Snow Day!

Cabin fever is starting to set in. I'm on day two of being snowed in. It really stinks when you live in the middle of nowhere and no one comes to plow your dirt roads that are like ice skating rinks. I have absolutely nothing to do today so I thought I'd bring you up to date on my blog.

We spent Valentine's Day in Dallas at Top Golf with my best friend and her husband. It was our first time to go and we had a blast. We played two rounds of golf, two rounds of put-put, and hit the batting cages. The food was delicious and it was a wonderful date night.

The next day we headed to my home town to visit our friends that were in town from Houston. We also spent the following day car shopping and guess what....WE BOUGHT A CAR! We were in desperate need of a reliable car with as much driving as we were doing. We were both still driving cars that were bought for us in college and had almost 200,000+ miles on them. Since we didn't have a car payment, we were planning on driving them till the wheels fell off. Well, the wheels had pretty much fallen off so we bit the bullet and bought a new one.

Happy Valentine's Day to us! We bought a 2009 Chevy Equinox. She looked shiny and pretty for all of a day. Now she is sitting in my driveway covered in red mud and dirty snow and I haven't driven her since I brought her home.

That's pretty much all the exciting news I have for right now. Other than that, I've just been busy making orders for my Etsy shop. Here are the latest items I've created and added to the shop.

I pretty much come home and work on a new order every night during the week so I haven't had time for much else, hence the lack of blogging and my failure on the 52 week hand lettering project.

I celebrated my best friend's birthday this weekend. She had been wanting a chalkboard easel to put on her front porch and write different things on for the holidays, seasons, special events, etc. I found one heck of a deal on a chalkboard easel at Kirklands and couldn't pass it up. They are only $25 and I'm sure they will go fast...I'm hoping they still have some next time I go because I'd like to have one for myself. Here's a picture of how I decorated the board (thank you Pinterest for the idea). Since Easter is around the corner, I thought I'd make the back side Easterish. This will have to suffice for my hand lettering project for the month.

Here's to wishing the snow will melt and Spring will show up soon! It's my most favorite time of the year :)

Life Lately

January has been a wonderful month in our household. We managed to stay in town all four weekends and we literally had nothing on our calendar. I cannot tell you how nice and relaxing it was.

On the cold days and evenings we took advantage of some snuggle time with Samson.

When the weather was beautiful, we took advantage of being outdoors and exploring.

Aaron got a kayak a few weeks ago so we tested it out for the first time in our backyard pond. My plan is to buy a kayak for my birthday so we both have one. I forsee a lot of kayaking float trips in our future this summer. 

We also spent a Sunday afternoon walking and exploring a nearby lake. It is such a pretty lake...the water was so blue and clean. We will definitely be spending a lot of time here this summer camping.

We had two new visitors at the Love Shack in January.

My friend Stephanie came to visit. We went out to dinner and then to a monster truck rally. I've always wanted to go to one just to see what it was like. This was a very weak show and wasn't near as cool as I thought it would be, but I must say, we were way too close to those huge trucks and there were times when I got a little nervous. 

My friend Beth also came to visit. We hung out at the house for a while just catching up and then we went out to a local casino and had dinner at a sports bar inside the casino. Thanks for coming to see us Steph & Beth. We loved having you!

I've been busy in the evenings working on new items for my Etsy shop and getting orders made and shipped. These are the newest items that I've added to my shop. 

I am still really loving my new job. It is a little bit dangerous though because I am around hair and beauty products all day long so I'm constantly wanting to buy new products and try them out. Essie just came out with a new color line and this is the color Suite Retreat. I had to buy it yesterday and I love it!! It's a pretty periwinkle color that makes me excited for spring.

I got behind on my weekly hand lettering project with Pen and Peplum so I'm going to share week 3 and 4 with you at the same time. 

 Week 3 Prompt: One thing to do more often

Week 4 Prompt: A Summer Memory

Happy Super Bowl Sunday. Hope you guys have fun watching the game, or not watching the game and stuffing your face with yummy snacks ;)

Friday Favorites!

