Art by Peachy Cheek

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Weekly Gratitude

2012-02-10T19:34:00.002-05:00

I haven't done a weekly gratitude in sometime. A lovely blogger I use to follow started this and she unfortunately doesn't blog anymore, but I enjoyed this positive reflection of the week and will continue doing it when I am able to. Every week we should reflect on the positive things that happen in life, however small they may be, it let's me cherish every moment I have here.

This week I am grateful for so many things, here are a few things I am grateful for this week:

- Homemade blueberry pie and the late night run my partner crime did to grab some vanilla ice cream so we can eat it with.

- Our long walks outside after work to disconnect from the technology world we live in constantly.

- Tangerines.

- Blueberry pancakes in the morning.

- I am thankful for being able to work with my hands and to create things I love.

- Happy for yummy chinese food. I have been enjoying sesame chicken, brown rice and broccoli. But for some funny and odd reason, I only got two pieces of broccoli!

- I am grateful for my guitar and the guitar lessons I have been receiving and will continue to do for the rest of the year!! I absolutely love it!

- Thankful for the opportunity to create custom skulls, that I happily finished after working on them for about a month, for a lovely lady! Hope to share photos soon.

- I am grateful for the movies I keep finding at my awesome local video store. It's not a big chain, just a small local video store with the best selection of movies I have ever seen in my life. I go to them as much as I can, at least once a week to support their business. And I worry about their fate in this technological world where most of our movies now stream online. I never want this place to close.

I don't watch many new releases, because I don't go to the movie theaters anymore. I really enjoy finding films I should have watched many years ago, such as West World (1973), the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Soylent Green (1973) staring Charles Heston, in an overpopulated futuristic New York. There is no food, running water, no jobs, total chaos and its extremely interesting and scary to think that there is potential for us to run into something similiar down the road because of global warming and other factors.

- And grateful for the same video store's weekly free music shows. We went and saw this amazing and talented blues musicians this week and they made us laugh and dance in our seats with beautiful renditions of Crossroad Blues, House of the Rising Sun, and many more.

I hope you had a lovely week too! Now, have a lovely weekend!

New in Shop Gypsy Head Crowns and Earrings

2012-01-28T18:24:00.001-05:00

Valentine's Day Gift at Black Feather

2012-01-23T20:16:00.008-05:00

a. Pink Agate -Sunset Earrings

b. Pyrite stones with ruby red glass heart stones - Heart and Pyrite Earrings

c. Turquoise on Vintage Chain
d. Pyrite stones (fool's gold) - Pyrite Earrings

Valentine's Day is about 3 weeks away and I listed a few pieces from my shop that I thought would be perfect gifts to give to your mom, girlfriend, sister, or yourself for Valentine's Day. These are my favorite pieces from the shop, so much that I re-created a few so I could have one of each.

I also wanted to give you a little something.

Just in time for Valentine's Day I am giving 10% off in my Black Feather shop with promo code: heart2012

And as a gift for your February purchase I am giving you a free pair of earrings until Valentine's Day.

New in the Shop - Sneak Peak

2012-01-19T15:52:00.006-05:00

I am in love with pyrite stones, they are so stunning! They are very earthy, so I wanted to incorporate them in many of the pieces I am creating. I wanted to share with you a sneak peak of what I am listing in the next few days in the Black Feather shop.

The matching Pyrite and Black Cross bracelet.

And my two new necklaces: The one on the top is called "The Ruins" and the bottom necklace is called "North Meets West".

And for my rock'n roll girls out there, I made some really fun new pieces, like my "Worship" earrings.

I hope you like the new pieces.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stop the Censorship

2012-01-18T16:04:00.002-05:00

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.

The Senate will begin voting on January 24th.

The video above does a very good job of explaining the current concerns. For my fellow Etsy sellers this could mean that if one shop in Etsy is violating a copyright or trademark that the entire Etsy site could be shut down and blocked. Currently, right Etsy works with sellers that may be infringing trademarks or copyrights. They have their own rules that work very well.

Send an e-mail to your senator today: http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/

Weekend Recap - Pancakes, Burgers and Jewelry

2012-01-15T18:21:00.002-05:00

This weekend was relaxing and productive all at the same time. Don't you just love weekends like that?

We got to see some friends, went to a great hockey game, and over the weekend we got some things done around the house.

We were in the mood for some chocolate chip pancakes and nothing starts a lazy weekend morning better then chocolate chip pancakes and tall glass of milk.

So, I made some whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes. I opted for whole wheat flour instead of white flour and they tasted great and they are much better for us. I use this flour for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies too, and I taste no difference! Really!

I also created some new pieces for my Black Feather jewelry line. This line has been so much fun and its been keeping me busy, I keep thinking of new ideas.

What's great about many of the pieces I am making is that I am able to incorporate my art, culture and I can still use inspirations from Dia de los Muertos. I am loving these skull beads, which I am using as charms for bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

The black skull and feather earrings and these turquoise bracelets are a few of my new favorite pieces I have made for the jewelry line.

This weekend, the weather look gorgeous, but it was freezing, we stayed in most of it and ate burgers and watched some action movies.

I hope your enjoying this beautiful weekend!!

Birthday and Birthday Cards

2012-01-09T11:14:00.004-05:00

I just recently celebrated my birthday! The mister and I went out to my favorite restaurant for some yummy Italian food, and I ended the night with a large piece of tiramasu for dessert with a little candle in it for me to blow out and wish upon.

My birthday falls on the first week of the New Year. I like to think the New Year is in the spring, like many Asian cultures believe, because that's when new life begins for animals and plants.

Either way, I wanted to create some goals, not just for the New Year, but to celebrate another year I have on this earth, which I am so grateful for.

A few of my goals for this year are, learning how to play the guitar, studying Martial Arts, traveling to a country or state that I have never visited before, and a few others.

I've been busy working on my Black Feather line and creating new jewelry, which I have been having lots of fun doing.

I, also added new pieces to the Peachy Cheek shop. I made some birthday cards and handmade envelopes using some of my favorite sugar skull designs I have illustrated and painted. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!!

New in Shop - Black Feather

2012-01-02T20:30:00.003-05:00

I have been working on some new jewelry pieces for my Black Feather line. Click on the images above or below to enter The Black Feather shop.

What's for Breakfast? Spinach and Mushroom Omelets

2011-12-31T07:55:00.000-05:00

This weekend I craved spinach and mushroom omelets, which I made with egg whites, onions, spinach, mushrooms, and a blend of cheeses.

Happy Weekend!!

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies and Mini Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

2011-12-22T19:57:00.000-05:00

I just had to make these cookies the moment I saw them.

Here's the recipe: Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

Send me a picture if you make them!!

I also made some more Peanut Butter Blossoms, but instead of using hershey kisses I used chocolate morsels and made mini peanut butter blossoms. Aren't these cute?!!

