lately on t&s designs vol. 5

Here are a few of my most recent blog designs with many more in the works. A huge thank you to all of my clients for allowing me to create your little space on the internet. I love doing this and enjoy working with you all!

If you are interested in spicing up your blog layout head on over to my design site and lets see what we can create!  Don't forget that a full layout comes with a one month button feature on my blog, a great plus if you are looking to increase traffic to your blog/shop.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>> 

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

lately on t&s designs vol. 4

Here are a few of my most recent blog designs with many more in the works. A huge thank you to all of my customers for allowing me to create your little space on the internet. I love doing this and enjoy working with you all!

If you are interested in spicing up your blog layout head on over to my design site and lets see what we can create!  Don't forget that a full layout comes with a one month button feature on my blog, a great plus if you are looking to increase traffic to your blog/shop.

GO HERE

lately on t&s design vol. 1

I have been a pretty busy lady lately.  Tunes & Spoons Design really took off and I have been lucky to design some blogs for some pretty great ladies.  Here are a few of the recent designs with more in line waiting to come!  

*****

http://sugarpumkin.blogspot.com/ 

*****

*****

steveandjessmarcum.blogspot.com

*****

*****

http://adam-n-brittany.blogspot.com/ 

*****

*****

http://polkastripesanddotsdecor.blogspot.com/ 

*****

(Prices will be going up in April due to high demand!  To lock in our current rates go here and purchase before April 1!)

an announcement!

I am thrilled to announce that today is the official launch of my new project 
Tunes & Spoons Design!!!


*****



*****

I am so excited to continue my love for creating through the medium of blog design.  Tunes & Spoons Design is all about working with you to create a unique and beautiful space that is just as beautiful as you are! 


To kick off Tunes & Spoons Design the right way I am giving away a FREE FULL LAYOUT!!!!

In addition I am offering 15% off of a Full Layout to everyone who enters the giveaway!

To enter you must:

1. Be a follower of this blog.

For an extra entry you can:

1. Blog or Facebook about this giveaway and leave a link to it.


2. Follow Tunes & Spoons Design Blog

Please leave separate comments for each entry.


The giveaway will be open until 3/5!


Good luck!

art is...

A friend of mine contacted me about a genuinely inspiring project.  It is a project that her brother is involved in called Victus Creus.  

There should be more things like this in the world.

Truly.

They are asking people to share what art is to them. 

Here is what art is to us:

Here is a little more about Victus Creus and their mission:

'We accept art submissions from anybody who wants to contribute, that means you! We have a space where you can submit a scanned in copy of your piece along with a written statement of what the piece means to you, how it empowers you, etc. and your name (contact info if you’d like) and we’ll post it up for sale once it gets ten votes. Thus creating exposure for you, and creating a network of creativity that this whole community can benefit from. And the beauty part is that you can do this at any age or skill level! We want to help you on your path to a creative and empowering lifestyle!

Every piece comes with information about the artist. That means whether it was created by you or one of our other contributing artists, every piece (t shirts, hats, prints, that’s right, all of them) will come with a card like one you might see next to a painting in a gallery. These cards all contain written statements by the artist about what went through their head when they did the piece, why they did it, how it empowered them, etc. The cards will also come with contact info if you wish to include it. It is optional but we strongly recommend that you at least give a facebook page or email that people who buy your art from our website can reach you at. We want people to know that all of our contributing artists are important to us, and we want to support contributors in any way we can. Word of mouth advertising is important, so the more that people know about where their art pieces come from, the more support the artist gets. 


Above and beyond any reason we do what we do is that we just simply love to do it. Creativity is our lifestyle, our passion and our way of being contributing members of society. This is our way of being the positive and empowering change that we wish to see"

You can post a picture of what art is to you on their facebook page or you can send the picture to them at artis@victuscreus.com

I was actually supposed to post about this last week in time to share her awesome giveaway but I dropped the ball. Forgive me Kynslie?

I'd love to see what Art is... to you.  

