My Favorite Gluten-Free Winter Recipes

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Warm up Winter with cozy gluten-free recipes.

Celebrate Winter 2013
Cozy up and find sustenance with my updated collection of winter recipes, from classic comfort food like gluten-free mac and cheese, to nourishing slow-cooked stews and hearty healing soups that warm you body and soul. From cider roasted vegetables and turkey enchiladas to holiday goodies like Flourless Chocolate Cake, you'll find plenty of winter favorites to keep you well fed.

Lovely, easy roasted red pepper hummus

appetizers + bites
Hazelnut Crackers
Hot Artichoke Dip Hummus Tahini with Spiced Olive OilParmesan Crisps and Roasted Tomato SalsaPecan CrackersPotato Chips - Gold + Sweet PotatoesNachos Fabuloso
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Savory Vegetable Pancakes Sweet Potato Latkes Warm Winter Salad with Squash and PotatoesWinter Pesto

Butternut Pecan Scones

breakfast + brunch
Applesauce Crumb Cake with Cinnamon
Big Banana Muffins
Butternut Pecan Scones Breakfast Brownies

Chocolate Gingerbread Eggs Diablo on Soft Polenta
English Muffins 

Fritatta with Brown Rice Penne
Gluten-Free Donuts Gold Potato Frittata
Hot Buckwheat Cereal and Maple-Cinnamon ApplesMediterranean Pasta Frittata with Goat Cheese

Pancakes- the best GF recipe Pear Polenta Muffins
Pumpkin BreadPumpkin Corn Muffins
Pumpkin Donuts
Pumpkin Pancakes Pumpkin Pie Bread
Pumpkin Scones with Maple Icing Pumpkin Waffles
Quinoa Breakfast CakeQuinoa Muffins with Pecans and Dark Chocolate Roasted Vegetable Cheddar Quiche
Roasted Vegetable Noodle KugelSour Cream Blueberry MuffinsSweet Potato Coffee CakeSweet Potato CornbreadSweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

Butternut + Bean Chili

soup, stew + chili
African Bean and Sweet Potato SoupBuffalo Sausage Stew
Butternut + Bean ChiliCelery Soup with Fennel with Ryeless Rye CroutonsChicken Soup for Body and Soul Cranberry Buffalo Roast Stew
Cream of Broccoli Soup with Coconut Milk
Curried Butternut Soup aka Sunshine Butternut SoupIrish Potato and Cabbage Soup- with sausageKarina's Beef StewNew Mexican Stew with Ground Turkey and Green Chiles

Mulligatawny Detox Soup Roasted Vegetable Chowder
Santa Fe Pumpkin ChowderSweet Potato Soup with GingerTurkey SoupTwo Artists ChiliWhite Bean Chicken Chili

Asian style turkey meatballs with brown rice noodles.

main dish + comfort food
An Easy Savory Winter Vegetable Ragout with Shaved ParmesanBaked Chicken Chili Rice CasseroleBaked Mac and Cheese - Dairy-FreeBalsamic Roasted Pepper ChickenBeef and Potatoes au Chocolat
Beef in Pomegranate SauceCreamy Sauced Pasta with ArtichokesCrunchy Gluten-Free Bread Crumbs for Topping CasserolesEasy Melted Peppers and Dags (yes, dags)Garlicky Shrimp and Spinach Bake with Mozzarella

Good Karma Meatloaf Pie
Holiday Turkey Enchiladas
Irish Cottage Pie
Jazzed Up Turkey Tetrazzini
Kicked Up Baked Mac and Cheese
Maple-Apricot Glazed Meatloaf

Pasta Frittata with Kale
Peanut Chicken Stir-Fry
Penne ArrabiataPork Roast in Apricot Mushroom Sauce
Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage with Roasted Sweet Potato
Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
Savory Vegetable Kugel
Smoked Salmon and Spinach Goat Cheese Strata
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Spaghetti with White Vegetables and Pine Nuts
Stir-Fry Veggie Bliss
Turkey + Sweet Potato Enchiladas
Turkey Meatballs with Asian Noodles 
Turkey Meatloaf with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Pecan Crust
Turkey Nachos
Vegetarian Putanesca


side dish
Acorn Squash with Attitude (Green Chiles)
Balsamic Roasted Veggie Smothered Baked Potato
Cheesy Uncheese Sauce
Dijon Roasted Vegetables
Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad- Serve Warm

