Joyful Abode

MaryMusic handcrafts sterling or gold-filled wire jewelry, and loves making Daughter’s Pride Rings and Mother’s Rings. The Daughter’s pride rings have 3 birthstones: the daughter’s and the two parents’. Right now there are no mother’s rings listed, but I LOVE the mother’s pendent she has. It’s so much prettier than those typical mother’s necklaces that have the ugly birthstone kids.

And look at these pretty swirly birthstone rings she has!

Check out her shop on etsy.com!

This pasta may not be terribly photogenic, but it’s really delicious. If I had had penne pasta, I would’ve used it, but I didn’t so I mixed some shells and farfalle (bowtie) pasta.

No recipe, but here’s an approximation:

4 cups of pasta, uncooked…. cook it

1 bunch of asparagus, steamed and chopped up

1 box thingie (about 2 cups) of sliced mushrooms, sauteed

A couple tablespoons of capers

Some chicken or tuna, either “real” or from a can. “Real” is better, of course, but I used canned white-meat-only chicken because I didn’t feel like making real stuff.

Toss all of it into a bowl, and sprinkle it with about 4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Add garlic salt to taste.

Then sprinkle about 2-3 Tablespoons of lemon juice over the whole thing, to taste.

Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

This is also really good with some artichoke heart quarters in it. But I forgo-ed (forwent? hehe) that this time.

So yummy! The capers are an important part, so don’t leave those out unless you hate them. But if you hate them, don’t blame me if this recipe lacks a certain “kick…” it was in the capers. haha.

You may or may not have realized by now that my husband is in the Navy. He’s a student aviator right now (starting formation training today!!!). Anyway, I’ve begun to make a series of military stationery for other families like ours, who will be moving more than they ever thought possible, and experiencing other life-changing events alongside the Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

My first series features the T-34 turbomentor, which is the plane used at Whiting Field NAS for aviation training for the Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, and Air Force.

Heck… I’ll just post what I had in my descriptions at the shop.

“When you are part of a military family, you move quite often. And you know that it’s important to keep in touch with friends you’ve made along the way. These notes will help you let everyone know when something new has happened in your life.

These flat notes feature a glossy illustration of a T-34 (which is the plane the Navy, Marines, Air Force, and the Coast Guard uses for aviation training at NAS Whiting Field) on one side, and a matte blank side so you can write your own moving announcement (or birth announcement) and a quick note. This is a set of 10 notes and envelopes.

Since I’m a military wife, I’ve decided to create a series of flat notes to correspond to various life events. I’m always working on new illustrations, so if you have a suggestion, please send me a note! ”

I’m working on a series with the training helicopter right now. After that, who knows? Let me know if you have an idea!

Click here to see the whole series in the shop!

I love you, and I’m happy to be your copilot.

Thank you for being by my side these past 7 years, even when we were far apart.

I’m looking forward to what the next 7 years brings us.

We’ve been married 7 months (and 3 days)… this is only the beginning of our adventure!

“Look to this day for it is life; the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the realities and truths of existence,
the joy of growth, the splendour of action, the glory of power.
For yesterday is but a memory.
And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived makes every yesterday a memory of happiness
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore
to this day.”

I made a carrot cake. I took half of it to work, where it was hidden and hoarded like a treasure, until the coworkers who hid it had savored every bite. The other half? My husband ate it all. Except for the slice I cut in this post (which I ate).

It looks so pretty with the spices on top of the cream cheese frosting, and little carrot hearts decorating it.

Maybe I’ll just take a little slice…

There they are… mother cake and daughter slice. Was that too cheesy?

Maybe I’ll just have a little… tiny… bite.

So I know you want the recipes.

Carrot Cake Recipe:

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 1/2 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 10″ tube or bundt pan.

Blend oil and sugar. Add eggs, beating well after each addition.

Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add to the egg mixture. Stir completely.

Fold in carrots and walnuts.

Pour batter into the pan and bake about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.  Cool, then remove from pan by inverting onto a plate.

Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

You will need:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 4 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 lb. powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add melted butter until absorbed. Add vanilla, then sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

The Greene Fairy’s shop is filled with “nature-inspired treasures” like handmade paper, earth-friendly greeting cards, and organically inclined artwork, all lovingly created in Savannah, GA.

