This week in the Blogosphere...

(Image courtesy thePhotoZoo)

Beautifully dressed beds via the Style Files.

Tidy up the kitchen + a recipe for veggie chili via Doorsixteen.

Work it girl via Smitten.

Farewell my love.

Enter to win via Creature Comforts.

Leaving you with a little reading for the weekend. Tonight Mr. Right and I are officially celebrating my birthday...out for a cozy meal + two tickets to watch the Detroit Pistons vs. Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, the kids will be happily chillin' at Grandma's house, raiding candy dishes and having pancakes for dinner. Everyone wins.

Holla! Michiganders on Etsy...

Today I thought I'd post a little shout-out to a few of the fellow Michiganders on Etsy. Have you ever used the shop local feature on Etsy to see what people are making in your area? This is a great tool to use to support your local artists, and it's also a good idea if you've waited until the last minute to buy a gift and you need some quick shipping!

From the top:

♥ You Stink Soaps The descriptions in this shop make my mouth water...flavors and scents include Vanilla Pear, Gingered Peach, Toffee Macadamia Nut, and more. The Stinky Hippie variety catches my eye as well. To boot, all products are vegan (free of animal products) and smartly packaged!

♥ Toybreaker You've got to love the gal behind this shop. Bethany's a New York native now living in Detroit, she's successfully dabbled in couture design, traveled the globe in a rock band, and been featured on Martha Stewart. Pretty impressive, huh? Her ties are hand-screened with unique offbeat graphics, sure to set your man apart from the crowd.

♥ Alicia Bock Many of you may already be familiar with Alicia's work, as it's been seen on Grey's Anatomy and Sex and the City, The Movie. She captures everything from lazy beach walks to florals to shoes. She is completely self -taught, furthering my belief that either you have it or you don't!

♥ Kusu These days I tend to gravite toward simple jewelry. This shop caters to those who appreciate modern design and clean lines. Kusu is constantly being updated with new designs so check back often.

♥ Michele Maule I had the priveledge of stumbling upon Michele's work this summer at an art fair in my area. I recognized it immediately from Etsy. Her style is consistently full of layers, texture and color. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. She's definetly one to watch.

The view from where I sit...

Reading, making sticker collages with the kids, looking at houseplants, dreaming of spring.

Actually I'm reading and daydreaming, while supervising the girls as they use their kiddie scissors...there are no more unsupervised crafting sessions that involve scissors...three weeks ago our 5yr. old was allowed to have scissors in her room, my husband's idea, and she proceeded to give herself a haircut...it looks a little Billy Ray Cyrus circa the 90's, sheesh. She thinks it looks fabulous and will not let anyone tell her otherwise. That's my girl.

Grey and handsome.

Pick-a-pet...

( via fantiny)

Lately we've been tossing around the idea of getting the girls a pet. Our 5 year old has been asking, for quite a long time ,how old she has to be before she can have one. I think our answer was, "maybe when your 5". Of course we said that, because it felt like 5 was so far away. Well now it's here, and she's asking again. Sunday afternoon we took her to the pet shop to look around. We told her it has to be smallish, definetly no dogs, cats, or rabbits. We simply don't have the space. So we looked at birds, we have enough noise in this house...hairy spiders, very cool, but if it got out Mom would freak...lizards, pretty cute...fish, boring...mice, hmmm, mice...they're cute, furry, they come in different colors, there houses are small...but most of all they looked absolutely full of energy. They ran around in their wheel, dug through little paper tunnels, and even appeared to be playing chase...she totally loved them. AND as she pointed out, each of the girls could get one, so each mouse could have a friend. Now comes the part where she has to earn the pet, to be continued...

What was your favorite childhood pet? Do your kids have any interesting pets that you'd recommend? Do tell.

Calling all party people...+ a video

Images via Weberphoto and Shelbynycole

Today is my birthday... if anyone wants to send me a dozen of these, that would be just dandy! Click here to see a video of what we did this weekend. :)

(p.s. I'm 29.)

I Heart You...Free VDAY cards to download

Download the pdf file here.

The girls and I are tossing around Valentine card ideas...We are making our own this year to exchange. As much as we love Spongebob, Wonderpets, Dora, etc...we want to give out something different. These balloon "I Heart You" cards are our first batch. I attached the pdf here, free for you to download and print. We printed ours on 90lb bright white paper, which is plenty sturdy for kiddos. The insides are blank so you can write whatever your heart desires. They measure 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 and print two per page.(Make sure you print the image at 100%) Simply cut and fold. They pair perfectly with notecard envelopes. (You can always find these at Michael's in the dollar bin.) Or you could seal them with a sticker as shown in the first photo. We also took a hole puncher to the back, making two holes, perfect for inserting a lollipop!

*The download is through Scribd, let me know if you have any issues.

These are free for personal use only. No commercial use allowed. All images and text copyright
©Lindsay Brackeen 2009.

I may post more designs so check back :)

I Heart My Blogroll...

( book art at Anthropologie via Elle Decoration Blog)

What I'm reading...around the web...

=Check out the blue peepers over at The Sartorialist.

=Save Handmade via Bloesem Kids.

=Join the conversation over at Decor8. Holly hosts the second installment of her Creativity Series. Read last week's discussion here.

=Enter to win a piece of Ashley G's work over at Design For Mankind. Btw- Ashley has launched a second business!

=Beautiful whimsical images via Oh Joy!