Karina's Gluten-Free Latkes and Cinnamon Applesauce
Karina's Kicked Up Colcannon (Mashed Potatoes and Cabbage)
Maple Roasted Acorn Squash + Cornbread Stuffing with Curried Apples and Cranberries

Pinon Rice Bake with Feta
Pomegranate Glazed Green Beans and Portobellos
Pumpkin Polenta

Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf
Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach and Chick Peas in Maple Vinaigrette

Rice Pilaf and Variations
Roasted Blue, Red and Gold Potato Wedges
Spanish Brown Rice Bake with Onion, Green Chiles and Tomato
Skillet Cornbread with Green Chiles

Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

Always a favorite- gluten-free banana nut bread.

bread, scones and muffins
Banana Blueberry Muffin Cake
Banana Nut Bread
Butternut Pecan Scones
Chocolate Muffins 

Easy Buttermilk Flatbread
English Muffins
Favorite Gluten-Free Bread
First Loaf in My Gluten-Free Bread Machine

Gluten-Free "Rye" Bread
Gluten-Free Multigrain Sandwich Bread
Make Mine a Gluten-Free Cheese Sandwich


Old Fashioned Gluten-Free Baked Donuts
Orange Scented Soda Bread

Pumpkin Bread with Walnuts
Pumpkin Muffins
Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel Topping
Pueblo Bread- with green chiles

Pumpkin Chai Bread with Cranberries
Pumpkin Pie Bread
Pumpkin Scones with Maple Nutmeg Icing


Skillet Cornbread with Green Chiles
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Sweet Potato Cornbread

Whole Grain Olive Bread

Coconut flour apple cake.

winter sweets
Almost Sausalito Cookie Bars
Apple Crisp (with quinoa flakes)
Applesauce Crumb Cake with Cinnamon

Banana Almond Bundt Cake
Blondie Style Quinoa Bars with Dark Chocolate Chips
Brown Sugar Buckwheat Thumbprint Cookies 
Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dark Chocolate Chunks
Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Icing 

Chocolate Gingerbread 
Chocolate Layer Cake
Chocolate Quinoa Brownies
Chocolate Sorbet
Chocolate Truffle Cake

Coconut Flour Apple Cake
Coconut Frosted Banana Cupcakes
Coconut Layer Cake
Coffee Biscuits with Chocolate Chips
Cranberry Peach Crumble

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Flourless Chocolate Cake
Frosted Banana Spice Cake
Frosted Carrot Quinoa Bars

Gingersnaps and Star Cookies
Lemon-Iced Ginger Thins

Maple Frosted Pumpkin Cake
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies
Pie Crust Recipes

Pumpkin Bars- new recipe
Pumpkin Cheesecake 
Pumpkin Crumb Cake
Pumpkin Pie with Praline and Pecan-Coconut Crust
Pumpkin Quinoa Cookies

Raspberry Coconut-Almond Bars


Snowy Lemon Cookies
Sweet Potato Pie
Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake

Cooking Gluten-Free By the Seasons

Winter Holiday Menu

10 Vegetarian Christmas Recipes

Slow Cooker + Crock Pot Recipes

My Favorite Autumn Recipes

 My Favorite Summer Recipes

My Favorite Spring Recipes

100 Healthy foods to put in your shopping cart

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I am turning into a HUGE Dr. Oz fan and I absolutely LOVE this! 

Click HERE for a printable version of this list
Check out these other helpful links from Dr. Oz

• Five Foods That Should Never Be In Your Grocery Cart 
• Three Supplements Dr. Oz Would Never Take 
• Dr. Oz's 48-Hour Weekend Cleanse Shopping List 
• Get Rid of Belly Fat 
• 4 Ways to Flush Fat from Your Body
• The just 10 Challenge

Source: 

Fat-Burning Chickpea muffins

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Is stubborn belly fat one of your most bothersome body problems? I know it's mine!! Besides everywhere else - lol BUT.... there is hope for us fatty's yet! We can beat the bulge in just 7 days by adding one cup of beans to every meal! 
Beans, like chickpeas, contain soluble fiber, which works to lower the inflammation that causes belly fat. Start your day off right with this belly fat-blasting breakfast muffin. 

Ingredients:

• 1 can or 2 cups boiled chickpeas 
• 2 grated carrots 
• 2 tsp nutritional yeast 
• 2 tsp poppy seeds 
• 1 tsp olive oil 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions: In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients, except the poppy seeds, until you get a doughy consistency. Evenly drop spoonfuls of dough into muffin pan. Top with poppy seeds and bake for 30 minutes at 350°F.