My favorite thing in her shop right now are these hand-embroidered “hugs and kisses” greeting cards in earth tones.

Check out her shop on etsy.com!

So, there’s no creative space to feature today. Several people have sent me partial entries, or entries that need to be formatted differently in order for me to work with them. At the moment though, I’m “fresh out” of complete features!

Fortunately, there’s a bright side to this. The features this month have been amazing, and really inspiring. I hope you’ve been as engrossed in them as I have! I’ve made some new “blog friends” and subscribed to a lot of new websites, and “hearted” a lot of etsy shops.

I’ve also learned some things about how to host a feature:

1. Figure out what you want to do, completely, before you throw it out there. If I had had the interview totally prepared and ready to send, complete with directions for attaching photos (how many, what size, etc) BEFORE I asked for contributors, it would’ve been a lot simpler.
2. Make a deadline for submissions. That way I’ll know exactly how many contributions I have. I had hoped to make “creative spaces” a month-long feature, and I had over 60 people contact me about featuring their spaces. Unfortunately though, not all of them have followed through (and it’s very possible that some of that may be my fault, like if I’ve lost emails!) and I ended up with many fewer than I had hoped for.
3. Maybe not make interviews so long… the editing takes a very long time. A word/picture limit might be good, if it’s going to be a daily thing.

Does anyone else have any advice for me, or ideas, that could possibly make future features run more smoothly? I’ve had a blast with this, and I’d love to do it again, but not if it’s going to be so exhausting every time (I don’t know if you’ve noticed that my “personal” posts have dwindled in the last week or so…).

I’m also open to ideas for future features. Of course, anything domestic is fair-game. Don’t let this feature box you into a “crafty” mindset. I have a couple floating around in my head… and I’d love to add to my mental idea pool. No promises though!

PS If I have a partial feature from you, like only the interview, or only photos, or if you needed to change the format of your submission, go ahead and send me the rest! I’ll still feature your space when you get it to me (I’ll give you until March 3, which is a Monday, so you’ll have two weekends).

Meanwhile, check out one of my all-time favorite craft spaces.

This gorgeous space belongs to Tricia Royal of bitsandbobbins. I especially love (and have coveted for years) her card-catalog, which she uses to store … bits. You know, and bobbins. (Well, and zippers and buttons and such.)

Tell us about what we see in your photos.

This is my corner in our basement. My husband picked up the table for $10 at a thrift store, and it’s been great. I have my papers standing up in napkin holders, small drawers on the table for things like stickers, adhesives, pens and small tools. The drawers on the floor hold things like my paper cutters, boxes of ribbon, buttons and other embellishments, and software for my die cut machine that you see on the table (Cricut)

What do you create in your space?

I make greeting cards of all sorts, mini albums, decorated wood letters, and do my own scrapbooking too.

What advice do you have for others who are trying to put together their own creative space?

That it doesn’t have to be perfect at the beginning. Most of us don’t have the luxury of building a whole space from the ground up (like when the house is under construction) so you can work at it over time, and rearrange or add things as your craft expands.

How does being in your creative space make you feel?

It makes me feel like I actually get some time to myself.

What has your biggest challenge been in creating and maintaining your creative space?

The basement is shared with everyone. It’s where we have our tv and all our games, so if company is coming, or the girls are going to be down there playing, I have to make sure things are cleaned up.

What is your favorite quote?

When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best — that is inspiration.
Author: Robert Bresson

What do you do when you’re NOT creating?

I’m a stay-at-home mom to my two girls, so that keeps me pretty busy of course. I’m also involved with my church, love the piano and guitar, and occasionally do some fun baking.

What one piece of furniture or organizational equipment could you not live without?

My aforementioned table. It’s sturdy enough that I can hammer my eyelets on it, and beat up enough that I don’t feel bad about it.

What is your next “move” for your creative space? Do you have plans for its future?
I need more paper storage. So nothing too exciting, but at least some more folders.

Do you have a website we could visit?
–my Etsy store where I sell my creations.
–my Gallery, so to speak, where I have pictures of many things that I have sold or for sale in my store, plus a few other things I’ve made.
–a social networking site where I have made a meager attempt at keeping a blog, that also includes links to many other Etsy sellers.

Put “Joyful 10″ in notes to seller upon checkout, and I will send a revised paypal invoice with 10% off your order (before shipping)

Tell us about what we see in your photos. 

