Granola Gifting................hello comfort

Even though it doesn't seem like winter yet, such an unseasonably mild stretch this year I must be feeling some type of winter nesting urge because I am cooking and baking up a storm over here. Lately I have been referring to Pinterest using my board labeled Hungry as an online recipe source, you have thought of using it that way haven't you? I tried a chocolate sour cream cake that was quite yummy but I must say the chocolate frosting was incredible. In between trying new recipes I have been baking up more than a few batches of the Granola recipe from our trip to Rancho de los Caballeros that I told you about in this post here. 

You might remember that the recipe was restaurant-huge so I halved it and still ended up with three professional sized trays, more than enough to bring some Hello comfort to anyone I see in the next week. So far that has included my yogurt loving manicurist, my dog sitter, four friends, and a former client. There is some major comfort in granola and what better way to say a winter hello? 

I just happened to have a set of twelve glass jars in my storage room so they worked out quite good for my ranch granola gifting and I was able to use my rubber stamps, tags, and labels from Besotted that I posted about before the holidays. The Ultimate Stationery Set was one of the best self-gifting presents I have ever bought for myself. I am thinking I may try to order a Homemade stamp, I have the Handmade one though I think that applies to crafts and sewing............though the granola was handmade so to speak wasn't it?

Just so you know, this granola is to die for.............really. 

I might be doing gift refills all winter long. Which may only be a few short months now...............

iphone photos by Sande Chase

Party Hats and Crowns

Sometimes you forget about old favorites. I hadn't taken a look at Paloma"s Nest since I blogged about her wooden bracelets way back here when I started this blog over two years ago. She is best know for her Ring Bearer Bowls and that single item continually gets a ton of press in bridal magazines. But when I saw these Party Hats and the new Party Crowns, I thought they were simply sweet. I like the simplicity of the edited design and the fact that they are made of wood. Something that can be personalized and something that skittish birthday boys might actually wear when it comes to blowing out the candles each year.

Paloma's Nest lists these wood crowns in their heirloom section, the idea being that you can pull out the celebratory party hat or crown each and every birthday. How sweet to gift this for a first birthday, so that each and every birthday photo has them wearing the same heirloom party hat. You can personalize with 18 characters so a simple Happy Birthday or their name will do the trick. Each style is 28.00 and can be seen here.

Both styles come with rear grommets so you can tighten or loosen the cord to fit heads of all ages. Of course, I could manage to get lengths and lengths of narrow ribbons (or frothy tulle) through those grommets and maybe a bit of bling on the front if it was intended for a female of any age. Guess that's the idea, these fun hats can be as understated or as gussied-up as you want. 

All photos from Paloma's Nest

in the kitchen ......with Ina Garten again

Ina Garten and I have been cooking together for quite some time now. So when I saw that the Barefoot Contessa has a new cookbook How Easy Is That? being released by Clarkson Potter on October 26th.............I thought the timing for holiday gift giving was just about perfect. Good for me too, whenever the Barefoot Contessa comes along with new recipes and all those yummy photographs it  always sends me on a bit of a cooking blitz, a good wind-up to the holidays ahead. In my kitchen and during most of the week I follow simple food rules, nothing boxed, nothing white, only fresh vegetables and organic whenever possible. I am less afraid of real butter than I am of food additives and chemicals so Ina and I get along fine. More than fine actually, I use her recipes more than any other cookbook author when it comes to serving up casual and delicious dinners for family and friends. In my kitchen she always delivers exactly what she promised. 

Ina Garten has her own little section in the cookbook row of my pantry and as you can see by all the tabs (yes, the post-it notes should be more designer looking) all six books are well-used. My family knows the taste and smell of Maple Oatmeal Sconces, Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp, Spinach Gratin, Pan-fried Onion Dip with Home-made Potato Chips, Apple Crostata, Popovers, Turkey Meatloaf (the best), and everyone still requests those Outrageous Brownies. I still don't know which book has which favourite recipe but I just as soon go through them each time anyways. They always make me want to cook more.