If you participate, send me a link, I'd love to see where this beautiful project goes! 

a guest post : our little almanac

Dear Readers, meet this lovely lady and her babe.  Her name is Kendra and she is one of my new favorites.  I hope you all had wonderful Valentine's Day.

********

Would it alarm you, Tunes and Spoons readers, if I started off by saying that I am a "wild thing?" I'm sure most of you grew up reading the tale of Max who ventured far off to the land of the wild things where when he was about to leave their world they screamed "Don't go! I'll eat you up, I love you so!" I used to find that disturbing as a child but as I've grown older I find that rather endearing. Odd, I know. But I actually have this habit of mine that when something is so good and I can hardly stand it, my jaw locks so tight and I grit my teeth because my body seriously can not contain the excitement. But rather than eat that person/place/thing I'd most likely either like to kiss it or cry because I love it so much {unless it's an ice cream sundae. In that case I would rather eat it up because I love it so!}

Seeing that yesterday was Valentine's Day, thinking about the things I love is still on the surface of my heart. There is so much passion I have built up in chest that I'd thought I'd share with you some of the things I'm WILD about in no particular order:

+ Marriage. I love, love, love the bond and strength that forms between the unity of a man and a woman. I love it in my marriage and I love seeing love in the marriage of others. To me, there's nothing better!

+ baby smiles & cuddles. My first baby just turned one 2 weeks ago. I never knew how quickly my eyes could turn into faucets until my sweet Evelyn nestled her tiny body into my chest for the first time. And here we are a year later and my eyes still leak with every little embrace, especially now as cuddles are not her thing anymore, that busy body gal!

+ motherhood. I am WILD about this one. There is no quicker way to learn about yourself than to become a mother. You learn of your strength as a woman - physical and emotional, you learn of sacrifice, of patience, of charity and compassion, you learn of humility, perseverance. I have never been a stronger woman and I respect myself and all the women in the world one hundred fold for the great duty it is to bear and rear children.

+ I'm WILD about anything with cheese. Macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, cottage cheese, mozzarella sticks - you name it!

+ travel. I LOVE seeing the world and all that humanity has to offer. It is so breathtaking to leave your known culture and arrive in another. It just does something to a person, ya know what I mean?

+ I am so grateful for the wonderful genius who decided to first dip an apple into caramel and then roll it in nuts, drizzled with chocolate {most notably, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory}

+ I'm WILD about blogging. I love it. I find it so therapeutic. I love blogging about my little daily adventures and triumps that would otherwise go unnoticed and forgotten, but here in our little almanac they live forever. I like that. 

What is it that you are WILDLY in love with? I hope you'll pop on over here and spill your heart out :)

********

Thanks Kendra, I'm over here today talking about some love of my own!  

i must have a really comfy womb

like really soon.

Today we went to the ultrasound specialists and saw that Miss Evaleigh has a head full of hair, really likes to practice breathe in tha womb, and is an extreme contortionist(even the tech was impressed and equally dumbfounded as to how she got into the position she was in). 

All of those things make her a really cool baby.

After the ultrasound we decided that the Version, though possible, is not for us.  We really feel like if EJ is meant to turn then she will.  I am already being humbled by my child.  I remember when I was first starting to feel her move and kick, I was in awe that she had the freedom to move as she pleased.  Although she was a part of me and we were sharing the same body...I had no control over her.  That amazed me and I was proud of her for being her own little person.  I am really learning more about the gift of agency.   

We have date set for the c section and the idea of it is growing on me.  Thank you each and every one for the incredible outpouring of love, support, and kind words you shared with me yesterday.  I can't tell you how much each comment, phone call, text message, email, and facebook message meant to me.  I am astounded at the heart warming words I have received from friends and strangers alike.  I went to bed last night feeling much better and incredibly at peace.

Although, I may still ground Evaleigh for a few weeks after she is born for not listening to me tell her "TURN AROUND BABY!!!!" probably 1,000 times.  She is in trouble but I forgive her because I just must have a really comfy womb.

