Jack of All Trades

I wanted to share what my sweet has been working on. He picked up some leather 1 week ago, and this is the outcome So far! We recently went to my grandpas house, where we saw that he has a very old axe, and hatchet, both held together with electrical tape, and very rusty. It was a sight that Wayne could not handle, and I understood (My dad is a logger). The day we got home, I ordered grandpa a new Husqvarna swedish forest axe, and Wayne wanted to make him a sheath. We bought some stamps to carve his initials into the handle, but it didn't really work out. Wayne also tried to stamp the leather, once again a failed attempt.. While I have been slaving away printing bags for rushed Christmas orders, Wayne has been hammering, and cutting away. I bet the neighbors are not stoked, but if they saw what we have been working on I think they would be impressed. : ) I sure am! I think grandpa will be impressed also. Wayne hasn't grown up with a grandpa around, so I think he has accepted my G-pa as his own. My grandpa always runs over to Wayne also. I think he really likes to talk with him, and Wayne appreciates wisdom from an elder. I also want to note that this sheath making skill could lead up to a new Etsy shop in the future. Wayne is a jack of all trades I swear...
My coworker just introduced me to Blog Lovin' also! Just wanted to share that you can now follow me here >> Follow my blog with Bloglovin

New Things Coming to the Shop!

I am starting a new Laurel Wreath line in the shop. The screen is drying right now. The prices will be different for this style only because each bag will have to be printed twice. Once for "Bridesmaid"/or whatever design is being purchased, and once for the wreath. I am rather excited about this new line, because I can print dozens with just the wreath, and leave them out waiting for someone to purchase, once the order comes in.. I am able to fit almost all of the designs such as Maid of Honor, Matron of Honor, Flower Girl, Bride, Jr. Bridesmaid etc. in the design. Also recently someone purchased a Bridesmaid bag, and ask for her custom handwritten tag to say "Be my".. Instantly I wondered why I hadn't thought of that! It is a wonderful way to ask someone to be your bridesmaid! Once they are given the bag asking them, they can then use it on the day of the wedding! So many new things are coming to the shop!

I also wanted to share the custom design I have completed for a Philadelphia wedding which magically falls on my birthday! The theme for their wedding is the LOVE statue in Love park downtown Philadelphia! I think it is a great theme, and I am happy to be involved! I am so excited to be involved- while finalizing the order I came across THIS, and had to send it to bride..

Walking In a Terry Wonderland

We just got back from our two night annual Dexter, Oregon Christmas adventure. Our tummies where full from delicious home cooked meals, and when I say delicious... I mean, ohhhh boy. If your stomach could give a thumbs up, or smile.. Trust me, it would. We decorated Christmas trees, ate like kings and a queen, and got an opportunity to visit a Raptor Rehabilitation Center. I had quite the amazing experience. I even bought an owl Christmas ornament from the gift shop to keep as a memory (a great memory). The majority of photos are Wayne's. I found them to be quite beautiful. Cascades Raptor Center is located in Eugene Oregon, and I encourage as many of you who are local to check into it. It is a non-profit wildlife hospital with primarily birds of prey. They rehabilitate and release orphaned, sick, and injured wildlife. Birds are on display in large outdoor aviaries, viewed by winding hillside walking trails. The birds on display are not fit to be released. They are not in a good enough condition to survive on their own. So the aviaries are designed to enhance the awareness, respect, appreciation, and care of the earth and all its inhabitants. Which is critical for a balanced and healthy planet. You can sponsor specific birds here, and a sign is put on the aviary of the adopted bird acknowledging the adoption. : )

I had a wonderful time, and I hope you get a chance to visit the raptor center. It would be a really great educational place for kids to tour (field trip), or a fun family adventure. Especially for the bird lovers like Wayne and I (Thank you Terry for taking us!).

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great! Us organic eaters ate light. I made a spinach cranberry salad, which didn't turn out so well. I roasted almonds for the first time, and over did it. They were nasty. It spoiled the whole salad. I also made roasted pesto potatoes, and they stuck to the foil, and fell apart as I tried to flip them. I thought I was making the clean up process easier, and actually made everything worse. I was not meant for the kitchen I swear.. I get so upset, and disappointed. I have got skills, and not a single one is in the kitchen. If it were up to me.. I would eat salads, wraps and fruit till the end of my days(Doesn't sound bad huh?!).

Shop Update: I am offering a Thanksgiving/Cyber Monday discount code in my Etsy shop! 10% off the order. Also all of my oversized handwritten gift tags are already 50% off. Just enter: GIVETHANKS at check out.

I took some great photos of my favorite auntie and her future husband. I have been editing, and playing around with fonts since I got home Thanksgiving night for their holiday cards. She is such a goofball. We get along really well. I hope she doesn't mind that I secretly release these photos to you guys, but I want to show off my work! My blog is my resume! Here they are..

 Aren't they the sweetest?!

The Nature of Reality..

I want to go over a few reasons why moving back to the country is what I need. Don't get me wrong.. I love Portland. Portlander's are proud to be from such a popular city. This city is booming with tourism(which explains the abundance of people that can't drive). The local beer, funky doughnuts, local wines, local coffee roasters, craft workshops, craft markets, locally sourced food restaurants, produce markets, mass transit system, and young hip vibe. What isn't there to love? 