Just look away if you are vegetarian. One of her new recipes is Balsamic Roasted Beef along with some other soon-to-be favourites, an oven-baked Risotto, Herb Baked Turkey Breast, and an easy dessert made with store-bought chocolate chip cookies, something like the vintage ice-box cake recipe from what I can tell. Garten says How Easy Is That? was written to be easier and more stress-free, I always thought all the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks were easy and stress-free so how good is that?

Top and bottom photo via House Beautiful

Middle photo by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life

Yummy Treats at Summer Camp

These delectable notebooks caught my eye while spending a few humid minutes browsing a new blog named Simply Seleta. Actually it was way longer than that, you must go visit her charming blog that I found via the aqua-infused blog House of Turquoise. I loved the colours and simplicity of these personalized notebooks from Paperwink that were featured in a past post at Simply Seleta, wouldn't they make a lovely summer hostess gift? At $15.00 for a set of 3, I thought this personal gift treat was almost as satisfying as eating gelato in these delicious flavours. So yummy that it inspired another summer camp post of simple gift wrapping. Did I tell you that I had some pistachio gelato in Chicago on the holiday weekend? It wasn't as good as the huge scoop I had in Rome last fall, but I could live on that stuff right now. Especially today with the temp at 110. That is the Feels Like temp, but at that point I don't think it matters much..........it is just plain hot. Bring on the gelato.

It is all about the technique and this is a pretty simple and affordable presentation. Any solid gift wrap, a yard of satin seam binding ribbon, and two of the 8 Martha Stewart flower stickers. I showed you the same flowers in the bright tones the other day when I embellished the Kate Spade box. The 2 remaining white ones bring a fresh summer look to this gelato palette. 

While I was playing around, I also tried just a few other applications. Moved the flower around a bit. You could use this gift card to write a personal gift message. If I was a better camp leader I would suggest drying and pressing real flowers from your summer garden for a future embellishment. But buying them is about 100 times easier and summer camp is supposed to be kind of lazy.

I took an hour break from camp and headed over to my embellished world where more is always better (I did tell you I am a lousy camp leader). Since it is so cool here in my studio I wrapped up a trio of green paper flowers in satin binding ribbon just to see how they would look on this ribbon striped gift.

More can be better in my world....... flower on top and then another flower on the gift card.

Todays camp tools.

These Paperwink notebooks are also available in several other delectable colour combinations.

Photos 2, 3, 4 5, and 6 by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life

Floresdelsol............preserved beauty on Etsy

Petite Craspedia Topiary...........clustered craspedia (aka billy balls).

Dear Mother 2010................preserved hydrangea. pink preserved coxscomb. soft pink parchment paper roses.

Mossy Garden Mound.......fluffy reindeer moss. textured mood moss. faux moss cobbles.

Honeyed..........aspen gold hydrangea. yellow parchment paper roses. yellow preserved billy buttons.

Visit the beautiful preserved floral world of Floresdelsol on Etsy.

All photos from Floresdelsol ~ Etsy

An Etsy Favorite

Got a little over-aggressive in trying to get up to last fall's 10-14 km on the outdoor cycling over the past few days. You may remember my Blogger Butt post a few months back {click here to read}. As I said then "it works like crazy" in slimming down your hips and weight like no other exercise I ever did. I keep trying to email Oprah and tell her that but so far she hasn't responded! So as the intense try-out day evolved yesterday my jelly legs have progressed to bit of a sore hip so I will be taking it easy, along with taking care of my son and father, both who are not feeling well. You know how this all happens at once. So I'm leaving you a lovely series of photographs from Jacqleen Bleu at Etsy. The 4"x 6" or 7" x 9" prints are all mounted on a 8"x 10" so suitable for framing and are $21.50 each. Exceptional value and I like her eye.

I hope to have the fabric linen gift and it's wrapped variations by Wednesday, but it may be Thursday. And yes, it's back on the bike today, just a bit shorter and slower.

Mother's Day ....every week or month

Taken at a local museum by Jane Heller at Etsy, this surreal and beautiful photograph depicts underwater life as it would have been a few thousand years ago. The 8" x 12" print is $35.00.

