Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Sale in The Striped Straw

A new sale has just started in The Striped Straw! From now until November 26th, you can save 20% on all pieces. Also, free shipping is still going on. Woo Hoo! See below for the coupon codes.

Stunning Blossom in Peacock Necklace

When you check out from my Shop, use coupon codes SAVE20 and FREESHIPPING. Please let me know if you have any problems using these coupons. Enjoy!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Ship Your Blossoms (and Poinsettias) for Free

Hello! Can you believe Thanksgiving is only a few days away? This fall, and November especially, has zipped right on by. I've been busy adding new pieces to The Striped Straw. I've featured a few of them here. See more here

As you begin your holiday shopping, I have some very good news. First, I now accept credit cards and Etsy gift cards in my Shop. Paypal is also still an option. Yay! Second, for a limited time, there is free shipping in my Shop. Enter coupon code FREESHIPPING when you check out. Double Yay! 

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!


Charcoal Blossom and Filigree Ring

Blossom Necklace in Ice Blue

Red Poinsettia Dangle Earrings

Flower Hair Pin in Marine Blue and Mango

Blossom Necklace in Charcoal


Saturday, September 22, 2012

Still Here. Still Creating. Still Busy. Still Blessed.

Hello! My sweet friend Tessie had an open house for The Striped Straw in August (thank you Tess!!!) and I have been busy making the custom orders below as a result of the open house. It was such a fun time and a blessing to spend that time with friends, new and old. I've been busily working on a few other custom orders as well as creating new items to restock my Shop. All in good time. I am determined to put first things first this year and give priority to my family and homeschooling. I have three little ones who won't be little forever and I want to give them, and my husband, the best of me. I did not excel at that last fall. As one of my Cs recently said, "No offense Mom, but last year was kind of a flop." And he was right. But God is good and His mercies are new everyday. Where I flop, God lifts up and redeems. So, here's to making good use of time, enjoying loved ones, and allowing creativity to blossom and flourish without taking over. Happy Saturday to you!





Monday, July 9, 2012

Checking In From Busytown

Hello!

It's been quite a while since I've been here. My apologies for being MIA. We've been really busy, mostly having fun, with another two weeks of crazy busy on the horizon. But more about that later. I'd love to catch up and hear how you're doing. Did you have a good 4th of July? We went to a parade in my hometown village with my mom-in-law and some families from our community group at church. It was fun, not too-too hot, and the rest of the day was pretty relaxing. And then on the 5th, a whole host of my loved ones on my dad's side came into town and we had a big family get-together in honor of my aunt and uncle's birthdays. It was so good to see everyone, chat as much as we could, and meet some of my cousins' children for the first time. With everyone living in separate states, we don't get together that often so it was a really special time.

The other big enchilada that's been keeping me busy is Vacation Bible School at our church. My husband and I have the privilege of helping direct VBS and it begins one week from today. Yikes! We spend months planning for VBS and then it's here before we know it. Kind of like running a marathon and then sprinting to the end. Actually, I'm feeling the pre-race jitters of excitement and a bit of nervousness. To keep from dwelling on that, I'm praying, first and foremost, and then staying busy.

One of my favorite projects that I do right before VBS is make t-shirts for our Core Committee. I usually put the VBS logo on the shirts and then draw or write something that reflects that person, often with some touches of humor that are obvious only to us as a team. The team now refers to the various things that are shared among us as t-shirt fodder. And that's about right. T-shirt fodder. All in good fun.

In my spare time, I've also made some new items for my Shop, with more to come. I've also been working on a number of custom orders, which is always a fun challenge. I'll see what I can post this week.

Some of the things I'm loving right now: homemade guacamole (with chips or as a spread for a lettuce wrap), refreshingly cooler weather + rain, and my middle C's perspective that swimming = vacation (when I mentioned we have plans to swim this week, he grinned and said, "we've had so many vacations this summer!")

I hope you're enjoying your summer. I'll hopefully be back sooner rather than later. Until then, take care!



Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Orange and White

Orange and white stripes...one of my favorite combos right now. I just added these guys to my Shop...


I decided to add a fun detail to the back of these earrings thus the heart design. It's like a tatoo for your earrings. Next assignment: make a pair for myself. ASAP.



Blossom Necklace in Ice Blue


Introducing my latest Blossom Necklace. This one is in a favorite color of mine, Ice Blue. The necklace is 36" so a stylishly long necklace. I hope you enjoy it!

More blossom necklaces and other little pretties here.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A Sweet Birthday

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Walnut Pecan Crust

Today was a big day in our home because it was my husband's birthday. My husband is gentle and kind and thoughtful and godly and fun. I just love him. He's had some really tough days at work lately so I wanted to really make his day extra special. He requested cheesecake for his birthday so I happily honored that request. To my immense relief, the cheesecake turned out well. See the recipe below. My 3Cs were so excited that it was daddy's birthday. They each made him an original something special out of Legos. Our littlest C made a little restaurant with two people eating enchiladas. Cute, no? (Can you tell we live in the Southwest where chile is practically ground up and put in a baby's bottle?) Our middle C made a boat and a jet...so boyishly fun. And our oldest C made his daddy a Lego ipad. So cool. He worked on it for hours and was so excited to give it to his daddy. All of their creations were a big hit. I framed a few of my husband's recent photos (he has a great eye for photography) and got him a few other little things. My mom-in-law joined us for dinner and we had a nice time together. It's my prayer that our love would wash away some of the stress and exhaustion he feels from his 12 hour work days. We love you!

Lego ipad


For the (gluten free) cheesecake recipe...