#1. Last Saturday I got to see these beautiful friends AND shop with them at Dallas Market. These are my co-workers from Mammoth Spring and I haven't seen them since August so you can imagine my excitement when they called me and told me they were heading to Dallas for market. I have always wanted to go to Dallas Market and it was WAY cooler and bigger than I ever could have imagined. We had so much fun and I loved getting to spend the day with them and catch up. I did a little bit of damage and came home with some cute new jewelry. I'm going to have to do some major shopping next time I visit Mammoth because they got some super cute stuff!

#2. After market I made the short drive to Ft. Worth to have dinner with my best friend Marcus. He has been living in Seattle for the last 4 years and now he is within 1.5 hours from me...YAY!! My best friend from college, Allison also met up with us for a little bit. It was so fun to hang out with both of them on such a late notice. We also got to see my sweet friend Christen for a little bit. I love that we all live so close and can get together more often!

#3. I started an Etsy shop this week. I have always wanted to start one, but to be honest, it scared the crud out of me. I finally bit the bullet and spent some time figuring out how it all works. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm excited to see how it goes. I'm working on adding some new items to the shop on a regular basis and working on the appearance of the shop. Right now it's a very rough draft so bare with me, but I hope you will check it out and take a look. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuinceeTaylorDesigns?ref=hdr_shop_menu

#4. My friend Stephanie (and possibly Jan) is coming to stay with us this weekend. We're so excited to hang out with her and show her around. This will be her first time to get the "love shack" experience.

#5. This week was my first whole week of work at my new job and I'm so ecstatic to report that I am loving it. My boss and co-workers are wonderful and I think this is the perfect fit for me. It doesn't feel like work to me and it's something I think I'm going to love doing every day. I'm so thrilled that every thing worked out and thankful for this new opportunity. 

That's all I've got for tonight. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Sewing Project: Some Goodies for a Baby Girl

Not sure what is about giving baby gifts that I love so much, but it is so fun to shop and create for babies...especially girls. Our friends are expecting their first baby girl soon so I decided to make her some stuff. I was in the crafting mood and wanted to get some more sewing practice. I had seen all the cute customizable baby name headbands, blankets, hats, etc. so I thought I'd give it a try. After lots of thinking and brainstorming, I figured out a way to design my own fabric and have it printed online and shipped to me. I'm so excited about this because the possibilities are endless. You could switch it up in so many different ways with fun fonts and colors, or even design your own patterned fabric. I had it printed on organic knit fabric so it's stretchy and really soft. It is really expensive for a yard of this fabric so I opted for a fat quarter square of it to experiment with (I was scared it wouldn't turn out or the fabric wouldn't be great quality, but it is). The fat quarter square was plenty of fabric. I was able to do a headband, hat, and then I had left overs that I could have used for a bib or burp cloth if I knew how to sew those (that's my next project). I however, didn't have enough fabric to make baby leggings out of it, which was what I was hoping for. 

 Here is the fabric.

And this is the hat I made. I just cut out my own pattern and didn't do any measuring which was a bad idea because I made the top of the hat too short so I couldn't tie a knot in it. Therefore, that's why there's an extra piece of fabric at the top to make a knot. Here's to hoping this will fit on her little head!

 I also made this headband. It was so easy to make and I'm excited to get some more cute fabrics and make some more.

I decided to make her a hand-stamped initial onesie to go with the headband. I just used foam stamps from Hobby Lobby and fabric paint.

I used to make onesies like the two pictured above all the time, but when I moved far away from my mom, I quit making them because she was my seamstress that sewed around the letters. She was happy to retire from that position. My goal is to be able to do it myself, but I'm really scared to attempt it and I have a lot more practice to do before I'm able to sew around such small letters.

While I was practicing and playing around with my hand lettering, I thought I'd go ahead and make her a print to put in her nursery.

I had a printing place condense it to a 4x6 and print it in color for me so I could put it in a frame.

I had so much fun making these goodies for Ella and I can't wait for her to get here. I'm ready for the next baby in line so I can make some more stuff and keep on practicing.