I got to thinking about Mother's Day this week and what it means to us as mothers. I have a 27 year-old son who is here for the next few months, he spends the days studying, I spend my days working, but every morning when he first sees me, he always says to me "come in for a hug Mom" and I think about how that is the best part of my day. I love his fun-loving and affectionate nature. We all love gifts, but truthfully all we want as a mother is to know our kids are happy. And to know when they are not. In other words, the more you talk to us the better we feel, we aren't fussy on whether it's good or bad, it's our job to help make either better. It's a year of low spending for lots of families, so I got to thinking about a less-expensive way to send your mom a gift (especially if you haven't taken care of it yet, or want to send a little extra) every week of the year. I posted about this product before {click here to read} and was reminded of it when I wrote this week about the mini books.....hmmm, how wonderful would it be to email your mom every week (or month) with a colourful reminder of how you feel about her. Simply go to the Iomoi website and sign up for a email stationery yearly subscription for $15.00. You will have dozens of templates to use and can change the design each time you send your mom her little e-note. For a total of $30.00 you can order her an email stationery subscription too. She can email her friends and family in style, giving her a bit of stylish hi-tech fun all year long. You might have to show her how to use it but she loves it when you teach her something too.

Translation ~I love my mom.

This touching image is a flat postcard but I would take this

and frame it with a wide white matt as a gift for a new mother.

A lovely nursery gift.

Available at Sarah Jane Studios at Etsy.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day with lots and lots of good hugs.

Top photo from Jane Heller at Etsy/Middle photo from Iomoi/Bottom photo from Sarah Jane Studios at Etsy.

Mini Thoughts...all tied up

Pink and Brown Mini Books tied with Hand-dyed Silk Ribbon.

An Etsy find ~ 3 books for $14.00 US

Write a poem. Draw a picture. Send a letter. Announce a celebration.

Or hide them.....to surprise someone.

I happened across these at a little Etsy shop called Little Put Books and just love this idea. I would use it as a greeting card gift that would fold out to all the all the reasons you love, like, or admire that person. No excuses that you didn't have the budget for a gift, this could be the gift, one they can keep beautifully tied and open whenever they want to be reminded how special they are to you. Wouldn't this be a wonderful Mother's Day gift? Or as a thank you to that friend who always helps you out? If you are worried about your handwriting (and I wouldn't be, it will make it all the more special) you can do a cut-and-paste too. It appears there are 14 accordion pleats so 12 lovely thoughts, leaving 1 top line for their names and 1 bottom line for yours. A package of 5 assorted mini notebooks is $20.00, that's a lot of positivity to send some one's way. It would also be fabulous used as a wedding card......list 12 reasons why the newlyweds are perfect for each other.

Examples:

1. Because your kids will be gorgeous.

2. Because you always look for each other in a crowd.

3. Because you hold hands when crossing the street.

4. Because you both talk about each other way too much.

5. Because we can't picture you with anyone else.

6. Because you finish each other's sentences.

7. Because you tease each other so lovingly.

8. Because you love both your families.

9. Because you work at your relationship.

10. Because you know the value of humour.

11. Because you know the meaning of romance.

12. Because you make us all want to be in love.

Look how pretty this Cherry Blossom series is when all folded and tied up. Gorgeous colours and patterns.....gorgeous thoughts.

All photos from Little Put Shop at Etsy

No Bows.....just ribbon

After last week's feedback comments, I got to thinking, "what if you really can't tie a bow? Some people struggle with a tying a bow, though I tend to think it's often the quality of ribbon that makes all the difference. The ribbon quality you find in your mall card shop isn't ever going to "bow" nicely, I hate to be the one telling you that, but it's true. I had this gorgeous little gift card that is a card line I am looking to add to the website and it had me playing with this whisper-soft green ribbon and just letting it drop, seeing where it went. You know I can't explain these impulses that I have when it comes to wrapping. It's a fragile silk hem ribbon, tie too snugly and it starts to split.... so the less it is handled the better. I kind of liked this uncontrived look and simply let it move into soft curves and then rolled pieces of double-sided tape in a few spots to hold it's position. Then I tied in those paper roses (they have wires) at random spots. Now, you tell me when you look at the bottom photo........

It needs those paper roses. Otherwise it looks like someone

forgot to tie up their ribbons! Actually the effect is much better when

you see it "in person", as you can see my photo skills have not

improved much. I have a real love-hate relationship with technology.

