:

mmm…you can almost feel the endorphin rush...

In my last weekend links post, I shared a link to a Martha Stewart recipe for chocolate mint sandwiches. They are dark chocolate cookie wafers with a mint-infused ganache, enrobed in dark chocolate. Sort of like if a Thin Mint left the Girl Scouts, went to college and got a job working for a fashion magazine. Fancy.

Anyway, I couldn’t get them out of my mind, so I tried it. I’m not going to post the recipe (you can get it here) but here are some more photos from afternoon in the kitchen. Thank you Jami for taking these for me!

After you chill the dough, the recipe calls for rolling it out to 1/8” thickness and then using a cookie cutter to make perfectly round wafers but this is real life and ain’t nobody got time for that so instead I made two (mostly) even logs and then thinly sliced them into (mostly) even cookies. 

In my kitchen, taste trumps appearance so things like "evenly shaped" and "pretty" don't carry much weight.

While the cookies were cooling, it was time to make the ganache in the double boiler. Oh ganache, you wonderfully indulgent creature. Chocolate, heavy cream, and peppermint extract. Like, we're not even going to pretend there's anything healthy about that.

The Canvas Tree

Hello my dears! I'm so excited to talk to you about something that has been a long time in the works. My genius brother-in-law has officially launched a website called The Canvas Tree. It's a way to connect artists and graphic designers with the art-loving masses.  If you've ever shopped for affordable art on Etsy, 20x200, or Society6 you may or may not have noticed that most of it comes printed on heavy duty paper or card stock. If you want to hang it, you need a frame.  But what about wrapped canvases? You get museum-quality, ready to hang prints without the extra hassle or cost of a frame.  Society6 has a limited selection but they usually start around $85 for the smallest size.

That's where The Canvas Tree comes in. They have combed the web for great artists and graphic designers and proudly features their work on custom wrapped canvases in various sizes, starting at just $39 for an 11x14 canvas. The good part? Everything is made here in the U.S.

Here are a few of my favorite prints, from a test photo shoot I did while I was in San Antonio:

Are you ready for the BEST part? For the grand opening, The Canvas Tree is giving away a 16x20 canvas of your choice to one lucky winner. Click here to enter. You can also like their page on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Got empty wall space to fill? Need a gift for someone? Head over to The Canvas Tree. And tell all your friends!

And before you ask, no, this post was not sponsored. I'm just so proud of my bro-in-law and his entrepreneurial spirit. The website looks awesome and I'm excited to see it grow!

February

February, month of despair,

with a skewered heart in the centre.

I think dire thoughts, and lust for French fries  

with a splash of vinegar.

-an excerpt from “February” by Margaret Atwood

Oh February, how I dread seeing your face each year. This is always a hard month for me to get through.  It’s a lonely, long-dead leaf skittering across an empty sidewalk.  The charm of winter has worn off, and it’s so cold the clouds are holding onto the snow to keep themselves warm.  

February is a grey lady who keeps me inside my house and inside my head for far too long.  She holds no joy of holiday and no glimmer of spring.  She is a month of struggling to keep resolutions, of grim realities and uncomfortable crossroads. No one has a picnic in February, our eyes are too heavy and our fingers too numb.

But life isn’t supposed to be one jolly picnic, is it? We need Februaries to appreciate December and May and September and all the other pleasant months in between. So that’s the last you’ll hear me complain about her. I’ll square my shoulders, set my eyes on the horizon, and keep walking until March.

To this end, my February resolution focuses on mental balance by increasing my physical activity. Nothing shakes the dust and cobwebs out of your head like a little blood flow. Or so my mother tells me. I’m not going to give you any specifics because I’m not interested in keeping an exercise diary but there will be a conscious effort on my part to be less of a lazy slug in my free time this month.  I will probably complain the whole time, so you don’t want to hear about it anyway.

Power through, friends.

-----------------------

Image Sources: (1) / (2) / (3)