A place to store and share the things I make.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

And just down the street from Jola Cafe

I have been a little busy this year starting a new job at Element Wellness & Sports Rehab, building a Women's Health niche within the clinic and spreading the goodness of pelvic health. Check me out here to keep a little more updated on this other passion of my life. Or just to learn a little more about what we do in the world of Women's Health Physical Therapy.



Mandi (Dr. Mandi, that is :) )

Holiday Artisan Fair 2013

So I don't blog much, huh. BUT...I still make things. And will be representing this here little blog at a holiday fair on Friday! Come join us! Drink bubbles! Buy handmade gifts from local artisans! I'm selling upcycled circle scarves, reuseable coffee filters, and some handy leather coffee cozies made by G. Get your holiday on!!

Some of the other ladies selling their wares are below. Check them out! Shop small and support your local crafters and artisans.

Just Love.ly Things

See you there!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Roasted Smooshed Tomato Sauce

I just made the best tomato sauce. I actually googled "best tomato sauce recipe" and came up with a couple hits, I always trust Martha so I went with her. We have SO MANY tomatoes growing in our backyard, so many that the one plant being held up by 3 poles is pulling them down. G harvested 3 large bowls worth while I was in Montana, so I had plenty to work with.

Now Martha is a fan of coring then halving. I'm fine with that on the big ones. But the cherries and my little "ceylon" heirlooms? Not worth it. Better method? Popping! Seriously, I just squeezed the little guys till they split and spit out all their seeds. Most of the time they shot into the bowl; sometimes onto my shirt, and a couple times into the basement stairwell. I was laughing at myself and having a jolly ol' time.

So I squeezed them or cored them and seeded them and tossed them with olive oil, S&P and thyme, then roasted them at 425 for 45 minutes. Just like Martha said, the skins pulled right off; what skins didn't come off I just left on. I threw it all in the food processor (only overflowed it on the first batch--that fill line is there for a reason!), added some fresh basil, and whala. Perfect roasted tomato sauce. So perfect I decided I needed to blog about it.

Off to make some lasagna to feed my Hood to Coast team tomorrow. No pictures. Just words.


Friday, November 16, 2012

Custom & Handmade Christmas Gifts

If anyone is looking for something handmade for Christmas gifts, I've got a couple little things for you. I've already been given an order for a couple scarves (in Oregon Ducks/West Linn colors, no less!), and I have a handful of Christmas cards and pillows out with a friend to sell at Christmas Bazaars. So I just thought I'd post a couple items here in case you are interested. If anything strikes your fancy, give me a holler and I'll put it together for you! I don't have my etsy store up and running yet, maybe by next year you can go directly there. For now, you've got this. Happy shopping!

**Everything starred is already made but not sold yet, so holler quick and I'll pull it out before it hits the table at a craft bazaar!

Cards: I hand carved the stamp for the cards and envelopes, and the stripe is Washi tape. I also have some Beet cards that I carved out of a woodblock; will try to get pics up soon.
$5/6cards or $1/card (+envelope)
Choose your color! I also have a couple blue and green ones
The envelopes; I also have cards with this tree stamp

25x25 pillow** $18
25x25 pillow** $18
12/12 pillow** $15
Cotton banner**, $12; Customizable for color and length
Personalized Burlap banner, $12
Think "Merry Christmas" or "NOEL"
Tshirt scarf, customizable up to 3 colors $15
If you have any questions do feel free to shoot me an email! Let me know by the end of November if you would like anything so I can get going on it right away and get it to you. It will obviously be easier to get things to my PDX friends, but I don't mind shipping if I can get it out soon enough!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Sara's Wedding

SO glad I didn't ever get around to blogging about Sara's wedding, because this post does it way more justice than I would have. This is my cousin-in-law whom I helped with some of the decorations, like cutting yard after yard of burlap for runners. The cranes were such a sweet idea and added so much personality to the decor. I was honored to be able to help out with such a beautiful event!

The Dress again! Courtesy Anna Jaye Photography
Courtesy Anna Jaye Photography
Courtesy Anna Jaye Photography
Courtesy Anna Jaye Photography
Check out the rest of the photos here or here for some beautiful shots and some great decor ideas.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Welp, here it is.

Dear Blog: I've come to a few realizations. One: I can't keep up with you. Two: I'm just not meant to be a blogger, a regular post a lot blogger like I tried to do for awhile. Three: That's ok.

I've been spending more *time* (or less time) pinning things on Pinterest (follow me!). I find something or make something and can just pin it to come back to it later. Like when I have 8 windows open and Graham wants to check his email; I can now just pin the page I was on and come back to it later. Voila!

BUT I'm not abandoning you, dear blog. I will still be around now and then. Because I'm still making things, and those things are real-life here in my home, not online to "pin" (or I suppose I could actually start pinning things, but there may be some risk for being poked if I did that.) For example: I've been a homesteading mama like crazy lately! Look at all I've made! Some of it we grew, some of it we picked, and some of it was just from our CSA. Oh and I'm not done yet!

Marion Berry jam: berries hand picked at The Pumpkin Patch, jam made following this recipe, with help from here.
Jam birthday-gift style
a little party banner too (see below)
Pickles: GREAT recipe here for one-jar at a time (though I obviously did 6). I used big cukes, which apparently turn mushy (instead of pickling cukes). But it's what I had and they needed preserving!



Also carrots, beets (with help from the Ball book) and green beans (following the recipe in jam it, pickle it, cure it)! All stored a sturdy shelf I found for free driving home from brunch yesterday. Gotta love that!
A few other snippets of the summer, of posts that I had meant to put more effort into, but am choosing not to. I hope you faithful readers have not been disappointed :)

I made this dress! From scratch! To be honest I don't even remember exactly what I copied...another dress? And used the super easy t-shirt into tanktop idea (which you can find on my pinterest boards, hint hint) for the straps, with a piece of pretty ribbon. I would do it again in prettier fabric...this is what I had a LOT of (thanks Stephanie!) on hand and I though it was kind of retro-summery. So fun!


This has been my craft of choice lately: paper banners. This was at a family wedding this summer (I didn't actually make the banner, but helped her with the idea. The pennant shape is too time consuming for this girl!). I made a bunch for another friend's wedding and of course didn't take any pictures. I also made her a burlap banner for over the guest book that turned out super cute. I'll post pics when she sends me some after the wedding. Super easy and fun to pick out great papers!


So, there it is. A little summer wrap up. I'm not giving up, but I'm not putting out any goals for myself. I'll keep you posted.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

Rivers and Oceans: the Oregon Coast to the Deschutes River. A snippet of the miles travelled in the past 2 weeks.

It started with an unexpected trip to Seattle. It has been a LONG time since I've taken to the highway solo. I love it. It felt good. And there was family on the other side.


Graham's cousin had a beautiful wedding on Sunday. It seriously deserves it's own post. Also there will be a post about my dress...



This is how my parents roll. Badass.
Pickled beets from our garden
The Oregon Coast Aquarium
Sisters Quilt Show with my Mama!
#6
delicious smelling hops on the Deschutes Brewery Tour


We ended with a gorgeous thunder storm over the Deschutes gorge. One of my favorite places on earth. I wish I could bottle up the smell of sage and heat and dust and earth. I'll settle for the smell of basil and rain and sun when it comes around. It doesn't smell so bad here at home.

Linking up with The Paper Mama