(Also a thank you to Nat the Fat Rat for our little feature yesterday.  I bet you are getting rather tired of Christmas trees.)

perfect ten

10 things that gave me joy this season:

1. My husband bringing me his evergreen tree soaked hands and letting me take in deep breaths for as long as I'd like.

2. New York style pumpkin cheesecake ice-cream from Kroger.

3. Fresh clean warm sheets just on the bed on a cold winter night.

4. Being pregnant with my sister, every girls dream.

5. Picking oranges fresh off the trees and making Christmas wassail with them.

6. Feeling our baby girl roll from one side of me to the other and watching John's eyes get as big as silver dollars when he feels her too.

7. Seeing people with Christmas trees a top their cars.

8. An unopened pack of Christmas cards waiting to be written in and sent off.

9. Homemade ornaments on the tree.

10. The anticipation of adding a new little person to our family and trying to imagine how beautifully different Christmas will be next year and all of the rest of the years to follow.

(graphic)

its beginning to look a lot like...

The day after Thanksgiving we went up to the mountains in Asheville, North Carolina for a quick little day trip.  
It is our family tradition to always get a tree from the North Carolina Mountains.  Even though this year I know traditions will change, this is one my heart couldn't bare to let go of.
So, 8 months pregnant I trapsed up and down the mountains with my hubs, sister, and father in search of the perfect tree.  We found it.


We ended the evening with dinner at the Grove Park Inn and watched the sun and Venus set behind the western North Carolina mountains.


I have a pretty fantastic story to share about mine and Mr. Murphy's first Christmas tree together but it is going to have wait until tomorrow.  Until then here are a few glimpses of what Christmas is turning up like in our home.

star paper garland made out of an old Jesus the Christ book from the 70's
idea for "O Holy Night" framed on the mantel was inspired by this lovely lady, she has some other great DIY's too


Merry Christmas!

grunt.......groan

We are twenty nine weeks (30 on Saturday).  

I can't believe I have been pregnant for 7 months.  

That's a long time.  

I am starting to get anxious to meet her.  I think going to the hospital made everything quite real.  I can't stop thinking about meeting her for this first time.  We are going for an elective 4d ultrasound today.  We will get to see a little peek at what her face looks like.  I kind of feel like we are cheating but it has been 2 and a half months since our last ultrasound and I am dying to see how she has grown.

I know I have...

Today I have piles of laundry to hang up and no motivation with which to start.  I am feeling quite overwhelmed with EJ's nursery as I am alone during the days most of the time.  I haven't really stepped foot in there in over a week.  Hopefully we can make some headway in there this weekend.  

I think I will try to finish reupholstering the couch in there today.  I CANNOT WAIT to show it off.  It was my great grandmother's couch, so stayed tuned for that project.  

Here is a little sneak peek.....

I better get my hiney in gear and work in there while I can still manage.  I miss the days where I didn't let out a large GRUNT or GROAN every time I leaned over to pick something up.  She is sitting so low I feel like I have a bowling ball in my tum.

P.S. Thank You to Spearmint Baby for our little feature.  We will be sure to send the finished Nursery Pictures your way!  

My first time making sweet sweet whoopie...

...Whoopie Pies that is.

Geeze guys, get your heads out of the gutter!  (Although that was fun too.)

When we have our giveaways we request that those who enter the giveaway send us a recipe.  We receive so many amazing things and can't wait to try them all!  

The first official Tunes and Spoons Recipe Feature is from Elizabeth (I mean Emily) Day at daileyeday.blogspot.com  She is a clever little San Diegoian with a love for all things JJ and vintage.  She lovingly sent us a recipe for her Grandmother's Whoopie Pies.  Even in her G-ma's very own handwriting.  (In fact she is having a schmancy giveaway herself right now.  E.day not her G-ma)

Here is the recipe.  It's old school so you don't have step by step directions, you just kind of throw things in bowls and mix them together. We are so babied nowadays. 

(Step 1. Get out butter Step 2. Take off wrapper Step 3. Mix dry ingredients Step 4. Mix wet ingredients Step 5. Alternate mixing wet and dry ingredients sifting the dry. BLAH BLAH BLAH, JUST THROW IT IN THERE!)