This is where I create and design everything. From the idea to choosing the fabric to cutting and sewing and the final touches and sometimes big crisis when something doesn’t turn out how I want it to…A lot of laughs and tears happen in my little studio.

What do you create in your space?

I make clothes and jewelry for women and shirts for men. But I also do all the other important business stuff at the computer…making banners, editing pictures and so on. It’s a 24/7 job…

What advice do you have for others who are trying to put together their own creative space?

As long as you feel comfortable and it just your space where you can be creative it’s perfect. Keep a good balance between organized and creative messiness 

How does being in your creative space make you feel?

Creative…most of the time at least.

What has your biggest challenge been in creating and maintaining your creative space?

When we looked at the house I new the formal dining room would be my workroom and when our furniture came all the screws and dowels for my shelves where missing, and the dowels for my two big tables! That was horrible but we got new ones and put it together and now its perfect! I love it!

What is your favorite quote?

Nothing can bring you happiness but yourself.

What do you do when you’re NOT creating?

Probably taking care of my 4 year old son and our 2 new cats. I also take a lot of the pictures for my website myself and I am trying to make them look as professional as I can. I love learning new things.

What one piece of furniture or organizational equipment could you not live without?

Sewing machine and serger…sorry but I need them both.

What is your next “move” for your creative space? Do you have plans for its future?

I love my creative space and as long as we are living here it will stay how it is. I just want to add a little photo studio in one of the other rooms. That will be exciting!

Do you have a website we could visit?

Yes, www.erikahendrix.com

Use the Coupon Code: JOYFULABODE for 10% off any purchase from Erika Hendrix!

 Tell us about what we see in your photos.First all forgive me for the quality of my pictures. We are currently shopping and saving for a much better camera. I suppose I’m still in the beginning stages of my sewing space. I just starting sewing about two years and didn’t really set up my space until about two months ago. My sewing table is currently set up in my bedroom. Our master bedroom is large so I had a little extra space to work with. Now that I see the pictures of my sewing table I’m little frustrated because it could look a lot better. Suggestions are welcome!

What do you create in your space?

I sew dresses for my daughter, make bags, and things for my home. I have two boys and they are little harder to sew for. I’ve made my older son a ditty bag and he liked it. My 10 month old has been the receiver of a lot of blankets.

What advice do you have for others who are trying to put together their own creative space?

That no matter how small your space is, you can make something work. Looking to other people’s spaces for inspiration is helpful. There is a group on Flickr that is dedicated to sewing rooms. In MS Living magazine (I think it was Sept.’07 issue) Martha showed off her craft space. I don’t think it was in a very large room, but somehow there was room for sewing, scrapbooking, wrapping presents, etc.

How does being in your creative space make you feel?

My space is a way for me to unwind in the evening. I feel productive. I guess I want the satisfaction of completing a project. Listening to Bob Dylan and working on a sewing project is my ideal way to spend an evening.

What has your biggest challenge been in creating and maintaining your creative space?

It’s dull. There isn’t much color and it could be more organized. My goal is to eventually have a space that inspires creativity. I guess I would eventually like to have a studio.

What is your favorite quote?

I can’t think of a favorite quote. I recite this verse from the Bible often during the day: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Eph. 3:20&21

What do you do when you’re NOT creating?

I am wife to Darin and a mom to three blessings. I like to run and my goal is to do a half marathon one day. I’m also an avid reader. We live Charleston, SC. We have enjoyed living here. I have a great appreciation for the architecture in downtown Charleston. We do not have many 18th century buildings in Southern California. My husband serves in the Navy so we move once and awhile. We call the California home, so we hope to return there next year.

What one piece of furniture or organizational equipment could you not live without?

I can’t live without my folding table. It’s come in very handy for my sewing stuff.

What is your next “move” for your creative space? Do you have plans for its future?

For now I’d like to have it more organized. When we move into a new home next year I would LOVE to have a room designated for sewing. Even if it had to be in a guest room, I’d be thrilled.

Do you have a website we could visit?

I mainly write in my blog about my creative endeavors and how it relates to me and my family. I currently do not have an online shop. I’ve toyed with the idea. I love to shop on Etsy. So many talented people out here! I’d rather support an artist or craftsperson than a major discount store.