Source

ANDY'S SPINACH SALAD

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ANDY'S SPINACH SALAD
A nice spinach salad recipe to try !

Spinach Salad Recipe INGREDIENTS

• 2 pkg. spinach
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 1/4 pkg. Pepperidge Farm herb dressing

DRESSING:

• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. vinegar
• 1 c. salad oil
• 1 sm. chopped onion
• 1 tbsp. mustard
• 1 tsp. celery seed
• Salt & pepper to taste

Spinach Salad Recipe INSTRUCTIONS:
Wash, drain and cut up spinach and mix with bacon, eggs and Pepperidge Farm dressing. Prepare the dressing in a blender by combining the sugar, vinegar, oil, onion, mustard, celery seed, salt and pepper. Put in an airtight jar and chill in refrigerator. Mix salad dressing with spinach salad ingredients just before serving. The spinach salad recipe is ready to serve...enjoy !

SPINACH 'N' SPROUT SALAD

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Try this amazing spinach salad recipe...the SPINACH 'N' SPROUT SALAD ....nice one !
Spinach Salad Recipe INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 lb. fresh spinach, torn
• 1 c. canned bean sprouts
• 1/2 c. sliced water chestnuts
• 1 med. red onion, in rings

DRESSING:

• 1/2 c. salad oil
• 1/2 c. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp. each: grated onion, toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Spinach Salad Recipe INSTRUCTIONS
Wash and trim spinach. Dry. Chill. Soak sprouts in ice water in refrigerator for several hours. Arrange spinach in salad bowl; top with well-drained sprouts, then with water chestnuts. Blend ingredients for dressing thoroughly. Pour over salad. Toss gently. The spinach salad recipe is ready to serve...enjoy it !

spinach-salad-with-apple-vinaigrette.l

Review: Barresi's

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I first of all have to note that if you follow a lot of Cincinnati Food Blogs, you will feel that this is repetitive of Cincinnati Bites post.  Apparently, we were both at Barresi's on Valentine's Day! So, check out his blog too for more reviews if interested :)

I have lived near Barresi's for a really long time and have never gone.  I walk past this restaurant on my neighborhood walks at least 3 times a week and had often wonder what it's like on the inside. Kris and I have both have lived near hear and always talked about going but never did.   From the outside, Barresi's looks like a renovated stucco home with vines and flowers painted on the outside of the building.  It appears very charming from the outside and was always a mystery to me.  I had heard that this was a pretty pricey place, which was why I had never gone before.

I typically am able to talk Ross into going to a nicer restaurant for Valentine's Day.  Yes, we do go out for Valentine's Day.  It really is a good excuse for me to go to nicer restaurants that we wouldn't normally go to :)  When I suggested Barresi's, he immediately agreed.  He had been wanting to try it too!

We made reservations since it was a holiday and knew that it can fill up quickly.  We made early reservations though and I think we would have been able to go on in and have a seat.  Barresi's is a very warm and inviting restaurant.  We were greeted by a hostess who offered to take our coats for us and led us to the hostess stand to check in for our reservation.  The inside of Barresi's is pretty close to what I imagined it to be.  Lots of rooms that have eclectic touches that make you feel like you're at home.  We were led to an upstairs dining area that was broken into 2 or 3 separate rooms.  We sat toward the back next to a fireplace.

After looking over the wine list for a minute, I selected a glass of wine and Ross opted for a beer.  Our server was attentive and friendly, but appeared a bit nervous.  She may have been new, but this didn't bother us in the slightest.  She was very knowledgeable and shared good opinions about the menu items.  The full menu was not available this night, but there were still plenty of options.  As we looked it over, a basket of their famous Zeppoles.  These things were AMAZING.  I had never heard or tasted such things before, but these were addictive.  Zeppoles are little square bites of fried dough and had just enough salt and garlic.  They were served with butter.  I tried not to eat too many before even ordering my meal because I wanted to save room, but I could have easily eaten that entire basket of these.

There were so many different menu items that sounded delicious that it was hard to decide.  After asking the server her opinion and going back and forth a couple times, I decided to get the Beef Crab Gorgonzola.  This was twin filets with lump crab meat, topped with a mushroom and artichoke Gorgonzola cream sauce.  Need I say more!?

Ross ordered the Lobster Ravioli and Crabmeat Cardinale.  This was one of our server's suggestion and was one that I almost ordered too.  All the entrees were served with a house salad and a side pasta.

The salads came out first.  These were just OK.  I was actually expecting a better salad. The house dressing was pretty good for the most part, but again, just fine salads.

