http://lifeworkmediablog.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/book-themed-wedding-ideas-for-the-bookie-english-major-or-nerd-couple-yes-please/

  It is Wedding Season!♥ I have been married myself 10 wonderful years & had a blast planning my own wedding celebration. We even renewed our wedding vows in a ceremony in Arizona this past year, so I had another great time planning & scheming for that celebration. I love thinking about Weddings so much I should probably be a Wedding planner!
 There are some very cool & unusual themes for Wedding s out there these days. I have filled Etsy orders for the following Weddings: Goth, Old Horror Movies, Parisian, Dr. Who, Steampunk, Organic and my favorite...Book theme. 

 A book nerd & Wedding nerd...that describes me perfectly! Here a few peeks at 
some Book themed Weddings. Enjoy & Happy June!!

        
                 Skeletons both intrigue me & creep me out at the same time. Must be why I love them so! Here is a new image I came up with for my Etsy Shop. I am forever hearing about "Branding" & am trying to find mine. Thank goodness for The Graphics Fairy! That is where I get the majority of my Victorian images that I use in my art. No shortage of creepy, cool, old skeleton over there!

www.thewhoporium.etsy.com

   For a long time nerd lover such as myself, I have been familiar with Dr. Who for many years now. I do confess, that my first times watching it, were only because a cute geeky boy in my 8th grade English class liked the show. I did not like it. I thought the special effects were cheesy (they were) & Science Fiction/Fantasy did not interest me at that point (they do now.)
  A few years ago I started watching Dr. Who again & this is not the cheesy show I remembered. The special effects are amazing, the story lines catch me & now that I am a true SciFi/Fantasy geek myself....I just adore this show. 
 I started an Etsy Shop just for my love of the Dr. & all things handmade TARDIS related.
 For all my fellow Whovians out there, keep calm....& don't blink!

www.thewhoporium.etsy.com

www.thepapersnail.etsy.com

  I am glad I thought to throw the sidewalk chalk in the car last week when the weather was starting to get nicer. You just never know when the muse to get down on your knees & draw on the ground is going to strike. 
  I got hit with that very hankering this evening & my sister's front walkway was my canvas. There is something so satisfying about chalk for me. It is an instant connection to my childhood & happy Summer type memories.
  I'll re-up on the chalk now because I really wore mine down & you just never know when you will need to make art.

 We recently took a drive down the coast of Puget Sound & checked out the tulip fields in bloom in Skagit County. In this first shot you can see the Olympic Mountain range. Behind us, we had a glorious view of the N. Cascade Range. This outing is a Family favorite of ours & we try & go each year. 
 Hope you enjoy these pics!

Making your way through the muddy fields is part of the whole Tulip Viewing experience!

www.thepapersnail.etsy.com

www.thepapersnail.etsy.com

 I am always on the lookout for new ways to work with paper & Mod Podge, so when I saw some wrapped pencils in a fancy gift shop recently, I knew I had found my next project. 
 I had pencils, sealant & of course I have paper...I was ready for this! Some I covered in vintage Comic book pages & other with some pages from a old, damaged Reader's Digest. They took sharpening in the electric sharpener just fine & I love writing with them. Now, to try different pencils & paper combos.  
 Happy Crafting!

www.thepapersnail.etsy.com

www.thepapersnail.etsy.com

  I have always loved & been fascinated by birds. Their calls, feathers, nests never fail to catch my attention &  my imagination. 
 I like to bring natural elements into my home and am always partial to the rustic & shabby. I have been in paradise checking out The Lucketts online Vintage Hip store. A feast for the senses! My current favorite is this metal hook rack. Gorgeousness (& I know just where I would put it!)
http://shoplucketts.myshopify.com/products/metal-wall-hook-with-birds

 I have been working on this wreath for a long time now. It was in an almost finished stage for too long to admit to, but no more! It is finally finished & ready for me to shoot some great pics of it & list it in my Etsy shop The Paper Snail.
 It is made from scraps of an old romance novel & vintage comic books. Each scrap is dipped in glue than inserted in the straw wreath form over & over & over. It is an idea I adapted from a fabric wreath I saw online. I plan on starting another soon & I will post the project in steps. Blessings!

Today I was feeling a bit homesick for my hometown,Yakima (it happens) & I decided to drive across town to our Albertson's store. This weird out of date grocery store, for too many reasons to explain, reminds me of YAK & my folks, my youth & my Grandparents. We stepped inside the store & the smell of fried chicken, baked goods & burnt coffee blended perfectly with the golden oldies being played throughout the store. The boy & I looked at every hula hoop, bottle of bubbles & huge bouncy ball they had. It worked...♥


(Yakima is known for it's delicious Cherries. This sweet vintage cherries image is graciously free to use from thegraphicsfairy.blogspot.com)

  I adore old text and paper. I combined my love of paper and Victorian images in these prints. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do making them♥

 "What's for dinner tonight?"  The eternal question, eh? I try to plan our family's meals around what's on sale, local healthy & of course what we enjoy eating. My husband is a vegetarian (no meat at all even fish, but he will eat eggs) so after 10 plus years of marriage I have become a whiz at meals that are vegetarian for him yet have some meat for our son & I.
 By default, most of our meals are meatless, but I feel this is a healthier, less expensive & a ecologically sounder way to eat. Vegetarian spaghetti, chili, nachos, fajitas & veggies on the grill, are favorites around here but there are nights when the kid and I want something meaty like turkey meatloaf or grilled chicken breast.
 For night such as these, I will make a main meat dish, a starch (potato, rice etc) and a veg (salad, steamed broccoli, green beans etc). Then for my veggie hubs I make an alternative to the meat protein. Tofu cutlets, grilled tempeh, frozen chicken"less" nuggets & the like). The starch & veggie part of the meal is great for him and for us meat eaters. 
 So..what's for dinner tognight???


 From Rachel Ray ( made by: ME above!)

Ingredients

TipUse zucchini instead of eggplant.

• 1 large eggplant (about 1 3/4 pounds), cut lengthwise into 8 slices
• Salt and pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup store-bought pesto
• 2 1/2 cups bread crumbs
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup grated pecorino-romano cheese
• 1 cup store-bought marinara sauce

Directions

1. Season the eggplant with salt and pepper. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and 4 tablespoons pesto. Pour the bread crumbs onto a large plate. Dip each eggplant slice into the egg mixture, then coat with the bread crumbs.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees ;. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the eggplant until golden, 2 minutes on each side, using the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil. Transfer the eggplant to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet.
3. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta and 3 tablespoons pecorino-romano; season with salt and pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon of the remaining pesto on each eggplant slice and top with about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture. Roll up each slice. Bake until the eggplant is tender when pierced with a toothpick, about 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the marinara sauce to a simmer. Serve the roll-ups with the sauce and remaining pecorino.

    


  Every year about this time, I start dreaming of the Beach & summer Vacations. I am wanting to bring some of that feel & capture a bit of the fleeting Season. Creamy color combinations, natural textures, nautical prints & images all play a part in this look. here's to creating the perfect Summer Beach decor!