That's mah Doggie.

  When you're child is a terrible eater, is it wrong to trick her into eating veggies by letting her sit on the floor and beg for food like a doggie?  I think not.  It works pretty great. I would recommend trying it to any parent with a picky eater, who loves animals. 

Despicable Me!

     We took my daughter to her first movie in the movie theater and saw Despicable Me!  The movie was really good.  Cute story and the animation was impecable.  Very entertaining, and my 2 1/2 year old loved it.  It managed to hold her attention the whole time, which was the thing I was most concerned about.   It wasn't the most original movie ever, but it was very entertaining.

     As, for my own art, I managed to finish a watercolor and ink painting.  It's little red riding hood.  I have too many loose ends still to try to open my Etsy shop, but I will soon.  PROMISE! 

     I'm going to make some paper goodies and extras for when I start to sell my items, so that will be the next project. That's all I have for now I think. 

Hmmm, I don't think so.

    So my Etsy goal is just not going to happen today.  I did get some photos of a few things together, but I need to tie up some loose ends with everything before I actually sell them.  I have to buy printer ink.  I have a few things I need to design.  I could add to this list forever, however I am getting closer.  New goal- next Tuesday!  Please. Oh please. 

    Here is the pictures of a few of my crafty things.  A makeup case and two dolls with removable clothing.  I have more coming, but I want to see how these things sell first.

   I made everything by hand and there are some imperfections of course, but I like to think that it adds to the charm of the items.  I have a few more dolls at home and a bunny that I'm working on, as well as other started and not yet finished creations. 

   Of course, no weekend of mine (lately) is complete without a visit to the beach.  This time we went on the bay side.  Once again it was just me and my girl, but I like it that way. 

Busy, Busy Bee

     I haven't been near a computer for more than 10 minutes for over a week now.  I finally have a moment to sit down.  This past weekend was my boyfriends birthday, so we celebrated a bit and went out that night to an amusement park on the island near where I live.  It was a good time, although maybe not his first choice in things to do for his birthday. 
     The next day we went to Batsto Villiage, an old iron working town from the 1800's in the middle of a large protected forest.  It's crazy how certain areas of NJ can be so remote, yet still so close to major cities.  It's really beautiful and woodsy there.  I'd like to live somewhere like that someday, but maybe in a more mountainous area.  Anyway, the historic town shows you somewhat how people used to live and work.  The town was anchored around this gorgeous mansion built by the very wealthy family that owned the property.  It really reminded me of how people used to live and the struggles that they had to endure, and even though I'm fully aware that our lives are much easier, I still think that most of the old ways of doing things were much better for the people, the environment, and the animals.  I know I couldn't and wouldn't want to live without refrigeration, heating, and air conditioning however.  I could probably give up most of the rest of it.

This is the card I made for my boyfriends birthday.

Here's some pictures of Isobel being a crazy nut at 11:00 pm last night (past her bedtime, I know). 

This is my Izzy Butterfly Princess Fairy!






























She was spinning in circles and dancing around, and being cute in general.  I wish you could hear the music from a small keyboard that she put on herself.  It was so perfect for the dancing. 












And she danced and spun until she fell down.  Too cute!  I just couldn't stop her from dancing although it was past her bedtime.  I just cherish moments like this with her and I know she won't be this age forever.

These two pictures are from another day.  I just tacked them on here.  Me and Izzy hanging out.

     I also recently found this website that is so awesome for prints and small original art.  Also the design is so spectacular.  There's something new done to the title of the website everytime you click on a link.  It's really great.

     I also wanted to say that I'm still working on getting my things together for my Etsy shop.  It's a process for me to figure everything out.  I want it to work so badly that I am researching everything and trying to get everything right before I start trying to sell.  I think that I may be overthinking it.  Anyway, it should be up by next week.  Definitely won't be this week.  Tuesday the 20th is the goal!

Blueberry Muffins!

I took my daughter out myself the other day to go to a beach by a river.  On the way there, I decided to stop by a farm where we do our blueberry picking.  I LOVE this farm, and their blueberries.  It is so charming and I wish that it was more than just blueberries, but that is all they have, and they seem to make a killing.  Maybe I need to start my own blueberry farm. 

The "store" part of the farm is a little shed with a window.  From 7-2 pm (or something like that) there is someone inside the store.  After that, they operate on an honor system where you pick your amount and pay by putting the cash in a wooden locked box.  They have ice pops in the freezer inside to take also on the honor system.  I just love things like this, as we are all so untrusting and suspicious of one another. 

Fresh picked NJ Blueberries!

Blueberry Muffins!  Here's my recipe:

1 1/2 Cups Wheat Flour

1 Tsp. Baking Soda

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp. Salt

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Egg, Beaten

1/3 Cup Butter Melted

1/2 Cup Milk

1 Cup Fresh Blueberries

Topping:

1/3 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. All Purpose Flour

1/8 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1 Tbsp. Butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line muffin pans.

2.  In large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, beat sugar, egg, melted butter and milk.  Stir dry mixture into wet mixture and fold in blueberries.  Spoon batter into muffin cups.

3.  For Topping:  In bowl, mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.  Sprinkle over muffins.

4.  Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

And here is my newest sketch that I'm working on: