{crafty} decorative letters

I have been wanting to try my hand at more decorative altered-type items for a while. I recently picked up a bunch of canvases and wood frames and such that would be great for altering. I am currently working on a canvas project that I am really excited about. I hope it comes together like I envision it.

In the meantime, I have a letter that I  altered. A good friend of mine recently moved in to a new home and her daughters were able to move from sharing a room to having their own. My idea was to make these for the girls' doors kind of as house-warming gifts, to celebrate their new individual spaces, but I admit I am not always the most timely. Now I have one down, and own to go. Lucky for me the little girl I made this for happens to be having a birthday next week, so at least its good timing for something! Her older sister has a birthday coming up too, so now I have a new deadline for her letter.

I painted the letter black and then used Mod Podge to cover it with this bright grungy pink paper from Basic Grey Olivia- Kembrie.

I love accordian flowers. I made this one with the reverse side of the Olivia - Kembrie paper. I punched and distressed a small circle of scrap paper that I had and then topped it with a cute little felt flower, also from the Olivia collection, for the center of the flower. I layered it over a Making Memories rub on accented with a little green bling.

The paper ruffle is Florence, from the Olivia collection. I simply punched a strip of this paper with the Fiskars scalloped border punch and then pleated it, holding down each pleat with glue dots and then glued the whole thing to the back of the letter. I added a few buttons, ribbon, pearls and a BG Olivia chipboard flower with a little glossy accents in the center and called it a day. 

I'm having fun getting out of my comfort zone and doing things that aren't just for me. I love being able to do girly, flowery stuff every now and then!

{flashy} Color Inc. Giveaway

Rita over at The Coffee Shop Blog is hosting a fabulous giveaway for a framed gallery wrapped canvas. Head over here to check it out!

{flashy} Snow Day + I Heart Faces entry

Growing up in sunny southern California we never got to experience snow unless we jumped in the car and drove an hour away to look for it. I have memories of playing in the snow with my family when I was young, but in recent years those experiences were few and far between. About 7 years ago (geez has it really been that long?) I was visiting my parents for Thanksgiving and while up late spending time with my family we realized it was snowing. I was so excited and so in awe, you would have thought I had never even seen snow before. I think I spent the entire next day sitting on their couch staring out the window, watching the snow fall. Much like rain, I find it to be so peaceful for me. It makes me smile. It makes my soul sing.

When we moved up to the Portland, OR area last summer one of the things I was looking forward to most was winter. Or to even have real seasons at all. The area we live in is no stranger to snow, or so I was told, but I quickly learned that our weather is totally unpredictable. Throughout the winter months we had snow forecasted quite often but rarely did it ever show. And when it did, it was very short lived and never amounted to anything.

Finally, last week there was talk of us being hit with the worst snow storm of the season and I started getting antsy. In the back of my mind I doubted it would happen. Thursday morning we woke up to a beautiful white blanket of snow, and better yet, it was still coming down. Here we were, in the last few days of February and now we have snow.

Carson and I ate breakfast and then went outside to play. I snapped some pictures first and then put my camera away to play in the snow with my son. Within a couple hours the snow had nearly completely melted away. We watched it snow off and on for the rest of the day, never again sticking to the ground.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day, and that I've taken in recent months as well. It makes me smile. This is what I have been ever-so-impatiently waiting for.

I've come to realize I have a hard time sharing without story telling. This whole entry started because I wanted to submit this photo for this weeks I Heart Faces photo challenge.

So there you have it. A photo, and its story.

{tasty} Bacon Biscone

Im just going to put it out there.

We are a family that loves bacon.

Its true. Even my son will jump for joy and shout "bacon!" when he finds out I'm making some.

As much as we love bacon, we do try to limit our intake of pure bacon goodness to about once a month or so. And when we do have it, I love to bake with it. Sweet or savory, bacon makes everything better.

My husband requested I make scones with bacon, cream cheese and green onion. It was totally his idea, but heck I did all the work! I made 3 dozen of these biscuits? scones? I suppose its a biscone. I enjoyed a couple and sent the rest off with my husband to work. Im pretty sure they were gone within a day and a half.

First things first, you have to cook the bacon. I usually bake mine on cookie sheets. Its pretty effortless and they cook up great! Take cream cheese and butter out to soften slightly while bacon is cooking

Allow the bacon to cool, and roughly chop. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cube butter and coarsely chop the cream cheese. My idea behind freezing the cream cheese is similar to why you use frozen butter. I wanted pockets of cheese and not so much melted throughout.

Add all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cube frozen butter and cut into dry ingredients with a fork or pastry blender until the butter is the size of peas and some larger pieces. Gradually add in the cold buttermilk until it is just combined. Coarsely chop the cream cheese and 4 green onions, fold in to the biscone mixture, along with the chopped bacon. 

Using an ice cream scooper, arrange scoops of the biscone mixture onto a lined or greased baking sheet. Bake, until the tops are starting to brown, about 20 minutes. 

While these are baking, melt about 2 tablespoons of butter and combine with 1 clove minced garlic and 1 green onion, finely chopped. 

When biscones are slightly browned brush or spoon butter over each one and bake until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes more. 

Bacon Biscones: makes 12

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup cold/frozen butter, cut in cubes
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups cold buttermilk
• 4oz cream cheese, frozen
• 8oz bacon, cooked crisp
• 5 green onions, divided
• 1 garlic clove, minced

{flashy} Beacon Rock

Pioneer Woman's Sunshine action

When we first moved to the Portland, OR area last summer we tried to spend a lot of time driving around the city discovering new areas and checking out all the city has to offer. Its been a while since we had done this. I suppose the winter weather deterred us a bit. This past Saturday, however, was a gorgeous day. It was about 45 degrees and sunny with blue skies. We decided to hop in the car after lunch and started driving north. We talked about maybe heading in to the Vancouver, WA area so I pulled out my phone to see what there was to do. I found out about a small hiking trail that takes you up to the top of the core of a volcano and once you get there, rewards you with panoramic views of the Columbia River Gorge. I'm in! An hour later we arrive and I stood at the base of Beacon Rock thinking "are you kidding me?"

I knew it had to be high to provide the views that were promised but standing there, staring at it, I started to think it wasn't the best idea. The trail was labeled as easy to moderate though, so we set out on our way. My, what felt like 20 pounds, camera bag on my shoulder and my husband carrying our 32 pound almost 4 year old. Let me tell ya, that hike would have been a lot easier without all the extra weight, and for once Im not talking about my own! My camera bag was killing my shoulders, but this was not the time to leave it behind. We made the 800 foot elevation climb and as soon as we made it to the top I started snapping away. It was a gorgeous view on a gorgeous day and some much needed family time outside of the home.

As we entered back in to OR territory the sun was setting amongst a gorgeous sea of clouds rimmed with golden light. I pulled out my camera, rolled down my window, and started shooting. This is one reason my husband always drives!