Now, for my complaint that really has nothing to do with the restaurant itself.  Ross and I were enjoying the quiet ambiance of the restaurant, which was pretty quiet overall until the table next to us was sat.  This was a family of 5 or 6 people with two boys and 3 or 4 adults.  I don't mind groups, kids, or even noisy groups; however, this was by far one of the most annoying tables I have EVER sat by in my entire life. Keep in mind this was Valentine's Day in a more "upscale" restaurant that is pretty quiet.  The kids were fine, but the adults talking to these kids was so distracting that it pretty much ruined my dinner.  The continuous nitpicking then complimenting, then correcting, then praising...it was all too much for me.  This non-stop banter continued the rest of the meal....

So, for the rest of my food...I can easily say it was delicious.  The filets were cooked perfectly, juicy and tender.  The crab, filet, and gorgonzola cream sauce was a very rich and flavorful combination.  There was a little earthiness from the mushrooms and artichokes, but overall the entire dish was spot on.  It was definitely a very rich and creamy sauce, so if that's not your thing this wouldn't be your dish, but I loved it and would easily order it again!
My meal was also served with a side of pasta.  I'm not really sure why, I didn't need the pasta, but I tried it.  The red sauce was pretty good overall, but I honestly didn't have more than a bite or two of this, so I can't say a whole lot about it. But it was nice to try their homemade sauce :)

Ross also loved his lobster ravioli.  This also had a lobster cream sauce served with it.  I thought the portion was a good size and a really unique option for Italian.  I tried this as well and liked it a lot, but liked mine better :)

Barresi's was a great choice for a restaurant for a special occasion. Like I said, Italian food is one of my favorites and this did not disappoint.  I wish that the rest of the patrons had been a little more tolerable because it really was completely distracting and made it difficult to pay attention to anything else!

Service was overall good, nothing that stood out, but average overall.  But if you want a nice, family-owned neighborhood restaurant, this will definitely give you what you're looking for.
~Kate

Food: 4.5
Service: 3.5
Overall Experience: 3 (due to the other guests)

Review: Pompilio's

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My friend has been raving about Pompilio's in Newport for a couple months now.  She said she loved the small local feel of the restaurant and really enjoyed her meals that she has had here.  I do love Italian, so when my husband was recently craving Italian, I suggested we give it a try.

Pompilio's is located in the small neighborhood of Newport, KY and there is a location in Independence too.  It is well-known for having a scene from Rain Man filmed here.  There was plenty of parking options located on the neighboring streets.  I loved the location, making it definitely feel like a neighborhood gem.

Upon walking in, I was a little taken aback.  The bar area was packed with people...and smoke.  I forgot that Kentucky still allows smoking in restaurants.  I am not one who typically is bothered by smoke actually, but this was pretty intense.  We were led to the hostess stand in another room who asked if we wanted smoking or non-smoking.  We chose the latter.  We were immediately seated to a cozy booth in the back of the restaurant.

As we got comfortable I was able to take a minute to soak in the ambiance and patrons of Pompilio's.  I liked how the interior had a feeling of being in a family restaurant.  There was a variety of patrons, including families, children, and couples.  It wasn't too loud and had some great eccentric pieces adorning the walls.

Ross and I took some time looking over the menu after ordering our drinks.  The menu is huge.  It offers specialty dishes, pastas, chicken, salads, appetizers, and more.  It really is pretty extensive.  I asked our matter-of-fact waitress what she recommended, and she suggested the chicken tortellini which was one of the dishes I was debating, so I went for it.  This was served with a side salad.  Ross decided to order the Cannelloni.  He has never ordered this before, so I was surprised, but it sounded good! He wanted a Caesar salad with his meal.

As we waited, a server brought us some bread to snack on.  This was pretty boring.  It really just was white bread.  It seemed to me like bread that I could get from a bag at the store.

Next, came our salads.  These salads were too a bit disappointing.  It was a portion of iceberg lettuce topped with two cucumbers and two tomatoes.  I had the Italian dressing, which was just okay. Ross didn't really care for his salad either.  It was over-dressed making it taste a bit soggy.  Not terrible, but not that great either.


At this point, we were excited for our entrees to come.  We finished our drinks and chatted while we waited....and waited...and noticed that the table who was sat 10-15 minutes after us received their entrees.  We weren't terribly bothered by this, but we did notice it.  Our waitress did stop by a bit later and apologized for the food taking longer than normal, which was nice to acknowledge.  Finally, our food arrived.