We got this vanilla in Honduras on our honeymoon.  I'm not sure what I'm more concerned about:  the fact that I've used that much vanilla in 5 months or the fact that its called vainilla.

After making the filling I made the batter for the pies.  That stuff was SO thick it made my mixer motor get hot!  The beaters were struggling.

After they came out I let them cool for about 10 minutes, which was really hard for me.  I like to eat things right away.  In fact I eat the stuff more before it's baked....oh salmonella hasn't gotten me yet!

Then there you have it. 

Me, making whoopie at 1 in the morning

I thoroughly enjoyed it and from the look on John's face he liked it too.  

Making whoopie is fun and delicious and you all should try it too!

LAST REMINDER: Enter our GIVEAWAY for a CUSTOM MADE GUITAR STRING RING AND 4 BEAUTIFUL ANTHROPOLOGIE LATTE BOWLS

(enter here)

We will announce the winner tonight!

Operation France and Breakfast for Dinner

Last night we had FHE, like most Monday nights.  It was great.  We finally figured some things out.  John and I have been seriously thinking about doing a study abroad to France for a while now.  We have been praying and pondering if it is the right decision for us for this coming summer.

We sang the perfect hymn for the night, "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go, Dear Lord"

We had breakfast for dinner.  That is always one of our favorites,  John says, "I could literally eat breakfast anytime of the day."  We had:

Pancakes:  We mixed it up a bit with fresh chips of strawberry, 3/4 cup of sour cream, and a dash of vanilla in the mix.  Then we garnished with fresh strawberry slices on top.

Bacon:  Cooked almost til done in pan then we put it on a plate in the oven at 175 for about 5-7 minutes to give it more of a crunch.  Really that is the best way to eat bacon.

Hashbrowns:  John cooked these in the leftover bacon grease!  YUM!  Then of course he added jalapeños and salt and pepper.  They were better than Waffle House.

We already have our fall decorations out, most of these came from my girl's weekend with my family.  I love the holidays so much.  I feel like everyone is so excited with the anticipation of fall just right around the corner.  It is trying so hard to be here.  Just a few more days I hope.  "Come on Fall, you can do it!!"

In honor of our night I went to the European Market here in Roswell and got us some European chocolate.  It was divine!

For our activity we had planned on doing research for French programs and scholarship opportunities but that kind of didn't pan out.  So, instead I did a project that I have been obsessing over for about a week.

Thank you to (THIS LADY) for the inspiring idea.  You can see better directions on her blog.

I made a really cool earring holder.  This is so much better than throwing them all in one bag and having to search for the match!

My husband surprised me two nights ago with an early birthday present.  Seriously, we both can't wait for anything.  He was too excited and I was too curious so I let him give it to me.  

He gave me a beautiful pair of 1.4 carat Citrine Studs.  I LOVE them!  He said he thought they looked a lot like my beloved favorite color...mustard.  Now I have a beautiful new place for them to go.  Good job honey...good perfect job.  

Her Spoiled Eggs

Dear Tunesandspoons readers,

I am sharing something with you all.  Someday John and I will want to have babies, but that day is not today or probably even tomorrow.  However, we have a friend who DOES want babies, like YESTERDAY!  Her name is Ashlee and she and her husband have tried probably a million things to add the pitter patter of little feet to their family.  

We are hoping for the best for them.  

So, we are supporting her blog, and efforts to share their journey, and hoping that you will too.  Plus, she is having a super cool giveaway.

GO THERE NOW!

In honor of Ashlee's infertility blog we made a yummy breakfast.  This breakfast OF COURSE WAS EGGS!!!

You need:

Tortillas

eggs (not spoiled)

peppers (jalapenos/red and green peppers)

onions

hot sauce

strips of my Dad's famous smoked pork tenderloin (good luck getting that)

salt

pepper

cheese (cheddar)

butter

here is her blog:

myspoiledeggs.blogspot.com

Enjoy and happy baby making! ;) wink wink!