monochrome

girls' camp beads

Per Angela's request, here is a picture of the different beads I made for Girls' Camp last month. Each girl has a necklace and they get beads for passing off certification requirements.

Each necklace also has a pendant. Here's the one I made for my necklace.

pssst...jeff...

Our anniversary is coming up, and I think you want to get me this GORGEOUS letterpress calendar.

lunch break

mmm...juicy grapefruit + Martha Stewart Living

jewels

Accessories are so fun, but I can rarely bring myself to spend much money on them because I know I can make them for so much cheaper. So that's what I do! Here are some of my latest.

Not pictured are the approximately 100 beads I made for Girls' Camp. I am our ward's Camp Director, so I got to spend most of last week in the great outdoors with some amazing ladies. I don't know the last time I was away from cell phones and e-mail for 3 straight days, but was a nice break. :)

ostentatious orange

I love orange! It brings such a happy, bright pop of color. Here are some of my favoite orange items in my craft room.

A little orange wallet - I absoluetly adore this print!

Gorgeous letterpress flats from Angela with coordinating envelopes. Love!

My little journal, which keeps track of the dimensions/measurements of my self-made patterns.

One of my handmade bags in a pretty print I call "Orange Blossom."

pretty pink

mmm...

In the past week I have made or helped make the following:

1. Buckeyes. I randomly found this recipe online a few years ago and LOVE it! If you are a fan of chocolate and peanut butter, this is a MUST try!

2. Dutch Oven Cobbler - we tried both Cherry Chocolate and Raspberry Chocolate. Sorry, no picture, but it was dee-licious!

3. Strawberry Turnovers. They turned out to be pretty good, but I'm not sure they were worth all the effort.

What are your favorite summer treats?

girls only like guys with great skills

As you may or may not know, Jeff has been working on getting his CPA for the past year. We found out last fall that he passed all the tests (woot! woot!), but still had to wait for him to acquire the required hours to claim the prestigous initials. Jeff got the *official* letter back in March that he was finally a CPA. Very impressive, considering that many people don't pass the tests on their first try, let alone meeting the requirements within a year of graduation. :)

Then, to make me even more proud, Jeff noticed this little gem in the Idaho State Board of Accountancy Newletter last week:

That's right folks - Jeff scored 4th highest on the CPA exam in all the state of Idaho for 2008! What a genius - what a man! He's definitely got skills!

a year later...

Way back when I mentioned some Scrabble tiles I had acquired for projects. This is the long awaited result - a beautiful little necklace charm. I was so happy with the finished product!

i heart the kitchen

In case you were wondering, I have been back from DC for almost a month now. Thanks for bearing with me through all the photo posts! I have a ton more pictures that I didn't put up, but it's time to update you on my post-DC life. :)

One of the best parts about coming home was cooking/baking again. I don't consider myself to be a gourmet chef, but there was something so wonderful about getting back into the kitchen, putting on my apron and cooking a tasty dinner for Jeff - I loved it! Since then, I have also tried out some DELICIOUS recipes, including Chris Bianco's Pizza Dough from Martha. It is truly amazing! I am in love with thin crust vegetarian pizza, so I spread the dough thinner on mine. Jeff likes fluffy crust, so I kept his crust thicker for his BBQ chicken, bacon, and pineapple pizza. It turned out yummy both ways!

georgetown

3 things I love about Georgetown:

1. Iceberry Frozen Yogurt. I had the honeydew melon with strawberries - so amazing! Considering that the closest one is in LA, I'm going to have to try some of the local fro yo joints to see if anything compares.

2. Georgetown Cupcake. Words cannot even describe - you have to check out their website. I tried taking a pictures of my cupcakes, but transporting them in a box on the Metro made them not so photogenic. :) The Peanut Butter Fudge and Lemon Berry cupcakes I had were totally worth the $2.75 each and all the ensuing calories. Amazing!

3. Paper Source. I do love me some pretty paper, and Paper Source had a lot of it. With cute rubber stamps and sets of lovely letterpress flats for a mere $3.50 what's not to love?

cherry blossoms

In every shade, from white to pinkest pink, the cherry blossoms in DC are beautiful!

Happy Easter!

pictures of the National Botanical Gardens in DC

Library of Congress