The chicken tortellini is sauteed with garlic, basil, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes and served in a Parmesan cream sauce.  This overall was just okay.  I thought there was way too much cream sauce making it a little too rich for me.  Other than that, I really liked the sun-dried tomatoes and the chicken was pretty good too.  This was a big portion and had about half to take home.  I think this was a decent dish, but just too much cream/cheese, in my opinion.

Ross' dish was not good.  I really can't even try to make it sound good.  I thought it was terrible.  The cannelloni tasted rubbery to me.  It was stuffed with beef and Italian sausage, which really had no flavor.  Ross chose Alfredo sauce on top of it, and I didn't think that had any flavor either.  It really needed some salt and pepper at least.  This was a very bland dish.  I also thought for Italian food it was a small portion. Ross didn't mind though because he didn't like this either.

I was so disappointed in Pompilio's!  I really wanted to like this place.  I thought the interior and exterior is really unique and a lot of people seem to enjoy it.  It was busy, but not on a wait, and prices are pretty fair.  My friend who recommended it said that she has only had the red sauce and really likes that, so if I ever do go back, I guess I will have to try that.  The food and service was just mediocre in my opinion. I don't need a server who is overly friendly or anything like that, but ours was really just down-to-business.  Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear other thoughts on this place.
~Kate

Food: 2
Service:2
Overall Experience: 2.5

DIY Yarn Wrapped Wire Candy Cane Ornaments

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Yarn wrapped wire candy cane tree decorations are a cute, easy DIY ornament for a Christmas tree or garland:
Even the kids can help make these:They look darling when placed on the tree or a garland:I embellished mine with some ribbon and a jingle bell but they also look really cute without any embellishments.

Linking to:
craft-o-maniac-monday
& creative-bloggers-party-hop
& too-cute-tuesday-linky-par-tay
& show-me-what-ya-got

Pleated Book Page Ornaments. Great Neighbor Gift.

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This years neighbor gifts.  I made book page ornaments:

Some have stockings on them.

Some have little santa hats.

I made a whole bunch of them and will be attaching them to bags filled with homemade chocolates. I think it's the perfect neighbor gift!

Linking to:
rustic-restorations-weekend-linky-party
& link-up-with-me-liz-marie
& creative-inspirations-linky-party
& dianarambles

2x4 Santa Claus...

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My 2x4 Santa Claus:

I think he turned out darling!!!

His hat has a pom pom around the bottom of it.

His belt has a cute gold buckle and the base says Ho Ho Ho...

His beard, mustache and hat band are textured...

We gave them to our closest friends as Christmas gifts, I hope they love him!

2x4 crafts are my favorite, I just love to look at a 2x4 and find a way to turn it into a cute crafty!!!

Linking up to:
whatever-goes-wednesday
& wow-me-wednesday
& creative-inspirations-linky-party
& beyondthepicketfence

ANDY'S SPINACH SALAD

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ANDY'S SPINACH SALAD
A nice spinach salad recipe to try !

Spinach Salad Recipe INGREDIENTS

• 2 pkg. spinach
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 1/4 pkg. Pepperidge Farm herb dressing

DRESSING:

• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. vinegar
• 1 c. salad oil
• 1 sm. chopped onion
• 1 tbsp. mustard
• 1 tsp. celery seed
• Salt & pepper to taste

Spinach Salad Recipe INSTRUCTIONS:
Wash, drain and cut up spinach and mix with bacon, eggs and Pepperidge Farm dressing. Prepare the dressing in a blender by combining the sugar, vinegar, oil, onion, mustard, celery seed, salt and pepper. Put in an airtight jar and chill in refrigerator. Mix salad dressing with spinach salad ingredients just before serving. The spinach salad recipe is ready to serve...enjoy !

SPINACH 'N' SPROUT SALAD

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Try this amazing spinach salad recipe...the SPINACH 'N' SPROUT SALAD ....nice one !
Spinach Salad Recipe INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 lb. fresh spinach, torn
• 1 c. canned bean sprouts
• 1/2 c. sliced water chestnuts
• 1 med. red onion, in rings

DRESSING:

• 1/2 c. salad oil
• 1/2 c. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp. each: grated onion, toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Spinach Salad Recipe INSTRUCTIONS
Wash and trim spinach. Dry. Chill. Soak sprouts in ice water in refrigerator for several hours. Arrange spinach in salad bowl; top with well-drained sprouts, then with water chestnuts. Blend ingredients for dressing thoroughly. Pour over salad. Toss gently. The spinach salad recipe is ready to serve...enjoy it !

spinach-salad-with-apple-vinaigrette.l

Marigolds Galore

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I wanted to do something a little nested today, and a little sketchy.
Here's a vintage inspired pattern where there's little-to-no negative space.
It was nice doing things in line work and silhouettes!