Have a beautiful Holiday weekend!!

Painted Pine Cones

2011-12-16T05:50:00.002-05:00

I love decorating the house with pine cones for the Christmas holidays.

I place them in the Christmas tree, make mini Christmas trees out of them, I place them in bowls on tables all over the house, and I also use them as table settings.

photo from country living

Today I will be showing you how I painted white "snow" on my pine cones and how they look after I painted a few in gold. You can also use green paint to paint the entire pine cone green to make mini Christmas trees.

You can paint the entire pinecone white, but I like to just paint the edges with "snow"

And on a few I wrap red bows, you can hang them from the tree this way.

I also paint some of them gold, and I use the gold painted ones as table settings and as decorations for wrapped presents.

Enjoy!!

All photos taken by Kim Palencia from Peachy Cheek, unless noted otherwise.

What's for Breakfast? Homemade Pop Tarts

2011-12-12T06:07:00.007-05:00

This weekend I wanted to make a new breakfast treat. I love my Sunday pancakes, but this weekend I made Pop tarts using this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and I am smitten with her recipes and these pop tarts. Okay, so they don't look as lovely as hers, but they tasted delicious!

Next time, I will work on their exterior a little more.

I made them with a cinnamon filling.

And with the left over trimmings I made these little cinnamon swirls. They are a sweet treat, but they will make a yummy dessert. Simply add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the swirls and add some fudge on top!

Enjoy!!

Making Holiday cards using Paper and Felt

2011-12-05T21:29:00.057-05:00

Every year we make our own greeting cards and they are usually the standard photo card with different photos of the both of us throughout the past year.

This year we wanted to create handmade holiday cards for our friends and family. I also am including fun little sayings and Christmas song lyrics to the front of the cards.

Materials you need:

Eco-friendly Felt in a variety of holiday colors.

Scissors

Paper (I used card stock)

Glue (Elmer's or hot glue)

I picked out white, red, green, and mustard yellow felt to make my holiday cards. These four colors gave me a lot of variety to create Christmas imagery. And the mister helped me come up with design ideas. We made a list of things we associated with Christmas, like ornaments, trees, and snowmen.

The four colors of felt created all of the Christmas images we wanted and we could probably make more.

This is a great little project for kids to help with because they can think of Christmas imagery.

The first piece I made is a snow man. I usually just do without an outline and cut the shapes out, but for the snowman I outlined a few different size circles.

Cut the orange felt for the carrot nose!

And I am also making some reindeers and I had to give them large red noses!

I also made a holiday wreath.

And I made a few mistle toes.

Happy Holidays to you!!

Christmas Cookies: Peanut Butter Blossoms

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

I just had to bake these cookies from Baker Girl. There is just something about peanut butter cookies with hershey kisses that remind me of the holidays.

These are really easy to make and on a few of them I pressed in peanut butter cups.

Black Friday

2011-11-25T09:38:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday!! And are recovering from the amount of food you ate!

On this Friday morning I am starting a Black Friday sale on my shop until Monday at 11:59 PM

Receive 10% off your order and receive a gift using the following coupon code:

Coupon Code: BLACKFRIDAY2011

DIY - Holiday Letters with Yarn

2011-11-21T06:08:00.003-05:00

I was inspired by this quick and easy Do It Yourself (DIY) from here and was inspired to use this idea to make holiday inspired letters or words.

All you need is yarn and pipe cleaners.

You can twist the ends together or twist two together to make them wider.

I made one long line of pipe cleaners and then I simply twisted yarn around the pipe cleaners.

My original idea was to make it with red and white yarn, but I ran out of red yarn. What's great about this project is that you can just use any left over yarn you have.

Have a joyful day!!

Weekend Fav: Blueberry Pancakes

2011-11-19T07:52:00.004-05:00

As some of you know one of my favorite things to do on the weekend is making homemade pancakes.

I admit there was a time I was using the box kind, you know the just add water and your done kind.

But, now that I have started baking more I always have flour, sugar, egg whites, and other ingredients stocked up.

I have tried multiple recipes and my absolute favorite is from Smitten Kitchen.

I've been making these blueberry pancakes every weekend. I made a few changes, for example I don't have buttermilk and just used regular milk, and instead of eggs I use egg whites, and if I don't have fresh blueberries I always have mini wild blueberries in my freezer, and I also sprinkle cinnamon.

These are a must on a Sunday morning.

Enjoy!

New in Shop: Christmas Gift Tags

2011-11-16T07:24:00.012-05:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/86027710/christmas-penguin-gift-tags-set-of-10

I have been working on Christmas tags. Here are a few I have been working on. I am still making some new ones with snowmans, christmas trees and other cute and fun ones for my Peachy Cheek shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sugar Skull Large Nutcrackers

2011-11-14T11:33:00.011-05:00

I have been missing for a bit from the blog world, but I have been visiting you and your lovely blogs! During my spare time I have been working on many different things, such as new Christmas gift tags, which I am currently listing in the shop, new ceramic and wooden ornaments, the mini sugar skull nutcrackers, and these extra large Nutcrackers. They stand about 15 inches tall and their arms and legs move. I decorated one as Frida and the other one as a regular sugar skull.

In addition to painting and crafting, I have been cooking and baking lots!! I hope to post photos soon! I have had this overwhelming feeling to bake. It must be this cold weather and my holiday spirit. I have been looking for different cookies recipes online and have literally been baking a new one every night!

These are some of my favorite ones recently:

If you have any cookie recipes let me know, I would love to try it!!

Sugar Skull Nutcrackers and Ornaments

2011-11-10T21:51:00.001-05:00

I am really excited to finally be able to show you guys the other little holidays items I have been working on for my shop. These little men and women (they measure 4 inches tall!) are multi-taskers!

They can hold photos, name cards, my calendars and can be used as Christmas Tree decorations.

And naturally, I had to make a little Frida one too wearing a flower on her hair.

Christmas decorating and Sugar Skull ornaments

2011-11-06T09:13:00.003-05:00

It might be a little early for some, but not for me, while most people wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for the holidays, I do it right after Dia de los Muertos. This weekend I have been putting up my Christmas decorations. It makes me happy, puts me in the holiday spirit, and I get to spend more time enjoying them.

This year I am decorating the entire house with red and white decorations. I found these snowflakes for a great deal at Target. Only $1.00 for 4 of them, so I bought quite a few packs to not only put on the tree, but to also hang around the house. I also love to decorate the house with pinecones. These pinecones smell like cinnamon and I put them in my tree. This year I am going to paint some of them white. Stay tuned for some Christmas decor How To posts.

I have also been working on sugar skull ornaments. Below you will find just a few of them, but I have a little troop on the way. You can find them being listed in the shop daily:
Click here to visit my Etsy shop

Thanks for stopping by!

Stay tuned for photos of more ornaments, other sugar skull and frida inspired holiday decorations coming to my shop, and stay tuned for my next post on painting pinecones.

