so organic

here are my favorite items on etsy.com right now... i love the organic lines!

organic lace olive on steely blue repurposed leather wallet by found bay nicki

vintage leafy vine pendant from sophie hill

Mmmmountain print by Justin richel

penelope's thank you cards

we didn't send valentine's out, because we are party poopers! i thought it would be nice for us to send thank you cards to those who did send out v-day goodies to our little family. we printed a pic of penelope with a pink background on the front & i stitched a heart with white thread....it looks like a kid did it. next time i hand stitch cards i will make a template and punch holes prior to stitching. penelope took card of the insides! she LOVES to color. she is so cute, she focuses really hard and has perfect crayon grip. she flowers.... they are always flowers!

new tags

i got these SWEET scalloped tags and i had a stamp made for some rockin' new tags for merch. i love'em

i'm a winner

( in case you were wondering the below post does contain BRAGGING.) i won my aunts giveaway!!! i haven't ever won a giveaway before and i am super stoked about it. i get a $25 giftcard to the online store. here is what i think i will get.

the dandy plug-in warmer in tangerine and turquoise with some delectable scents :)! thank you JULIE!!!!!

when i was a girl

i had to find a picture of me when i was little for a little YW activity on sunday. i thought it would be fun to scan in some of the pics:)! here are a few of them.

penelope is a sicky

my cutie has a cold and it is miserable here in the sparksy house. i have been far less productive than i would like, but this stuff happens! the funny thing is that in my mind i thought she wouldn't get sick very often in CA, because the weather is so nice (i know i am weird!) anyway, let's this version of p returns soon:)!

no one told me a twin was so BIG

bryan and i have been thinking of moving penelope into a twin sized bed. our goal is for her birthday, so we have a couple of months. i decided to make her a patchwork quilt. i have a really great idea for a patchwork/applique design...i am super excited, but also super nervous. i haven't made many quilts in my life and only 2 pieced quilts!

i started on saturday. i only had to cut 60 pieces on my own, because i got some great vintage pieces pre-cut. i started sewing my rows and MAN-o-MAN twin quilts are big! i kept thinking, " this is massive." i was going to make bryan & me a quilt for our queen and i am having second thoughts now. BUT i figure that if i take it slow, then it won't seen so time sucking. so far i have all the blocks sewn into rows! my next step will be to press the seems & sew the rows together.

i will keep you posted!

some etsy love

here are some more things on my faves list on etsy!

what a pretty necklace from lucky me beads! this shop makes silhouette necklaces where each piece is customized for you! so fun.

this sweater from oveja negra is so gorgeous. if i lived in UT still i would def. be getting this knitted beauty.

i am absolutely in LOVE with this bag from however! i love the shape, the mix of materials and the simplicity it.

sparks fries

bryan and i are somewhat addicted to the pommes frites | rosemary fries at spark. i have blogged about spark before, but if you happen to be anywhere near provo you need to GO! anyway, we have been having withdrawal... i tried my hand at recreating their fries and i think they turned out pretty good. i can't wait to get back to ut and go to spark again, but this will have to do until then.

here's what i did:

-i got a 26oz bag of ore-ida restaurant style french fries and used 1/2 the bag.

-heat 1/4 cup of oil in frying pan

- add 1/2 bag of french fries

-fry, turning every couple of min. cook 6-8 min and then add:

3-4 cloves garlic diced

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2-3 T. fresh basil

- fry another few minutes until french fries are crispy.

-pour onto paper towel to soak up some of the oil

-serve with garlic butter (melt 1/2 stick butter with 4 gloves garlic or 1 T. garlic powder) or blue cheese sauce (melt 1/2 stick butter, 2 cloves garlic and 3 T. crumbled blue cheese)

my auntie is doing a scentsy giveaway on her blog!

enter here for some mmmmm!

another skirt

it has been rather warm, so i decided to make penelope another play skirt with some extra fabric and trim i had. here it is!

trades

i love trades! here are some things i have traded goods for.

pictures! i had jefra take some pics of my new stuff last fall, she did a great job.

i scored this sweet letterpress print from jen at the rookery while at spark

love it

got a nifty crochet hook holder and some felt clips for p from punkscrapper

these adorable moccasins are my favorite of penelope's shoes. i traded up with freshly picked for these and the super practical crayon roll above at the beehive bazaar.

i got penelope a killer watch and a super cute dolly from evie ivy overstreet

i mentioned the doll on this post. we also met up at the beehive bazaar!

i traded with eager hands for lovely trims and vintage fabrics. i got these vintage quilt squares for a twin sized quilt for penelope's big girl bed.

welcome to california

my parents came to california to visit us and my brothers family living in riverside, ca! it was so much fun. i guess it has only been a little over a month since we last saw them, but it was really fun to have them see out new home and play with us for a few days! here are some pics.

here they are all the way from utah, i think they were ok getting away from all that snow for this. the weather was 70 an sunnnnnny!

grandma white & p

Grandma and grandpa with their 3 grandkiddos & the beautiful megan

josh & penelope talking ofter the next renovations on their hole in the sand

justin and anna's cute family

ZZZAAAACCCCCH! watch out ladies.

and my girl! she LOVES the water.

and running...

we went to the zoo and saw many animals. it was the first time i got to see the pandas, so i was pretty stoked about that.

megan with panda

it was a long day:)!

on sunday we went to church and saw the temple. here is p in her v-day skirt and ruby reds!

thank you mom, dad, megan and zach! we had a blast.