~Happy Summer~

The first day of summer is right around the corner, June 21st to be exact.  How ironic…June 21st is also Father’s Day!  What is your favorite thing about the summer season?  What is summer like where you live?

Here in Western Washington summer has been slow approaching.  We have had some nice hot weather in these past few weeks but definitely not enough to say summer is really here.  Today is pretty overcast and a low 60 degrees…a little too cold for shorts! 

My Top 10 Summer Favorites:

1. BBQ’ing – nothing is better than grilling outside, less mess in the kitchen!

2. Relaxing in the sun – catching rays and reading a book, heaven!

3. Wearing flip flops – gotta love no socks, and pretty pedicures

4. Opening windows – letting fresh air in to the house, smells clean

5. Taking the kitties outside – they are indoor and only go out with supervision

6. Planting flowers – even though I have a small patio I make the best of it

7. Longer days – love when the sun stays out longer, no short winter days here!

8. Feeding hummingbirds – I love watching the hummingbirds swarm the feeder

9. 4th of July – who doesn’t like fireworks?

10.  Taking it outside – bike riding, walking, and playing in the sun

I’ve learned that living in Washington you have to take in every ray of sun you can.  Sun would be nice year round however having 4 seasons is even better. 

To celebrate Summer I made a set of Summer greeting cards.  To purchase these cards from my Artfire shop please click HERE.

Happy Summer everyone!

~Welcome Spring Chickens!~

Even though Spring is officially here it sure doesn’t feel like it here in the great Northwest!  Hopefully the warm weather will be here soon but if not I always have my upcoming Kauai trip in May to look forward to. :)

To celebrate the official arrival of Spring I am dedicating this post to some very talented artists on Artfire.com.  The theme for my post is “Spring Chicks”.  All the items feature chicks! 

This adorable Easter Baby Chicken and Word Blocks Spring Home Decoration is perfect to give as a gift or to keep for yourself.  You can find this baby chicken in Sawdusted’s Artfire shop. 

Are you a crafty person yourself and looking for an awesome and unique Easter sewing project?  Check out this Easter Basket Felt Pattern from LittleCricket’s shop.  Not only is this Easter Basket filled with fat free goodies but will keep year after year.  Please note this listing is for a PDF pattern.

Does your kitchen need a spring touch?  Decorate with this fantastic Yellow Crocheted Chicken Potholder from ArtLoCraft’s shop.     

HAPPY

SPRING!

~Think Rich…~

Did you honestly think I was talking about money?  :-)  Think Rich Color, this is the topic for my first blog carnival I am participating in as a member of Blogfire, a group of bloggers who own shops on Artfire.  You can check out my shop by clicking HERE. 

For those who know me well, you know that my favorite color is purple.  Naturally I picked this color and started my window shopping excursion on Artfire.  I decided to stick with a purple flower theme since spring is coming upon us.  These are the lovely items I found.  Feel free to comment and link to any other rich purple items. 

Check out these petunia seeds from Wiseplants shop.  These wild purple petunia seeds are brought to you just in time for spring.  Don’t forget spring starts in March which is just around the corner. 

Next on my list I found this Pretty Purple Flower Cell Phone Cozy from GymMama’s shop.  What a perfect accessory to have.  Not only will this little cozy hold your cell phone but also some money or credit/debit card.  The best part about purchasing from GymMama is that 20% of each sale goes directly to charity.

My last item I found in VieModerne’s shop.  This beautiful Violet Satin Rose Hairclip or Brooch is rich in color and very stylish.  This would be a great accessory to wear to a garden wedding or for a night out. 

Happy Shopping!

~New Year, New Goals?~

Some may think that with the New Year comes goals and resolutions.  Others might ring in the new year with the same goals as the last and yet others believe that new years resolutions just never work!  

With that said, I don't make resolutions.  I believe goals are much easier to obtain.  My goals this year for my card shop is to sell, sell, sell!  Selling cards on etsy and artfire is not my full time job and is a hobby for me.  It's a creative outlet and a favorite past time.  If I make any money at all I end up using my profit for more supplies!  I get so excited when I sell one item. 

Hopefully my shop sales with go up soon because I really am running out of storage space for all my new card creations. :-)  If not my friends and family will be getting a bunch of freebies soon. Of course if you see something you like from my shop put it in your shopping cart, rarely do I make the same design twice.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and...

Happy 2009 From Seattle!

~Jenna

PS:  Stop by my shop, purchase a card or set, and receive a free gift!  Just mention the code "2009 Goals" in the notes to seller.  

This includes sales from both of my shops: http://cardsbyjenna.etsy.com and http://cardsbyjenna.artfire.com.

~Do You Like Reubens & Mac n Cheese?~

Rachael Ray is my cooking idol.  30 Minute Meals is one of my favorite tv shows and actually now that I think about it the only cooking show I really watch.  

Rachael's recipes are quick, easy, and often times you can find the ingredients already in your pantry.  Every recipe that I have made has come out delicious!  Check out Rachael's Blog for more fun info!

Recently I made Rachael's Reuben Mac n Cheese dish.  Wow, it was yummy!  If you love Reuben sammys and mac n cheese then this dish is for you!

The link to the recipe is above, however I wanted to include the recipe here in my blog as well.  If you do decided to make this dish let me know what you think!  If you have a similar recipe or would like to share one of your own your comments are welcome.  

Happy Cooking!

Reuben Mac n Cheese

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 pound cavatappi, hallow corkscrew shaped pasta or, other short cut
• 2 slices rye bread
• 3 tablespoons butter plus some for butteringtoast
• A handful fresh parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup spicy brown deli mustard (recommended: Gulden's)
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 cup shredded Gruyere
• 1 cup shredded yellow Cheddar
• 3/4 pound good quality deli corned beef, sliced as thick as bacon, chopped
• 1 pound sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente.

While pasta cooks, toast rye bread in toaster then butter hot bread. Coarsely chop bread and place in food processor. Add parsley and paprika to bread and process into bread crumbs, reserve.

Heat a sauce pot over medium heat. Add butter to pot and melt, whisk in flour 1 minute then milk. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, thicken sauce 5 to 6 minutes then stir in mustard. Melt 2/3 of the combined cheeses into the sauce.

Preheat broiler.

Drain pasta and return to hot pot. Toss hot pasta with chopped meat and sauerkraut to combine, stir in cheese sauce and coat. Transfer mac n cheese to casserole and top with bread crumbs and remaining cheese. Brown under broiler 3-4 minutes, serve.

~Etsy Bloggers Team Blog Carnival~

Recently I joined the EstyBloggers Street Team. It's been a great way for me to meet etsy sellers and also to promote buying handmade!

Every month the EtsyBloggers Street Team has a blog carnival. Not sure what a blog carnival is? That's ok! I had no idea what one was until I joined this fabulous blogger team.

According to http://www.wikipedia.org/ a blog carnival definition is as follows:

"A blog carnival is a type of blog event. It is similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly. Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains permalinks to other blog articles on the particular topic."

Interested in surfing our blog carnival? Click on the icons to your left! :-)