Happy Day of the Dead

2011-11-01T21:05:00.005-04:00

In honor of this special holiday, Dia de los Muertos, which is celebrated today and tomorrow, I have been working on my real alter honoring my loved ones. My alter is being decorated with sugar skulls, candles, flowers, my saints, crosses, photos and other little trinkets that represent my loved ones that have passed on.

This week I have been busy working on other Day of the Dead inspired.

Here is a sneak peak on the new ornaments I am working on for Christmas! I will be listing them in the shop in the next few days!! I am so excited about these!!

I also finished my 2012 Art Calendar this week and listed it in the shop.

Pin It

And inspired by today I also made a new illustration of an alter and a few other Frida and Dia de los Muertos inspired illustrations.

Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Party

2011-10-22T06:13:00.169-04:00

Welcome! I am so glad you could make it on this cool and windy beautiful fall night!! As you can see we have all been awaiting for your arrival.

Before you arrived I consulted with my crystal ball and called upon Aradia to tell me what the night had in store for us.

She indicated that we will have an enchanting night ahead with plenty of sweets and plenty of Halloween scares! We will be calling upon her later tonight.

In the meantime as we wait for the witching hour, I conjured up some delights to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Care for some sweets?

Oh look! It's our friend the crow. He wants to join in our festivities! Who knew crows love chocolate? You can only have a few Mr. Crow.

Let's sit at our table and catch up. I haven't seen you in a while. It's so wonderful to finally see you again!!

Where has the time gone? It's been so lovely catching up over our sweet treats, but we now must prepare for the witching hour!! Let's head over to our witchy alter to get our book of charms and spells so that we can call upon our sister witches.

We need a few spiders that sit under bright moonlight for this spell.

Let me grab a few more black spiders from here too.

Hold your candles.

Under the moonlight on this cool and dark night let's light our candles and together let's chant. We have come together on this night to call upon our sisters. This spell calls for me to hold the skull of Aradia.

Out of night
Shines the grass
Flesh lacking blood
Bone lacking flesh
Spirit lacking bone
Arise and be fed

Arise to bone and flesh and blood
This night renewed by mortal food

And we will need our friend the crow to help us with our spell.

Let me pick him up, so that he can join us under the moon outside.

The presence in this room
Denies both time and tomb
Return to us Aradia, Sky, and Helga

We call to you

Yes, that's it. Here comes Aradia, Sky, and Helga. Can you see them stand next to me?

We live again
And we are fair!
The moon has risen
Here to bear

Here Aradia walks once again on this one night of festivities.

Thank you so much for your help. I wouldn't have been able to make this happen without you and your help fellow sisters of the night.

Thank you for coming to this year's witching party. We have done what we have been called upon to do and Aradia will now be able to dance the night away!

Now that you have had your Halloween fun with me don't forget you have so many parties to attend. Click on the banner below to visit Vanessa's Halloween party!

How to make Ghost Pops

2011-10-18T06:09:00.000-04:00

When I was a little girl my mom and I would make these cute little ghosts so I could bring them to my friends in school for Halloween and I still make them every Halloween!!

Here is how to make your very own ghost pops.

I pre-cut a few pieces of ribbon all the same length (about 9-10 inches long).

I fold the tissue paper in half because it is a little thin. You can use paper towel, napkins or white fabric.

Place the tissue paper over the lollipop.

Hold the base of the lollipop and tie the ribbon around it and make a bow.

Once you make a few of them use a marker to draw the ghost's face. I draw two black dots for the ghost's eyes and you can also make one for his little mouth.

The little ghost troop is complete and ready to hand out to friends and loved ones!!!

I put them in baskets, small square glass vases, or in small boxes.

If you make these ghost pops please send me some images or post a link to your blog post, because I would love to see them!

Enjoy!!

Halloween Themed Movies

2011-10-16T06:04:00.001-04:00

The following films are a few of my favorite Halloween themed movies in no particular order :

- Hocus Pocus starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Mildler, and Kathy Najimy
- Halloween starring Jamie Lee Curtis
- Practical Magic starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman
- Trick 'r Treat
- Casper starring Christina Ricci
- Mad Monster Party? (Video clip below)

And some to watch that are not specifically Halloween themed, but are cute and scary for you to watch to get you in the Halloween spirit!

- Addams Family
- Beetlejuice
- Young Frankenstein
- The Craft
- Ghostbusters

What are your favorite Halloween movies? And what did I miss?

How to make Halloween Banners

2011-10-15T00:06:00.000-04:00

I have been getting ready for our Halloween festivites happening on October 22nd. I hope you can join me all you have to do is visit my blog on October 22nd.

I can't have a party without some hanging banners.

All you need is paper, a printer or a marker to write out letters, a hole puncher, ribbon, and scissors.

I simply opened a Word Document and printed the words Halloween and Boo. I increased the font to about 200pt and had about 6 letters on each sheet. You can make them much bigger, depending how large you want the banner, I have made banners with large letters by putting a letter on each page.

Next, cut out each letter into squares and using the hole puncher, punch two holes on each side.

Next, using ribbon push it through the first hole and back down the second hole.

Continue to do this for each letter.

Using the bats I made out of felt in this post, I hung banner up.

Enjoy!!

Weekly Gratitude

2011-10-14T06:04:00.023-04:00

We all have something to be grateful for. There are days that might test this, or might even make us temporarily forget it. But search and you will find that there are positive things that happened to you today day and this week.

I was inspired to start a Weekly Gratitude by a fellow blogger and I was excited to do this because it was positive and we all need positive energy in our lives. I strongly believe in keeping positive people and energy in your lives and I do my best to only surround myself with it.

Everyday when I wake up I am grateful to live another day, to hear my loved ones, to see how they are doing, to see the smiles on their faces. I am grateful for my art and my hands to allow me to create it, I am grateful for Yanni and all the wisdom he bestows upon me, his adoring humor, and how wonderful he treats me everyday. I am grateful for many things in life and this Weekly Gratitude that I do makes me highlight these positive events, because it's easy to forget that wonderful things that we experience everyday and every week.

This week was a calm week. Yanni and I had a great time picking our pumpkins last week and we wanted to carve them. Yanni never carved one before and I hadn't since I was a child, so we decided to start a little tradition and carve our little pumpkin, in this case a big pumpkin, together. He came out pretty cute!

- So, I want to thank our pumpkin carver kit because it helped making pumpkin carving much easier. I didn't think the pumpkin scooper it came with would do much, but it scooped everything out. I am sure a spoon might have done the trick too ;)

- Thank you big pumpkin because you provided us beautiful pumpkin seeds and we washed them up, dressed them with garlic, pepper, a bit of salt, and put them in the oven and they came out delicious.

- Thank you to the cute boutique I found, Olive's Armoire. Not only is the owner super friendly, but she has such great finds!! I found the cutest ruffle vest that I can't wait to wear and it was a steal!!