Just curious, so I ordered this little book called Chic Shopping Paris by shopaholic and francophile Rebecca Morginant. She has a Paris guide website and blog, but appears she is away right now taking care of her new bambino. The handy purse-size Paris shopping, museum and restaurant reference guide is a lovely book gift for the Paris traveling friend{click here to order}

All three photos by Sande Chase - Oooh la la Cadeau

Artful Anne

Courtneys Favorite Things- a private commission piece by artist Anne Harwell.

12" x 12" Giclee on matte canvas, ready for display. She accepts private

commissions, have a lovely corner, a setting, or house you want drawn?

She's your girl.

Yes, you may have seen this photograph before (on my very first post) but this time I want you to look in the upper left corner and you'll see a wonderful notecard image with a fabulous chartreuse chair. I had just received my first Etsy buy, these most wonderful notecards from a most stylish artist....... doesn't her Courtney Barnes chair look perfect sitting on top of all those colourful wrap papers? I'm a newcomer to blogger land, but even here it doesn't take long to know who the really nice bloggers are, they comment, they promote other talent, and they just have a positive tone to whatever they do. But blog land aside, Anne Harwell has some serious talent for someone her age and I just adore what she does with all of it. She draws, she blogs, she has an Etsy store, a Zazzle gallery, a Flickr photostream..........

I'm at the bottom of a long list of people who have written about Anne, her blog and Etsy shop, both under her beautiful ANNECHOVIE banner, are hugely popular. Her iconic Courtney Barnes chair artwork is also available in a framed format for 75.00 US.

I also Etsy ordered these scalloped flat notecards for a friend, but little secret.......I kept them for myself. It seems a designer can never leave their old life behind, how could I resist? A boxed set of 8 cards and envelopes is 16.50 US. A wonderful gift for the friend who sits at the top of your gift list.

A more recent collection of her Chair Silhouette boxed notecards.

The colourful set gives you 4 images (8 cards total) for 16.50 US.

She also has a gallery at Zazzle where you can buy her fabulous chair images
on postage stamps, coffee mugs, aprons, and mousepads.

I told you she was a clever girl!

Photo images 1, 3,4, and 5 from Annechovie/2nd photo by Sande Chase

Merci

Happy, Happy Birthday to my la la friend Stephanie! Maybe I will make her this wonderful angel food cake {recipe here} when we have her birthday celebration in a few weeks. Have a fun day Stephanie!

Sometimes a simple thank you can be the best. I'm sending you over to Etsy today to see a store where everything is simply wonderful. I've sent you there before (those great wood bracelets) but a few other things captured my attention. Especially this ribbon.

A simple bowl of diminutive dimensions perfect for jewellry, a cube of soap.

A paperweight? A conversation starter? You decide.

Wood notecards with vellum envelopes. How novel. They even

offer them custom words or names. Be inventive.

And you simply are the best. Thank You to readers and followers

who have been sending comments and support. I love hearing from you!

You are sending my mind in new directions and I'm enjoying the stretch.

Merci!

Top photo from Carolyn Roehm/All other photos and product from Palomas Nest at Etsy.

Too Clever of a Gift

If I was as clever as I sometimes think I am, I would have thought of this idea myself. And I almost missed it when I was checking out of the Iomoi website after purchasing some of their paper (old-school) stationery. I just barely caught the line sign-up for free trial on e-stationery and off I went, right into email heaven. Within 5 minutes I had sent off my trial email- the Pagoda style- ordered my own subscription, another one for my friend Stephanie, and then spent 2 hours figuring out how many more emails I could send in such a stylish fashion. It's a great way to send off a thank you (the email kind, not the written ones that get mailed to a real mailbox), birthday greetings, little notes of support, and whenever else you want to be more personal in your email correspondence. You can do these all day if you want, and each one with a different design, I counted over 120 stationery designs in the everyday section alone. The font choices are an added bonus, I favour the handwritten style seen on top sample because it's better than my own. For a $15.00 US yearly subscription price, this is the kind of gift that just keeps giving and giving. Go through the site and when it registers how fabulous this is and how easy, you will be emailing your first thank you to me. When you do, please tell me how clever I really am.