strawberry blueberry mojito - oh my!

Well my summer is just flying by! Pretty soon I will be back at school - I've head Wal Mart already has their school supplies out! *sigh* I try not to think about it as much as possible. Even though it is flying, my summer has been sooo spectacular! It has been chock full of fun times and relaxation! My hubby and I have been playing with summer flavors and stumbled upon a yummy little drink that is sure to make your taste buds scream for more!

(my husband kept sipping his drink while I was taking these pics - I could have smacked him! Luckily, I snap pictures quick!)

Strawberry/Blueberry Mojito

1/2 cup run (I used Malibu Coconut)
12 strawberries finely chopped
1/4 cup blueberries
1/4 cup sugar (I used a little less since I don't like drinks overly sweet)
1 lime (squeezed)
club soda (about 1-2 cups depending on how strong you like your drink!)
mint or lemon balm (20+ leaves) Tear or rub to emit flavor
ice (about 1 cup)

I combined everything into our cocktail shaker and shook until blended.

Serves 2



This was one of the strawberries I used for our mojitos! I just had to snap a quick picture!

Hope you find this as refreshing and scrumptious as we did!

Enjoy!

a glimpse of my backyard

I just thought I'd show you a peek of some of the goings on in my backyard - one of the past time that has kept me away from blogging these past few weeks.

When we first moved into our house after less than a year of being married, we didn't quite understand the amount of work needed in our landscaping. We don't even own a half an acre, but it is chock full of plants, trees, and shrubbery. Now seven years later, we are still getting the hang of it - lol! We only managed to spread one truck load of mulch so far this summer and probably will get two more by the end. I never thought that I would ever possess a green thumb....but I must say - gardening is starting to grow on me! Perennials are my new best friend - even though some bright, cheery annuals speckle their way throughout my beds.

We still have a long way to go....but it is a learning process and a super fun past time to share with my hubby!









Thanks for taking a peek in my backyard!

strawberry shortcake gifties

Holy long blogging break! After school was out, I took a little break from scrapping and blogging, but didn't realize it had been over a month since my last post! Summer came so fast this year! We've been busy going on family trips and getting the great outdoors prettied up with flowers and such that I haven't set foot in my studio since May! I have a few fun things to show you - a little late of course!



At the end of the school year, I wanted to create a little special somethin' for all the special people that bring a smile to my face and lend a helping hand throughout the year. The people that do so much - and don't get nearly enough recognition for the amount of work they do for our school. So I decided to put together a little strawberry shortcake jar for those certain wonderful peeps! Such an easy and eye appealing yummy to share!

I used pint jars (perfect size) and layered each with sliced strawberries, angel food cake and cool whip. Then I tied a little note with some jute and attached large bamboo spoons (loved the earthiness this gave the overall look!) so they can chow down immediately. I prepared them the night before and kept them in the fridge overnight. They were a big hit! I am sure they would be perfect if you added some blueberries for your upcoming 4th of July festivities!







Thanks for popping in!!

come ride with me

It's coming down to the wire - only two more days of school before a much needed summer break. I am hoping that my summer is productive yet relaxing - giving me extra time to scrap and use my trigger finger to take snapshots of summer memories. My hubby and I are planning to travel a little here and there - I hope the time doesn't fly by too quickly!


Here is a little mini I managed to pull together and list on eBay. You can find the listing here with many more pictures. For this design I used Pink Paislee's "Butterfly Garden" papers. This line is to die for! So soft and shabby! It was so hard to cut it up and cover it, but I think I managed showcasing some of my favorites. I used lots of vintage goodies including vintage doilies, lace, music paper, jewelry, beads....the list goes on! The cover image was taken from an image from Crafty Secrets Love Scraps. I just love this image and quote - so darn cute!









I hope you are inspired and are having a happy weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

tarty & tangy

I can't believe this week went by so slow yet so fast! I am approaching my last full week of school and welcome summer break with open arms. So much stress in our little field of education and I am sure we are not the only school feeling the effects of lower budgets and potential program cuts. I pray that we will survive this new "drama" and plan on relaxing my mind with numerous margaritas - lol!

But before I jump ahead to summer....let's enjoy the fabulous tastes of spring! A very special lil' lady generously gave me a large supply of rhubarb from her garden - thank you Sharon!! We don't grow it in ours, but I LOVE the tart taste of this yummy veggie. A true sour freak, I just love how rhubarb empowers just the right amount of WOWZA to awaken the senses. I decided to try a new recipe with this mother-load of goodness: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp! And I must say.....HOLY YUM! The strawberries added just enough sweetness - especially when paired with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. I took pictures to show you some of the steps along the way (but forgot to take one when we were eating it...sigh). It is best served warm...Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 4 cups diced rhubarb
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large zip loc bag, toss white sugar, 5 tablespoons flour, strawberries, and rhubarb. Place the mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, butter, and oats until crumbly. You may want to use a pastry blender for this. Crumble on top of the rhubarb and strawberry mixture.
4. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp and lightly browned.

Enjoy!

TWAG blog hop winner

A humungous congrats tooooo.....

Kathy (and Lucky)!

You are the winner of my yummy paper and embellishment bundle! Wahoo!!

Thank you so much to all who participated and played in TWAG's first blog hop. We really appreciate you support and can't wait to share more goodies with you soon!

Be sure to check our Facebook page to see if you have won the handmade TWAG TAG bundle! I'll give you a hint...her name begins with a "G" and ends in an "loria".

xoxo

The Working Artist Group May Blog Hop

Welcome to The Working Artist Group's first Blog Hop! We are so happy you decided to join us!


For our first hop we have six designers sharing their talent with you - each of whom has designed a gorgeous handmade tag for one lucky winner! For a chance to win all six designer tags, all you have to do is hop to each persons blog on the list below and leave a comment. Be sure to comment at each persons blog as this increases your chances to win the tag bundle!! For an extra entry, become a fan of our Facebook page listed at the bottom of the hop! Here is a picture of the tag I designed for our grand prize winner:


Additionally, each designer has some extra goodies they will be giving away! For my blog candy, I have selected:

• 6 gorgeous double sided papers by Autumn Leaves
• 1 mini chipboard album, spiral bound
  
• 3 coordinating bundles of seam binding (raspberry, lime, and lemon chiffon)
• 2 vintage clothespins
• 2 vintage dominoes
• 2 vintage bobbins
  
• 1 vintage doily
• 1 section of lime/white eyelet lace trim
• 3 library tags
• 1 tea stained tag
• a handful of white buttons

In order to win my candy I would love for you to leave a brief comment and become a follower of my blog (if you aren't already). You can either follow via Facebook, email, or both!

The winners of each designer's blog and the tag bundle grand prize will be announced Friday, May 6th on TWAG's FB page and through follow up blog posts from each of our participating designers. So you have five days to hop to each of our blogs! Please make sure you provide an email address or other way of contact when you leave a comment - we want to make sure we get your goodies to you!!

So thank you so much for supporting TWAG's first blog hop! We look forward to inspire you and hope to build connections through a pastime we all love so much!

Now get hopping!

Mary Hamer (pieces-of-home) (<----that's me!)
Samantha Shade (shade82900)
Margaret Persinger (304maggs61)
Cathy Garcia (cat2jona)
Kim Edwards (scrappychicbykim)
Kim Hoffman (anniegetyourgluegun)

TWAG's FACEBOOK Page

xoxo