- Thank you sweet lady I bumped into at lunch who yelled out loud how much you loved my style. Sure I turned bright red, but it was really sweet that you thought I had some and it made my day!

-Thank you Tatiana for inspiring me and motivating me to start Weekly Gratitude. I am so sad to see you leave the blog world. I enjoyed peaking into your cheerful world once in a while and it always put a smile on my face with how positive and sweet you are.

Enjoy your weekend and remember think positive and reflect on all the highs you experienced this week.

Down Halloween memory lane

2011-10-12T06:47:00.000-04:00

This Halloween I wanted to decorate the house with a lots of fun decorations. I love this time of year and it passes by so quickly and I want to enjoy it more, so I started putting Halloween decorations out early.

When I was younger I can remember how wonderful this time of year was for me. Fall brings me back so many sweet memories, such as sweet smells of pumpkins, hot cocoa, going to my brother's soccer games with my mom, watching my sister play field hockey, pumpkin picking and apple picking, making apple pie with my mom, deciding what to be for halloween, trick or treating all around town, counting all the chocolates and eating them. These were our priorities in life. This is what I dedicated my time and thoughts too - living life. As we get older we lose that a bit because work and other responsibilities take over and somewhere we forget.

Sometimes, I think about these times and I get a little sad that I can't be back in them, reliving them, cherishing every minute of them. But I am so grateful and happy that I got to experience it and live it.

I always want to remember these wonderful memories that fill my head and heart and I want to make new ones too. I want to make apple pies, pick pumpkins, carve them, bake yummy fall treats, smell the fall leaves, and feel the brisk fall air.

So, I've been spending a little time here and there decorating the house for Halloween. I started the end of August which gives me more time to be surrounded with the things that I love.

I hope you enjoy the beauty of fall as much as I do!

Take care and have a lovely rest of the week.

Pumpkin Picking

2011-10-10T06:39:00.003-04:00

This weekend we went pumpkin picking. The weather is gorgeous right now in Connecticut. The morning and nights are brisk, but the afternoons are filled of sun and warmth. The leaves are changing colors and falling, and the surrounding landscapes are filled with orange, reds and yellows, and together they make such a beautiful and happy mix. It's my favorite time of year!!

And what better time to pull out my new Minnetonka fringe boots that Yanni surprised me with for our 10th year anniversary that we celebrated at the end of August. I had been eyeing these boots for the longest time.

We enjoyed a nice afternoon at a local orchard where we had lunch on the patio by the pond, went for a lovely walk and picked some flowers and pumpkins.

Now that we have our pumpkins it's time for some pumpkin carving! Hope to show you those pictures soon!

Have you bought your pumpkins yet? And what do you think of white pumpkins? I had my little eye on a perfect white pumpkin that I thought would look adorable inside the house with all my black and orange halloween decor.

Weekly Gratitude

2011-10-07T18:11:00.003-04:00

-Thank you to the beautiful month of October, my favorite time of year. And thank you to the beautiful farms that surround us so that we can go pumpkin picking (more pictures to follow) and apple picking!

- Thank you Peach Wave, we enjoyed some yummy yogurt with fresh fruit and walnuts this week!

-Thank you Bethel Pizza House for filling our tummies with the best pizza in Connecticut! Yanni and I surprised his parents this week after work and went down to Bethel, CT where they have a pizza place and ate some yummy pizza and baklava.

-Thank you mom. Thank you for everything you do and thank you for thinking of me and buying me these sweet handmade dolls. I will cherish them everyday and think of you when I see them.

-Thank you lovely and sweet customers who make my day everytime I make a special order for you. Here is one of my most recent custom orders for a lovely lady who wanted butterfly theme on her Dia de los Muertos mask. Everytime I make a custom order I become very inspired!

-Thank you little glasses without you I wouldn't see very far, see my favorite movies, and see all the other beautiful things in front of me.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely fall weekend!!

How To : Daily Makeup Routine

2011-10-02T21:06:00.002-04:00

I thought it would be fun to share with you the items I use most often in my daily make up and hair routine.

Got 5 minutes? That's really all you need to do this.

I never leave the house without sunscreen. I use Olay Complete Defense Spf 30 Lotion and I use Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer SPF 20. A very small amount goes a long way. I usually just use a pea sized drop.

Next, I use Almay's trio intense i-color for brown eyes. It comes with a beautiful lilac, bronze and pearl eyeshadow color. As you can see I use the pearl color the most, but lately I have been using the bronze eyeshadow color.

And I wear brown or black eyeliner. I have tried quite a few liners and liquid liners, and right now my favorite is from Lancome it is a black kohl liner and I use that to rim around the entire eye. But if you have any recommendations, please let me know!

I dab undereye concealer under my eyes, brow bone, and anywhere else that may have a spot that I need to conceal.

I use Mac 'Studio Sculpt' Concealer and if I have super dark circles under my eyes I use "Erase Paste" from Benefit.

I brush a little bit of bronzer on my forehead, chin, cheeks (wherever the sun would naturally hit)

I use blush from Mac, one called Melba (the peach color) and Dollymix (pink).

I put the peach one on first around the apples of my cheek and then put the pink a little above it. Though Dollymix looks bright pink, a little bit goes a long way! Blush is the one thing I never leave home without.

And if I dont want to wear much makeup at all or I want to add a bit of shimmer, I use Nars multi stick, its eyeshadow, lipstick, and blush all in on stick. This color is a shimmering peach, which gives me the perfect peachy cheek. But, I heard that the Copacabana Nars stick is really flattering color on most people. I might just have to look into that one!!

I finish it with a little bit of tinted lip blam (Benetint)

As for my hair I rarely use a blowdrier or any tools. I let my hair naturally dry.

I towel dry my hair, then I apply a moisturizing creme or gel and brush it out.

I then twirl about 1 inch sections with my finger all over my hair rotating the direction.

And as it dries the twists become light waves. Periodically I will twist it a little more as it dries.

If I want defined curlers I use a 1 inch curling barrel to make soft waves.

How to make Candy Corn and Halloween Themed Flower Pots

2011-09-27T06:16:00.001-04:00

I have quite a few Halloween crafts planned for the next month! As you might know already, Halloween is one of my favorite times of year!

I had these mini flower pots for quite some time and have been pondering what I should do with them and it donned on me that I should use them to make little Halloween themed flower pots to put yummy treats for loved ones.

Below I outlined exactly how I made them.

I painted three stripes yellow on the top, orangy-red in the middle and a white stripe on the bottom to make the flower pots look like Candy Corns. I filled them with spooky little black spiders for now, but as we approach Halloween, they will be filled with sweet treats!

After the Candy Corns flower pots, I wanted to make an entire Halloween crew, and I though the flower pot shape was perfect for a little Frankenstein.

And Halloween isn't the same without running into a little black cat! Just make sure you don't walk by it!!