(p.s. This site always cracks me up...)

For the love of bread and jam...

After the first rise

Fresh from the oven

Today I made bread...three loaves to be exact. I'm definetly not dirtying my bowls and trashing my kitchen for one loaf! Anyway, for the last year or so my family and I have been eating Ezekiel bread. It's made from sprouted grains, which contain more nutritional value and are easier for your digestive system to break down. So, basically it's better for you. It's great buttered as breakfast toast, but as a sandwich bread, it's a little rough and crumbly for my taste...and I'm about sick of paying $4.69 for a loaf of bread. Therefore, for the past 3 weeks I've been making all of our bread. I found a recipe on my go-to source, Allrecipes, for a Honey Wheat, and it is awesome! I've modified the recipe to my liking, as follows...

Honey Whole Wheat Bread (makes one 1lb. loaf)
1 1/8 cups warm water (115 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/4 c. honey
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
2 tablespoons butter (at room temp.)
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

First, proof your yeast. (There will be directions on the yeast packet.) I measure out all the water needed in advance. Then I heat all of it to 115 degrees. I then remove 1/4 c. of water and place it into a glass, adding 1/4 tsp. of sugar, and the yeast. Within a few minutes your yeast should be thick and bubbly. That shows it's active. In a large bowl, combine the honey, butter, remaining water, and proofed yeast. Gradually add the whole wheat flour a handful at a time. Use a big wooden spoon to mix in the flour, working with big strokes to whip air into the dough. I reserve my 1 c. of bread flour for kneading. At this point, turn your sticky blob of dough onto a floured surface and begin kneading in the 1c. of bread flour. I knead the dough for about 8 minutes. (This might be a bit excessive, but it also counts as my workout for the day, ha!) Anyway, I then let the dough rest, covered, for about 2o minutes. Then I go back and add salt...at this point I might add some flax seed or raisins too. Knead the dough into a ball and cover with a damp towel. Let it rise in a warm place until it's size has doubled.
(about 2 hours for me)
Then punch the dough down, shape, and place into pan and let it rise again. Then bake at 35o for about 30 minutes. It is so so good! We are never eating store bought bread again.

*I highly recommend that you use the best ingredients available to you, in order to make the best bread. I used organic, minimally processed products and purified water.*

We also made the strawberry jam. (Berries were on sale this week!)
Recipe here, minus half the sugar.

Tips for bread-making here.

Make a donation, get an apron...

Aprons for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation

My husband's step-mom is raising money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. For every $25 dollar donation, she will send the donor a specially designed, hand made apron.

(A great gift from the kiddies, to mom, on Valentine's Day) Futhermore, for a $5 donation she will enter your name into a drawing to win an apron. She will hold a drawing everytime new donations reach the $100 mark. So in other words, you have a 1 in 20 chance of winning. Each time an apron is won, she will post the next design to be given away. So if your inclined to help a worthwhile charity, or need an apron, please click over to her fundraising site for more details!

(Feel free to link this post in your blog if you feel your readers would be interested.)

When did I become such a homebody...

from the portfolio of Robyn Glaser via emmas designblogg

I really want to make a quilt this year. I've stumbled upon some Amy Butler prints that I'd love to mingle with a few solids. I'm not sure if I want to do a block quilt, or something like the ones shown above. I think the longer strips look, less busy, which I like. I can get impatient, and I realize this isn't something I'm going to be able to whip up overnight. If I did a block quilt I could use something like this, which would be a shortcut right? Then again, the strips would be less sewing altogether. Hmm, decisions, decisions...

Make a silhouette...

I put this little piece together for my niece's 2nd birthday. Her room is pink, black, and white with a very Parisian boutique kind of vibe. These are super easy to make. All you need is a frame and mat (I snagged this one at Michael's for 50% off), some decorative paper (scrapbooking aisle), and some glue. I simply pulled up a profile image of my niece, converted it to black and white, and up-ed the contrast to make the outline more visible. Then I cut out the shape to make a stencil, traced it onto black paper, then cut that out. I glued the silhouette to the decorative background paper, popped it all in the frame, and viola. Custom silhouette portrait. I'm thinking I'll do one of these for my girls to, but with a more modern twist. Fun, no?

(Don't you just love that bit of baby fat under her chin...)

fancy paper...

Papergraphics by Yulia Brodskaya.

As an admitted paper-freak, this work absolutely blows my mind. Check out her link for more amazing paperwork.

After a long hiatus...

Hmmm...I was beginning to wonder if I would ever post here again. I apologize to all of you who come here to see my same tired post day after day. Our holiday was lovely, and busy, and it gave me an opportunity to step away from the computer and spend time on other things. For one, I've slapped a new coat of paint on all our bedrooms. Shades of pink and yellow for the girls, and a soothing grey for our room. Now I just have to tackle the bathroom...I'm still undecided on a color there. Also, I bought a new computer. A laptop, FINALLY. So I've been transferring software and drivers, backing-up pictures and loading files. I've been editing a ton of family photos so we finally have proper framed pictures of our kids around the house. There's been lots of snow days, so we're working on a monster hill in our extremely flat backyard. What fun is sledding without a hill? So my husband is snowblowing a huge mound of snow in the back. It's about 8 feet tall at this point and I believe we're adding to it today. It's only 7 degrees so I think we'll get the waterhose out and ice it a bit. Hopefully my next post won't be about all the injuries I sustained on said hill. :)