Apple Coffee Cake

Last night I made coffee cake, but not just any coffee cake. This one had apples in the filling. 

I basically made the recipe below minus the nuts and the glaze.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/apple-coffee-cake/63265d92-bd10-4d8b-aa11-507291aa5e5a

I love coffee cake which is why I had some for dessert last night and for breakfast this morning. The prep work was a little longer than I would like for this simple recipe, but it was worth it in the end.

 So good that it's already half gone!

 This morning while trying to work on a project, my cat insisted on sitting right next to me even though I told him there was no room. I guess he proved me wrong.

This is his "Really? How many photos are going to take of me? I'm trying to nap here" face.

 Seriously. There are about ten more photos besides these ones.

Happy Kitty sitting in the sunshine.

Doily Craze

I've been on a doily making spree for the last couple of weeks since I have had lots of free and a ton of nervous energy. At first I was just nervous about hearing back from my interview, then I was nervous that I got the job and I wasn't sure I would really do well with a retail job. But I'm not worried about that now because I have a job! And it is working in my favorite craft/fabric store. Anyway onto the doilies!

  Here's my collection of doily books and below is about 1/3 of collection of crochet thread some of which was inherited from my great grandmother.

Here are my recent doilies all laid out with my phone for size comparison. None of these have been blocked yet which is why some of them are curling up.

 This is my most recent doily that I just finished yesterday. Notice the tail thread that I still haven't woven in.

 This is one of my favorite doilies that I have ever made which is why I chose to place in a wooden panel that I stained myself and cover it with epoxy. The epoxy makes it super shiny and hard to photograph but I love having it hang on my wall.

This is round two for trying this method of displaying doilies and uses the panel that I stained back in August. No job=no money to buy the epoxy to finish this one or the other 14 doilies I currently have but I'm still proud of it.

And here they are on my inspiration wall to try and give you a size reference. The cards in the middle are two and a half inches by three and a half inches.

 Last night I painted my toenails for good luck on my first day of work which is tomorrow! Hoping everything goes well.

And a bonus photo of my cat snuggling my computer!

Busy Week

I've had a busy week. Between stressing about finding a job, waiting to hear back from an interview last week, painting my grandparent's house for some extra cash, and catching a cold that just wouldn't go away, I haven't had time or energy to post anything. 

Next week I hope to be a busy as a bee in my mom's garden and will have a much more interesting post to share.

I

Photo a Day 2-7

Hard Work- Laundry is my least favorite chore!

 Up- My pick-me-ups for the day!

Exercise- This stays in the living room and I often sit on it instead of the couch.

Empty- Jars that I plan to reuse somehow.

Circle

Pathway




 And here's the Artist Trading Cards that I made this week.

Brownies

My Grandmother loves brownies so when I visited her last night I baked her some with Reese's Pieces in them. And they were delicious! Plus no fancy recipe needed, I just used a boxed brownie and added the Pieces after mixing all the other ingredients.

I'm still doing The Idea Room's Photo-a-day challenge but I've decided I will upload one weeks worth of photos at a time. Next Monday I will have an update of both photos and ATCs.

September Photo-a-Day Challenge- Day One: Inspire

I've always wanted to do a photo-a-day challenge, but every time I saw one I was way to late to start and thought maybe next time. Well this time I have no excuse! I found this one from Amy at The Idea Room yesterday and I knew it was time to challenge myself. 

The first one ended up being a painting of the day. For a while now I've wanted to create a wall full of things that inspire me and since that was the first prompt I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to pant something. I used extra paint I have from my chair project, watercolors, and an extra 4x4 Canvas that I had lying around. The photo after is where it lives on my wall.

After finishing my painting I was feeling crafty so I pulled out my Artist Trading Cards and decided to make a new one. I like how the flowers turned out on this, but overall this is too busy for my tastes. Live and Learn. I would love to continue making an ATC for everyday of September on top of the photo, but that may be too much. We will see.

 

 

Bonus Photo! 

Here's my cat sticking his tongue out at me. He rarely does this so I had to grab my camera and blind him with my flash since it's so late.

Lemon Bars

I bake when I'm stressed so I've been baking a lot lately. These lemon bars are my most recent baking adventure. They are so delicious, I would make them again in a heart beat! The book I got the recipe from is now one of my favorites since they are easy and all have beautiful large pictures.