These also make great favors for Halloween Parties or for name tags on the table.

Enjoy!!!

Yummy Banana Nut Bread

2011-09-25T07:20:00.001-04:00

In order to make banana bread, you will need a few bananas.

Especially ones that look like they need to be tossed out.

Add melted butter and mash the bananas.

You will need to add some baking soda and a pinch of salt.

Add flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

One with sprinkled walnuts and one without.

These banana nut breads came out so deliciously good! The whole house smells heavenly.

I tried this recipe from Smitten Kitchen ( I didn't have the bourbon or ground cloves, but it came out yummy!)

Weekly Gratitude

2011-09-23T06:45:00.024-04:00

Thank you Plan B restaurant and Thomas, our super nice waiter, we had the best burgers and the yummiest Jalapeno Poppers ever!
Thank you Target for having such cute Halloween things. I couldn't help but buy the mummy led lights to decorate the house for Halloween.
Thank you Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder for making me laugh again as I watched your other movie, See No Evil, Hear No Evil. I can't wait to watch Blazing Saddles and Silver Streak next!
Thank you weather! I am looking forward to this weekend and celebrating the first day of fall today by buying pumkins and carving them!
Thank you Yanni for cooking, cleaning and doing everything this week when I wasn't feeling well. We are so lucky we have each other!
Thank you DQ for having the yummiest desserts too and bringing back French Silk Blizzards! My favorite!
Thank you Yanni for intervening and making things better when I almost threw a punch, not really, but wanted to, when the cashier person was so rude to us for no reason! You always know when to hold me back :)
And a special thank you to all of those who have written to me and said such sweet things to lift my spirits about my grandmother.

How To : Make Felt Bats

2011-09-15T05:46:00.001-04:00

I have been decorating the whole house with Halloween delight, pumpkins, ghosts, witches, spiders and webs, and I can't forget my little bat friends!

Let me show you how I created my little felt bat friends.

I purchased 2 pieces of eco-felt (.29 cents each) which are made from recycled bottles that I purchased at Michaels. You can buy it from any local craftshop.

Step 1. Lay the felt piece flat on a table.

Step 2. Fold it in half

Step 3. It's cutting time!!

You can opt to print a bat template online, but I simply cut away!

I started at the top center of the folder half and cut straight across and then made a pointy ear and then cut out small triangles all the way around.

Step 5. Time to hang these bats up! This is going to be fun! You can tie the bats with string and hang them all around the house, but I wanted to stick them to the wall, so I used glue dots, which you can find at your local craft store too.

Step 6. Pull a glue dot off

Step 7. Put multiple glue dots on the bat

Put them all over the house! 2 sheets of felt gave me about 10 bats medium sized bats and I stuck them above the entries and all over for a batastic look!

Now it's your turn to try! Show us what you are creating for Halloween. I would love to see it and get inspired.

If you like this tutorial, please let me know, I am thinking about adding some more fun How-To tutorials.

Thanks for stopping by!

Weekend Recap

2011-09-11T23:35:00.044-04:00

This weekend Yanni and I spent a lot of time outdoors. This weekend was beautiful, sunny, warm, but cool at the same time. We ate breakfast on the porch and while we were eating outside Yanni noticed a beautiful monarch butterfly that I quickly took a few photos of.
I ate my favorite Love Crunch and I made Yanni a chicken, onion and pepper omelet
Over us I saw a beautiful eagle soaring over us. I hope he was watching over us too.
We went for a beautiful hike the next morning and we made it up to the tower. There is such as beautiful view of our Connecticut hills and the park is such an inspiration. We love going there to disconnect.
That night we were on our way to our favorite place for dinner and decided to try something new and took a turn and ate an Italian restaurant we never went to before. Unfortunately, it wasn't as great as our favorite place, but we are glad we tried something new. You won't know until you try it!
And last, but not least, I have been busy working on sugar skulls, masks, and new head pieces for the shop.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!! Have a great week!!

New in the Shop: Black Feather Jewelry

2011-09-11T06:14:00.000-04:00

Owl Hoop Earrings

Adjustable Vintage Native American Ring

Skull Hoop Earrings

And a turquoise colored stone bracelet I made.

Weekly Gratitude

2011-09-09T22:42:00.005-04:00

Thank you Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor for making me laugh so hard when I watched Stir Crazy this week. These two are comic geniuses and together they brings things to another level. Aren't these two the cutest!

Laughing is truly good for the soul.

Thank you yummy cookies for filling my sweet tooth with a cold glass of milk.

Thank you yummy new england clam chowder soup you were the perfect lunch for a rainy day!

Thank you rainy days. We had about four of them. I got to stay in and catch up on some much needed reading and cleaning!
Thank you yummy chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate sprinkles (I ate all the sprinkles before taking this photo) it was a great treat to end the week.
Thank you Theories of Interactive Media Interactive Communications, its a class I am taking. I am learning so much and making an effort to be open minded on things I never used before. Thanks for making me see things from a different perspective.
Thank you Miss Valencia for making me smile and us girls hearts flutter with the photos of our celebrity crushes you gathered! I am still laughing!

And thank you! Thanks for reading my blog, supporting my art, and always being extra sweet! It's a refreshing feeling to know that there is so much positive energy in the world and that we can all share it together.

I hope you all had a lovely week! Enjoy the weekend and remember to do something worth doing and remembering!!

And let me know what you did this week or weekend. I would love to hear all about it!

Fall in love with these shoes..

2011-09-08T08:38:00.004-04:00

I know August just ended, but I am getting so excited for fall.

I have been eyeing these little pretties for the fall and as you can see I am in love with deep jewel colors for the fall. Ruby, emerald, mustard yellow, burnt orange. I live in black and I usually just add a pop of color with accessories like scarves, jewelry, bags and these shoes definitely add the pop of color I need and love.

Now I just need to figure out which one(s) to get.

I love them all. They are all so different from each other, but they each represent me in so many different ways. I can't say I specifically have one style, I have many and they are constantly changing or envolving.

I am leaning towards getting the plum Steven Madden Gretta shoe, I love the color and sure they might be 5 1/4 inches high, but because of the 2" wrapped platform in the front, it technically only is 3 1/4 inches high, and sure I might be 6 feet in them, but I can handle that.

I am also leaning towards the Jeffrey Campbell LuLu pump, the ones in the middle was the fun bow, these have a more reasonable height. The heel height is 3 1/2 inches, but it has a 1" hidden platform in the front, so it's comparable to a 2 1/2" heel, which I can run in ;)

And last, but not least - I love these Minnetonka Fringe Boots, they come in black and gray too. I want them in the camel color. These will replace my uggs on those cold fall days. I can see myself skipping and jumping in the leaves with these! Okay, maybe not skipping or jumping, but I can see myself oh so happy in these!

What do you want for the fall?