Hand Lettering Project : Week 2

Prompt: Summer Love List

I was going for the calligraphy look here. Can you tell which two words I started out with? It took me a few lines to get the hang of it (hammocks and float trips were a tad bit shaky).  And those are pineapples in case you can't tell. 

This project has been so fun and I'm really enjoying looking at all the other participant's work. It will be fun to look back after the 52 weeks and see how far we've all come. To follow along or join in on the fun, visit Pen and Peplum Blog. You can see every one else's work in the comments on her blog or follow this link.

Oh and I have some great news to share!! After months of being unemployed and trying to figure out what to do with my life, I am happy to say that I accepted a job today. It is in the hair/beauty industry, but not actually doing hair. Due to privacy, I won't share where the job is, but I am really excited for the opportunity and can't wait to start. I have loved staying home for a while and getting caught up on photography and getting all settled into our new house and finishing all those projects, but I'm not going to lie, I was starting to get cabin fever. Ready for some human interaction and praying that this is the right fit for me and a job I will love!

Easy, Yummy Crockpot Recipes!

I love it when I cook more than one meal a week. And I love it even more when I cook more than one good meal a week. That is reason to celebrate for me. I've been trying to do more meal planning. I've been successful in cooking at least 3-4 nights a week recently. That's a pretty big deal in our house. Usually Aaron is the cook. Thank goodness for my crock pot. It has been a life saver.

I thought I'd share a few of my latest successful recipes. They were all husband approved and will be made again in the future.

Slow Cooker Angel Chicken: You can find the recipe here: http://www.southernplate.com/2013/08/slow-cooker-angel-chicken.html

Chicken Taco Chili: Image source and recipe found here: http://ryleegrover.blogspot.com/2013/02/healthy-recipe-chicken-taco-chili.html

Tonight I made meatball sliders. I got the recipe from a friend and I have used it so many times. It's crazy how easy it is and it's so so good.
You will need:
-Pre-cooked Italian Meatballs (1 package)
- 1 jar Chili Sauce
- 1 can Jellied Cranberry Sauce
- King's Hawaiian Rolls
-Parmesan Cheese

Combine meatballs, chili sauce, and cranberry sauce in a crock pot until heated thoroughly. Put the meatballs on the rolls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. So simple!

Do you guys ever get on Pinterest at night and you're completely full from dinner, but you see a recipe and suddenly you need dessert or something sweet? Yeah, happens to me all the time. This one did it to me tonight. It will be next on my to bake list.

Image source and recipe here: http://iamaddictedtorecipes.blogspot.ca/2013/10/cinabun-cake-cinnamon-bun-cake.html

Oh and if you want to find some healthy recipes (won't find them here) and workout tips, check out my friend Courtney's new blog!

One more thing...check out the new tea cup I added to my collection today. I couldn't resist buying her. Too bad I don't drink tea, or have tea parties, but I sure do enjoy displaying them and looking at how cute they are.

52 Week Hand Lettering Project

Pen + Peplum is hosting a 52 week hand lettering project. I have no clue how to hand letter, but I'm so inspired by it and I think what people do with it is amazing. I am a terrible artist and I cannot draw at all, but I love experimenting with hand writing so I thought this would be fun. I know nothing about watercolor or what brushes to use and I definitely don't know how to do calligraphy so I'm for sure a beginner. Yesterday, I found a watercolor kit at TJMaxx so I bought it and gave it a try. You can definitely tell this is my first attempt so please don't make fun, but I'm excited to see how it evolves over the next 52 weeks.

{prompt 1} 2015...a word, a mantra or your focus for the new year.

My word, mantra, focus for the year is content. To be content with what I have, where I live, what I do, etc. I always find my self looking at other people and thinking, man I wish my house looked like hers, or I wish I had her job, or I wish I was as skinny as her, or I want her wardrobe, or her talents, etc. I'm going to work really hard on not comparing myself to others and being content with what God has given me.

P.S.- I know it looks like I wrote that with a marker, but I promise it's watercolor and paintbrush. I need to figure out my consistency of the paint. And please ignore that ugly leafy thing I painted under it. (See what I mean with content? haha)

P.S.S.- Someone in our house looks pretty content. He loves to sunbathe.