I spent a little bit of time shopping for Christmas presents this afternoon on Ebay, where I inevitably end up looking at vintage wrapping and wallpaper. Today I was smitten with the bright papers of the 60s.

I'm on the ultimate hunt for all of the amazing things for my wonderful friends and my awesome family. I found the perfect gifts for some of them today. I'm sure there's someone out there that makes all of the other things I'm looking for. I'm really excited that I found some amazing things today that are made by other creative people.

I can't even explain how much I love the holidays. It's hard to narrow things down and I agonize over the little things. I am having a crazy good time.

That, and I got a chance to decorate part of the studio today! I bought a bunch of garlands and Chris and I put them up around the outside windows. I'll have to take some pictures of how the outside windows look!

Well, I'm off to try to find a couple more presents! Exciting!

Piano music in the background

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Inspired by raspberry flowers and little shoots

Recently I've really enjoyed making patterns that are a little more free-form than the normal rigid patterns I've done in the past. I think in the last year I've really liked the organic feeling patterns the best -- the ones that feel like they're floating in the wind, or the ones that look like they're drifting on top of the water.

This is a good example of what I mean. I wanted to make something quiet and understated, with some little guys that look like sprouts.

I've also been listening to a lot of piano music these days. It's comforting.
This pattern reminds me of that music...


And here it is repeated!

I woke up really late this morning - though it's not unusual for me to wake up late into the morning, today was ridiculous. The sun was still out (thank goodness) and I went for a walk in the snow. It was the first big snowfall of the season and though I'm not a huge fan of it most of the time, it made everything really quiet and serene.

I guess that mood carried over into the night for me, so here I am, continuing to listen to my comforting music and contemplating the winter ahead.

I've been writing and sketching a lot more than usual. It's liberating and meditative.
One of these days I'll try to get some of my sketches up on here. Until then they're safely tucked away in my sketchbook. Maybe I'll slip and post a bunch of them one of these days while I'm in one of my relaxed modes. :)

Olive.

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Close-up of the inked detail

I have been spending quite a bit of time working in my sketchbook these days. I spent my Friday night sketching away amongst a bunch of talented people. We worked through the night on our different projects and I found myself craving a little bit of hands-on art making rather than my purely digital process.

I did a pattern the 'good ol fashioned way' this time, where I inked each layer separately, then compiled them together in the computer and colored them.


The repeat tile

I'm really enjoying letting the inky brush strokes show on these and backed by a dark background you really see it.

This pattern is inspired by the olive flower. I really like the shape of the leaves more than anything, so I did something a little viney -- reminiscent of a wall paper pattern.


And here it is repeated

School just ended this week. Another semester is over and I'm feeling a little sad from it all. It's funny -- I've felt the same way every time another semester goes by. From the time I got out of school to now, it feels the same. I miss all of those people that I got close to over the semester. I won't get to see some of them until the new year, and some of them I may never get to see again for a long while -- or ever.

Waah, maybe it's the music I have on right now, or maybe it's because it's 3am and I'm finally posting this pattern before I head to bed, but whatever the case, I was just thinking about those guys. I had an amazing last day of class with everyone. I suppose nothing can last forever. I'll just be thankful I got to share the semester with everyone. It was a blast.

Father's Day BBQ Gift Basket....

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If the men in your life are grill masters like the ones in my life are, this is the perfect Dad's day gift!  Last year we got Hubs a super duper new stainless steel outdoor BBQ grill for father's day.  To go along with it, I made him and my daddy-o gift baskets full of grilling supplies.

For the basket portion of the bucket, I found these nice ice/champagne buckets and used my Cricut to cut their names out in vinyl and placed them on the buckets.  It gave them a nice personal touch.  I put "Poppa" on my dads because that's what the kids call him and, "WHUB" on my hubby's because that is my nickname for him:
Then, I bought a ton of nice BBQing supplies such as spatula's, wire brushes, oven mitts, mini meat thermometer's, skewers, tongs, etc. and placed them in the bucket with some gift basket filler:
I made these cute "apron" cards to attach:
Then, I just wrapped it all up in cellophane, attached the card with curling ribbon, and ta-da!
It was the perfect gift to go with a brand new grill!