Weekend Recap

2011-09-06T13:07:00.003-04:00

This weekend my mom came for a visit! I love when my mom comes for a visit. I miss not being able to see her everyday. I talk to her multiple times a day, but seeing her and being with her means so much to me.

We took her to the Greek Festival. Every year we go to the Labor Day weekend Greek Festival and it is so much fun. There is so much yummy food like gyros, souvlaki and spanakopita and my favorite loukoumades.

After the festival Yanni surprised each of us with a little gift he bought there. He bought my mom a bracelet and me this ring to replace the turqouise ring I lost :(

Yanni and I returned to the Greek Festival the next day because we had so much fun. We ate gyros, listened to the live music and ate some loukoumades.

We went and bought some fresh fruits and veggies like tomatoes and peppers.

And on Monday, Yanni and I had ourselves a little BBQ. He made corn, chicken kabobs, and other yummy veggies with hummus.

We also went to our favorite video store and they were having a sale on their VHS' for 1 dollar and Yanni and I grabbed a few action movies, scary ones and some 80's cheesy comedy films that I have a sweet spot for some reason. Remember Loverboy? I just love that movie. I also like Gene Wilder, so I had to pick up Stir Crazy.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. What were you up to this long weekend?

Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-09-04T07:00:00.003-04:00

I was in the mood to bake something and I haven't baked chocolate chip cookies in a long time, plus they are Yanni's favorite cookie, so I made some (4 dozen!) and a few had some walnuts.

I've tried a few chocolate chip cookie recipes, and this is by far our favorite. The cookies are slighty crispy on the outside and smooth and soft in the inside.

Here is the recipe:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips (12 oz bag)

And if you want you can add 1 cups of nuts or walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, mix butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips.

2. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart. ( I put mine on parchment paper)

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling racks.

Enjoy!

I am always trying to learn and find new baking recipes. Do you have any good ones for me to try?

Weekly Gratitude

2011-09-02T21:04:00.039-04:00

I have been following Love, Life, Lace for a little bit now and I admire Tatiana's positive energy and attitude. Once a week she does "Weekly Gratitude", which I am now also participating in. There is nothing better then looking back at your week and looking at all the beautiful and positive highs that happened.

Thank you Nature's Path for making such a wholesome and yummy cereal for me to eat. It's a yummy granola, with bits of dark chocolate, coconut, dried strawberries and raspberries, and I add my own fresh strawberries and milk and its delicious!!

Thank you Sleeping Giant. This week Yanni and I needed a nice walk and to disconnect and we are so lucky and grateful that we are able to enjoy you and walk in such a beautiful peaceful place whenever we want.
Thank you beautiful weather. Now that September is here I can enjoy the cool morning and cool nights.

Thank you little pumpkin head for making me smile every morning and everytime I pass you.
Thank you favorite mexican restraurant for your lovely chicken fajitas and nachos. We were too tired too cook this week and you saved us again!

And last, but certainly not least, thank you Yanni, this week on Tuesday we celebrated 10 years together. Thank you for always being here for me and being my best friend. Thank you for making me laugh everyday, and having patience with me when I might not be on my best behavior. Thank you for being you!

Fiesta Inspirations

2011-08-26T06:38:00.005-04:00

Sara from Arvonia , who has a really cute blog by the way! Recently shared some items on her wishlist, and when I saw it I gasped!! How I love little pinatas and this little cutie is on a ring :)

And I found the matching necklace!

This inspired me in so many ways. I just love the colors on pinatas, especially little donkey ones!

I would love to make a pinata themed fiesta!

There would be colorful and yummy cupcakes.

A bright colored paper banners hanging under the sun.

And the invitations would have cute sombreros, chile's and tacos on them.

And I could give the guests hand painted maracas as favors.

And I would need several of these pinata balloons!

And we would have to play a few rounds of pin the donkey! Of course!!

How perfect is this idea! Using spanish food cans as flower vases! I would put these all over the tables.

And I would make tissue pom poms in bright colors and hang them off the trees.

And we would listen and dance to fun spanish and flamenco music until dusk!

Like this one from Armik:

Paper Banner | Keep Calm Poster | Invitation | Maracas | Paper Flowers

Enjoy! Happy Friday!

In the works : New Saint Painting

2011-08-25T07:59:00.006-04:00

I haven't been painting as much as I would like to. I have been planning a party, which I will be sharing with you soon enough! And that's what I have been spending my little nights on. But I did have some time to sneak away to the art room for just a little bit to work on this small painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

And I have some ideas brewing for future projects. I want to get my hands on some clay and create small sculptures. Georgina from La Llorona Arts always inspires me. She has created such awesome dia de los muertos pieces.

My next few pieces after this will be a few religious inspired paintings but make them look like mosiacs that you see in beautiful churches.

The print on her shawl inspired me to do this.

What's for Breakfast? Banana Cinnamon Pancakes

2011-08-21T06:36:00.001-04:00

Oh beautiful weekend morning. How I love thee. I love the bright sun piercing through my open blinds and brightening the room while I listen to Scott August who plays beautiful native american flute music. On this beautiful morning I made my weekend special, pancakes.

But not just any pancakes, like my usual blueberry or chocolate ones, this time I had some bananas that needed some tending too. I was just about to make some banana nut bread (which I will be making too), and decided to slice a banana and make banana pancakes.

I added the slices of bananas right into the batter.

Yanni doesn't like bananas, but I love them. He will only "eat" them if I put them in a smoothie. I asked him if he was willing to try them in pancakes, and he shocked the both of us and said yes.

I didn't want him to go into shock, so I added some cinnamon :)

And these came out so delicious!! He loved them.

Enjoy!!

Introducing: The Black Feather

2011-08-17T06:57:00.002-04:00

I would like to introduce to my newest adventure and shop: The Black Feather
I have two shops representing two different worlds.

PeachyCheek is my art, which you can find on postcards, mirrors, jewelry I have crafted and made, but The Black Feather is my rock'n finds and handcrafted goodies, it is inspired by my love of rock n roll, bohemian, and vintage.

Most of the items I will list will be a mix of upcycled vintage or upcycled finds, which means the re purposing of a material into something else or better, and items I handcraft and make like jewelry.

Below are the newest items I have listed in the shop:

I hand made this head crown out of beads and chains.

I hand studded this vintage find. You are going to see a lot of hand studded pieces. I love studs on my shoes, boots, jewelry and bags. I have transformed quite a few pieces in my wardrobe and now I get to share that with you in my Black Feather shop.

Another hand made head piece, this one is my favorite because it has colorful beads and feathers.

And my most recent piece is this denim studded shirt.

I hand studded the denim shirt with golden pyramid studs.

I have quite a few more pieces I will be listing very soon!

I hope you like!

Visit my Black Feather shop!

Sunnie Brooks

2011-08-15T19:39:00.001-04:00

When I got the mail today I found a large box addressed to me. Well who could be sending little old me something?