It is unsustainable. I live in a sustainable living complex.. Which is quite the opposite. It may be Leed certified, and energy efficient, but stacking families on top of eachother for 30 floors, with their dogs, and late night parties on Saturday night is not the way I feel life should be. I am not into trends. I don't work a 9-5. I don't go out because I need to update my facebook page with a picture of what I did on Saturday night to make myself feel like I am worth something. This isn't life. Life isn't doing what is expected of you. Graduate, go to college, get a job, pay off your loans, get married, have kids, buy a house, save for retirement, retire, then finally live out your dreams. Reality is that you should live out your dreams now. Do not do what is expected of you. The system we live in survives off of you being in debt. That is the reason for the guidelines in our lives. To be successful is to find happiness. I feel I will find happiness being surrounded by mountains, and streams, covered bridges, swimming holes, growing all my own food, preserving food, learning hands on skills.We do not live to work, We work to live. It is slavery, but we do it to ourselves. We choose the house that we know we couldn't afford. We do it because we need others to see how successful we are. We work damn hard, why can't we live in a beautiful large home? Right? We do it with our cars, our clothes, cell phones, Ipads, Ipods. Everywhere we can, we all deserve to best. We need to change the way we see reality. Reality is you don't need to bite off more than we can chew. A tiny house by the sea, a cottage, a small cabin. All of these things are things we really want. We want to travel the world but can't find the time. Don't save it till retirement. Find your goals, and make enough money to reach them! We get one life to live. I want to live mine in the slow lane. I am not racing to the finish line. I live to be with family, go camping, swimming, hiking, create, give, photograph, travel, keep the house warm, make some money for simple luxuries, and not be dependent.  I hope to inspire all of you to change the way you see reality. Reality is the simple life is much more luxurious, and being back in nature is more sustainable.

Halloween Property Update!

Happy Halloween!!
The Latest Property Hunt Update: Last week we had another adventure down south. Another quest for property. It just happened to be the rainiest day ever through out all of Oregon. Probably the worst day to do a property tour. We did it though! The property has all of the amenities we want, and has a fixer upper cabin on it. I do not want to photograph it until it is fixed up a bit. The seller still lives in it, so stuff is all over the place. The fact that her stuff is all over, we think brings down the value. So it could be a good thing, but bad because we don't know what could be wrong with the place because all of the stuff could be covering things we NEED to see to understand the work that may need to go into it. It does have a creek that runs 11 months out of the year, and a spring which feeds water down to the cabin(through gravity) and has a holding tank. There are gardens on the property, but they are going to need some fixing up. Everything is so small so with very little work it can be transformed rather quickly. There are hiking trails all over quite a few acres. Feels like a camp ground. We see the potential and put in an offer, and it was accepted by the seller.. Unfortunately it now needs to be approved by the bank. It could last months before we hear anything back, But I wanted to update everyone. Everything is moving very fast!

Homestead Search Adventures

Just got back from an adventure down south to look at a property. It was such a quick trip I was hardly able to take many photos. All I know is I am already looking forward to going back. We saw Table Rock, Mt. McLoughlin, and zipped through Ashland Oregon... That was a mistake. I wanted to walk around, and take photos of everything! Downtown 2 deer jumped in front of our car! Of all of the people, of all of the cars it was ours. It had an effect on us.. Deer roaming through the towns streets : )
We stayed at a lodge, and arrived late, and left early so I didn't capture anything. So I will wait to elaborate on our non existent staycation- Till next time- When I have photos.
We liked the property we looked at as our possible future "Homestead". You cross a single lane covered bride to get there. BONUS points in my book. : ) As soon as we rolled up a fox ran right out of the property and into the neighbors. It sat at stared at us.. Giving us the " What do you think you are doing" look. Once again, another animal that had an effect on us. Neither one of us has seen a fox before. Everyone we told the story to- said "If there is a fox- you for sure have to keep your chickens in a cage". : ( Speaking of chickens.. Recently we took Wayne's Mah to Naomi's Organic Farm Supply store where we were greeted by the oddest chicken! It thought it was a GOAT. It would run at you sideways, and gently ram its head at you. Walk away- Run sideways- and Ram! Unreal! I have not seen anything like it before. Hilarious to watch.. We walked away, and that little boy getting out of the van in the picture below got pecked, and started screaming his head off. It is a fun memory.. One I am happy I documented. We need to go back, and take a video.
It has been a busy month for me- So I apologize for the lack of posts. I am constantly always trying to catch up on orders in my shop- Especially if I have plans coming up.. Then I am nowhere to be found online.
I hope you enjoyed my adventures. Hopefully it works out with this property, and we can get things rolling. I would love to document the steps as we go. : ) "Homestead from Scratch".

Apricot Tree Germination & Tree Starts

Apricot Trees produce fruit in 3-4 years after being planted. We have been getting apricots from a local organic farm, and Wayne started drying out the pits in a glass jar in our window. We always try to save seeds where ever we can. He started to do research on apricot seeds, and apparently they have the highest content of the vitamin B-17 in the world. There are two types of Apricot seeds- Bitter or sweet, and Bitter seeds have a much higher content of B-17, but much harder to eat.. We started to blend them in our smoothies each morning, and found that by most fruit pips and kernels are filled with B-17 (Example: Pits of fruit like Apple, Cherries, Peaches, Plums, Nectarines, and Oranges). It's a compound of healthy substances that occurs in nature that are needed by the human body.

"B-17 is a glycoside, meaning it bonds to other nutrients through sugar. Glycosides are often used in medications, and B-17 is no exception. The extracted version of B-17 is called laetrile, a substance used to help cancer patients fight diseased cells. Studies have shown that B-17 helps to increase the body's ability to fight cancer. B-17 does this through the creation of hydrogen cyanide, which is released into the body's tissues. This compound then attacks and subsequently destroys cancer cells."

With this new found information.. Wayne started germinating the seeds he was collecting, and now we are growing Apricot Tree Starts! Here is what we have done so far- I will post with updates when they start to grow. Just make sure to keep the seeds damp after planting- They do not like to be fully soaked- Just damp.

Source for learning how to grow Apricot Trees from Seeds- Here from eHow Home
Source for nutritional benefits of B-17 are from Livestrong- Here & eHow Mom  Here