It was from Sunnie Brooks!

Sunnie is an amazing and talented hair and makeup artist and I follow her blog. Please check it out here.

Well, not so long ago, she had a little giveaway and I won it! It just made my day, week, and month!

And these are the goodies I won:

Victoria Secret Tan Enhance Shimmer Lotion with Tint

Victoria's Secret Bronze Sun Dust Bronze Shimmer Body Powder

Victoria's Secret Bombshell Summer Perfume, which smells heavenly! And a large VS Beach bag!

Isn't she a doll?! She's really sweet, which is why I love love watching her videos and I am always learning a new thing or two. Check out her blog here!

Thanks Sunnie!!

2011-08-11T07:19:00.002-04:00

1 - Prepare items you will need: scissors, strong epoxy glue, gloss, photo, necklace setting, and sun

2 - Select necklace setting

3- Cut picture to fit in setting

4 - Continue to cut around the picture until its perfectly cut in the shape desired

5 - Glue picture on necklace setting

6 - Apply Resin. I use Lisa Pavelka Magic Gloss.

7 - Fill entire area of image with resin

8 - Make sure the entire area has a full layer of resin.

Make sure item is on a flat surface because you will need to move it outside/

9 - You need some sun because the uv rays will harden the gloss we applied.

10 - Place the pendant in the sun, I usually leave it out for about 1-2 hours depending on the time of day and how much sun you have.

11 - Once it cures, the gloss will be hardened. Sometimes I will put a few more coats if I want to create a dome shape. That process is a little tricky because you may develop bubbles when applying the gloss. I use a small tooth pick to remove bubble before it cures. After, I put the pendant on a favorite chain

12 - Wear it proudly!

Enjoy! And enjoy the weekend!

Sunflowers

2011-08-07T06:43:00.000-04:00

We went to a sunflower maze at Lyman Orchard in Connecticut, but I was a little dissapointed because we got there a little bit too early. In the next week or so they will grow another 5-6 inches! But I was still able to capture a few good photos.

Yanni and I had a great time at the orchard, we made an afternoon out of it and had lunch there. This is the same orchard we went to when we went through the corn maze last year. We first had a little lunch and I couldn't help myself and got a little sweet treat to eat, like a slice of chocolate cake!

I had a yummy sandwhich which had roasted red peppers, grilled chicken, provalone and pesto.

The maze was going pretty smoothly, you see there are a series of 10 questions that you need to answer (you choose the topic movie, sports, music..) which will help guide you through the maze. We were zipping through it until question # 5. We knew the answer was "right", but it kept taking us to dead ends. A few groups were having the same issue! After about 30 minutes we finally found a way out and moved quickly to 6 and finshed the maze. I thought we were going to be there all night! Thank goodness we followed a little kid who knew what he was doing!

Things that are making me smile

2011-08-05T06:22:00.002-04:00

These pretty pink flowers growing in my yard. I am not sure what they are called, but I know hundreds of them are growing.

Peaches! My peach tree is in full swing! I hope to grab them before the little insects go to town on them. I want to make a peach pie and peach ice tea!

Iced Tea is my favorite drink and I always smile when I have a glass. It's such a simple little drink, yet so refreshing:)

Yogurt covered almonds.
They are the perfect fix for my sweet tooth.

My new robin's egg colored measuring spoons.

I usually just wing it when I bake, which can explain my melting chocolate chip cookies, but now I have these cute little spoons to help me when I bake.

This is the bag I use all summer. It's perfect for errands, the beach, and trips to the farmer's market. It's a gift from my mom when she went to Bolivia. I treasure it.

A friend let me borrow this book on Frida because he knows how much I love her. It's been a great read and the photos of her and her beautiful art have been so inspiring.

Have a great weekend!

My favorite nail colors right now

2011-07-30T06:10:00.008-04:00

For this look I put a coat of "sugar daddy" from essie and only two or three layers of "strobe light", the more layers the more pink glitter.

How to: Nail Art

2011-07-23T21:43:00.001-04:00

99 not-so-red balloons

2011-07-17T07:47:00.000-04:00

I was recently featured in the "99 not-so-red balloons" Treasury featuring other artists with balloon inspired work. Check it out here.

2011-07-13T10:11:00.001-04:00

Yup, I am having a sugar skull party! In my art room that is.

I have sugar skulls up to my neck and it's great. I can't stop making these!

But that did remind me that about a year ago I was approached for a custom order of sugar skulls, they all had to be white with black designs. The customer was having a sugar skull themed party and each sugar skull head was going to be the centerpiece with real flowers coming out of the top of the head.

I thought that was a great idea! I would love to have a sugar skull themed party! I am going to make an inspiration board in the next few days for a sugar skull themed party!

Summer Wedge

2011-07-12T07:10:00.002-04:00

I would love all or any of these shoes for the summer. I've been literally living in 2 pairs of shoes all summer, one of them being my black flip flops, which are so comfortable, and I got them at an orthopedic store and they are suppose to be good for my back.

But I gathered a few shoes for you and me that I have been dreaming of for summer. They are all so cute in their own little unique way. As you can see I am partial to the wedge for the summer, and that's only because I like to stay above the ground and not sink into the grass or sand ;)

1. Miu Miu Butterfly Slingback Clog

2. Missoni Summer Wedge

3. Stuart Weitzman Espadrille

4. Bettye Muller Espadrille

5. Pedro Garcia Mary Jane Wedge

6. Seychelles 'Witness' Sandal

Flower Swim Caps

2011-07-10T17:45:00.002-04:00

[Photographed by koto bolofo (first two) and gabor jurina]

Swimming, cooling feet in the pool, sand,

seashells, beaches, sunbathing,
smelling coconut oil, red painted toes, pink cheeks,
hot pavement you can't walk on,

iced tea, and grilling, all encompass my ideal summer.

And after seeing these gorgeous flower swim caps I want one!

Featured on "Anything Frida" Treasury

2011-07-09T09:28:00.002-04:00

One of my Day of the Dead paper mache sugar skulls have been featured on an "Anything Frida" treasury!!

It's honor to be featured with such amazing artists and Frida lovers!! I love that Frida is still recognized and still very known. I have met many many people who are not aware of Frida or her art, and after my initial shock, I am happy to explain how wonderful she was and is.

As you may already know, I love painting! Most of my artwork consists of inspirations from my own culture, but I have a sweet spot for Frida and Day of the Dead (aka Dia de los Muertos).

I got a head start on painting my paper mache sugar skulls this year. Usually I don't start painting them until October, for the holiday, which is celebrated right after Halloween, on the first day of November. But I have listed quite a few of them already in my Etsy shop! Don't forget Free Shipping on all items in my Etsy shop in July!!

Thank you so much for you support and stopping by!!

Frida

2011-07-06T09:59:00.004-04:00

Today you would have been 104 years old.

Today we celebrate you!

I recently read a book about you and your life, about your talented father, your hardships and turmoils, and your inspirations.

You have been an inspiration for me and many many people.

Your art and you are admired by the young, the old, and everyone in between.

Happy Birthday!

Sparklers

2011-07-04T22:26:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos that I took this weekend that are fourth of July inspired:)

-My blue wrap and red nails
-Can't celebrate the fourth of July without sparklers, they are a tradition, as I am sure they are for most! I lined up sparklers in a row once night fell to represent each member of my family :) So that way it's like they are with me.

- I also treated myself to a yummy dessert: a small slice of angel cake, plenty of freshly cut strawberries and whipped cream. It was soo good!

Have a great night!

2011-06-29T20:16:00.004-04:00

I know, it's only July, but I started working on some sugar skulls.

October and November is only 3-4 months away and I am going to be listing a few heads this week because I just can't wait until then to share them with you. So, here are just a few of the many I am creating!

I made a few different ones because usually I make them all white and they are inspired by frida or colorfully decorated with flowers, but this year I hand painted and decorated the entire skull with designs. They came out colorful, vibrant, and almost tribal like.

These will be hard for me to let go. I usually end up keeping a few to put around the house.

Stay tuned for tomorrow - In addition to adding some skulls to the shop I will also be doing something else in the shop. Enjoy!

2011-06-27T17:54:00.002-04:00

When I say raw, don't worry, I don't mean eating uncooked meat ;)

I mean eating uncooked vegetables and fruits, or if they are being cooked, to the minimum.

I might have mentioned this before, but Yanni and I had a wee bit of a problem with some food choices we were making.

It all changed on a bright sunny Saturday in May, when I realized how delicious celery, carrots and hummus was. It literally was as if an energy light bulb when on in my head :)

I realized my desire and need to go back. Back? Yes, back to the natural state of food, back before processed, and back before fake food became the norm in our society.

I knew I could do it, and I didn't expect Yanni to do it with me. But he did, and he has been a bigger advocate then me, actually I think he's devising plans right now as I type this on how much more we can do to stop eating processed foods. I think I created a monster. But it's great because I have a team partner who supports me and it makes things much easier. This whole thing is "based on the belief that the most healthful food for the body is uncooked. Like fruits! That were naturally created and provided to us by our little friend called.... Earth!!
The other day, Yanni had to listen to me rant and rave about the foods we are already provided, such as fruits and vegetables that grow in the trees and from within our ground. We don't need a chemical plant and engineers building are food.

Back to definition of eating raw -

Although most food is eaten raw, heating food is acceptable as long as the temperature stays below 104 to 118 degrees. Cooking is thought to denature the enzymes naturally present in food. According to raw foodists, enyzymes are the life force of a food, helping us to digest food and absorb nutrients. If we overconsume cooked food, our bodies are forced to work harder by producing more enzymes. Over time, a lack of enzymes from food is thought to lead to digestive problems, nutrient deficiency, accelerated aging, and weight gain.Cooking food can diminish its nutritional value. For example, the cancer-fighting compounds in broccoli, sulforaphanes, are greatly reduced when broccoli is cooked. Certain vitamins, such as vitamin C and folate, are destroyed by heat. Other foods, however, become more healthful after cooking, because the fibrous portion is broken down. For example, cooked tomatoes contain three to four times more lycopene than raw tomatoes." Now, I am not posting this, so I can change the way you eat. I am just writing this to tell you the changes I am doing in my life. I am pretty happy about them. At this point I am not eating a 100 percent raw diet, but I am incorporating it and eating about 80 percent raw. I am excited about what it could mean for me for my health and living.

Sol

2011-06-20T06:37:00.002-04:00

Early this morning the sun is up high. It's a perfect day to curl up on the porch with my glass of iced tea to read.

As I looked up with my camera I saw this little orb of light, I tried to capture it right away and I was able to...
It was probably a far away plane, or a reflection on my lens....

But I like to think it was a little spirit watching over me.....

Look what's growing...

2011-06-19T20:03:00.001-04:00

Behind these leaves....

grow little baby peaches...

They are so small right now, but very soon they will be full size and I will be making some yummy peach dishes. They will be super peachy cheek!

Inspired by Gypset

2011-06-18T09:55:00.000-04:00

The Mignot Sisters, Courtesy of Gypset Style

This book is just full of amazing pictures!! It is so inspiring and beautiful. I could look at the photos all day!!

Caminando por Bolivia Painting Progress

2011-06-16T19:45:00.001-04:00

This is the newest painting I am working on. I am debating on whether I should add a little bowler hat to make her look more like a little cholita.

As you might know a piece of me is Bolivian:) And I have visited family there many times and I also feel a piece of Bolivia is with me. I wanted to create a painting with pieces that represented bolivia, such as Lake Titicaca, coca leaves, the sun represents Inti, Mt. Illimani, Mountains, a cholita, and I also made her shirt red, so that the color of the flags was represented with the red, green and yellow.

I still have more work to do, but she is coming along.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful day!

This weekend

2011-06-14T14:32:00.012-04:00

I have been up to quite a bit!

Here are some random pictures I took of the weekend.

I have a few more tote bags I created using my artwork. The one above is of an inspiration of mine.

I am adding them to my Etsy shop: http://peachycheek.etsy.com/

I am also giving 10% off for you, my sweet blog pals.

Just use the promo code JuneBlogLove at checkout! Plus there is free shipping on all my tote bags.

I can't get enough of these smoothies!!! I have been making strawberry and banana smoothies for breakfast. They are so filling!!

I have been making different smoothies, but my favorite is my breakfast smoothie. I use a packet of Breakfast essentials, 3/4 cup of milk, 4 ice cubs, a banana, and a few strawberries, and a multi-vitamin.

Veggies with hummus and chopped up red peppers

For someone who is not very religious, because I consider myself spiritual, I love icons and religious figures and symbols.

I think they are beautiful.

Who would have thought that Yanni has a green thumb!
He nursed a few of my plants back to life!

We went back to Whole Foods for lunch. I munched on veggies, hummus, hearts of palm, and orzo salad.

I decided to have some fun on my nails this weekend.

I am more of a traditional type when it comes to my nails, you know, red, pink, white, but I have been dying to paint my nails my favorite color teal. So, I went to the store and guess what, teal was sold out from the Essie brand, which I thought was strange. I guess my fellow neighbors in the area want teal on their toes too!

I found a shade close to what I have been wanting and I love it!

We had a nice long weekend.

The weather changed from sunny to warm, to breezy winds to rain. It was a perfect weekend to curl up and do some reading and watch some movies.

Though I am in Connecticut, I imagine that the our rocky hills are rocky mountains, and for just a brief second I am in the west, in the desert, in my mind.

I was able to capture a few moody pictures as the clouds moved in.

What I am listening to?

Sade

I can't get enough of her voice and music.

Have a great week!!