OMG, TURTLES!

edisto sea turtles from cole rise on Vimeo.

One day on the beach a group of sea turtle protectors, checking on nests, happened upon a hatching.

I'm not really sure why baby sea turtles are among the cutest of all living things. According to the authorities at Cute Overload, they express several of the important Rules of Cuteness:

• Rule of Cuteness #2: Look helpless.
• Rule of Cuteness #5: Fisheye lens + baby animal is always cute.
• Rule of Cuteness #9: Piles of a cute thing jack up a cuteness rating exponentially. 
• Rule of Cuteness #10: If you haven't grown into your feet yet, it's cute. 
• Rule of Cuteness #17: Have tiny ears.
• Rule of Cuteness #18: Have a teeny tiny tail.
• Rule of Cuteness #21: Eye Capsules, as in a baby wombat.
• Rule of Cuteness #27: "Chub", or small rolls underneath eyes.

Let's explore these premises with the following study aids:

(Photo from here.)

(Photo from here.)

(Photo of baby leatherback turtle from here.)

(Photo from here.)

Based on my Internet search for this blog post, I'd like to propose a new Rule of Cuteness pertaining specifically to baby sea turtles: 

• If your Google search doesn't return even a single porn image, it must be cute.

Fabric Giveaway Winner

Wow, I was overwhelmed with the number of entries for the fabric giveaway - 465 to be exact!  It was so great hearing from all of you.  You guys definitely gave me some great ideas of things to create with these gorgeous fabrics and I really wish I could send each of you 5 yards of fabric.

But there can only be one winner.  And the lucky winner of the fabric giveaway is........

#106: Candace from Candace's Calling who said "I love the Sugar bundle! I've been pennant crazed lately and these fabrics would make adorable banners! I also need some fun throw pillows and how fun would those be!"

So Candace, you have 5 yards of "Sugar" coming your way - congratulations!!  Send me an email with your address so I can get this bundle in the mail to you.  Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thanks again to everyone who entered.  This was so much fun, I will definitely be doing another fabric giveaway like this in the future!

Link Party No.23 and Some Beads Jewelry

I had a laid back, yet very productive Labor day weekend with my family. When I say "productive", it doesn't mean progress on my projects, but things that needed to be taken care of around the house.

Although, after all the work was done, and when my family started doing their own things, I decided to play with beads...

I made this for my friend who had a birthday several months ago...(Happy WAAAY belated birthday E!).


Also, I made this for myself for the fall. These beads have some orange, gold, and light brown tones, but because they are mostly clear beads, I feel like it is perfect for between the Summer and the Fall. I might add some copper colored charms later on.



Well ladies, it is your turn, show me what you have been working on!

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.


<br /><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqD2Vd0YEWWfW_JevA07K4_OWomfU7lSFZXBHspcGVRoVaexEOVPpQJj3QRfeDrXxLrc0VSBLINUdXmJx0aEnpBkhJBFyWX5aulRpCbQdmpicAtJkh2qCOcowwuHAunCyw2SpvLlb4ZI/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a><br />

what’s on my nightstand

i did a guest blog yesterday over at sincerely, cecelia and due to my hectic week last week and then my labor day vacation i totally forgot to post about it.  {so sorry cecelia.}

take some time and click over to cecelia’s blog if you get a chance.  i’m dishing about what i keep on my nightstand on her weekly “what’s on your nightstand” series.

xo,

cristi

LiveJournal Tags: guest blog,sincerely cecelia

The Cottage Mama Photo Shoot

About a week ago, my lovely photographer friend, Megan, took some gorgeous pictures of her daughter Gracyn, and my daughter Savannah wearing some of the most recent "The Cottage Mama" creations.

Megan is the person that really caused me to jump into the world of blogging.  I will never forget our mom's night out conversation where she said, "you should write a blog.......I'd read it".  And I thought, really?  It got me thinking, if she'd read it, maybe others would too........and so here I am blogging away.  Thanks Megan!

So for the photo shoot, we had planned to do several outfits, but once we reached our location, the mosquitoes were so horrible that we were afraid to change the girls clothes.  Luckily the bugs looked a lot worse than they were and we escaped with just a few bites.  All in the name of fashion, I guess. 

So, I just wanted to share some of Megan's (www.meganabelard.com) gorgeous pictures with you......

This is my daughter, Savannah Rose, wearing the Fall Mod Jumper in size 3T.  I love this little dress.  I think it will look fabulous layered with a long-sleeved brown tee and tights for fall.  Maybe a little cardigan if it's super-chilly.  There are fabric covered buttons up the entire back and vintage trim finishes off the little pocket in front.

This is a flower hair clip that I whipped up before the photo shoot.  I wanted her to have a statement piece in her hair and I definitely think this is it.  I haven't listed these in the shop yet as I'm not sure if it's too big or not for everyday wear, but for the photo shoot, I think it looks great!

Here's my friend Megan's daughter, Gracyn - isn't she a beauty?  Gracyn is wearing the Enchanted Bird Knot Dress and Ruffle Pant Set in size 4T.  Megan loves purple, so this was the perfect little outfit for Gracyn to model.

I've been dabbling with some more accessories for my girls line and this is one of my latest - The Cottage Kitty.  I don't know if you've noticed, but the little girl in my logo is playing with a kitty so this is perfect.  This is the only plush toy I plan on doing and the kitties are based off of a vintage 1950's sewing pattern.  Each kitty is made to match a The Cottage Mama outfit.

And for the Mama......a matching scarf to tie around a bag or purse.  I have to admit that I love "Mommy and Me" things, but I know they can be pretty dorky.  So this was something I came up with that I think is the perfect touch, but isn't over the top.  The Mama Scarf can be made to match any The Cottage Mama outfit.  Oh, it is also long enough to tie around your head.  Should be listed in the shop soon!

And finally, the two cottage girls heading home.  It's so much fun seeing Savannah being more and more drawn to her little girlfriends.  I find girlfriends to be incredibly important in ones life, so my hope is that Savannah will find some truly special ones.  And so far, I'd say she's done pretty well!

Thanks so much Megan for taking these gorgeous pictures and lending your adorable daughter to model for this shoot.  Can't wait to do it again!

Cottage Mama's Note:  To stay updated with my etsy shop, please join The Cottage Mama facebook fan page.  This is where I announce sales and discounts for my etsy shop.  Only about 20 more fans to go before I announce a big sale.  Come on over and join the fun!

Huckleberry Muffins

I realize that I've been posting a lot on food recently. I would say it's because I'm pregnant and food is on my mind quite a bit but honestly, it has more to do with dragging my feet on other projects. Shall we say these have been the lazy days of late summer?

Not too lazy to make my new favorite muffins though! These come from a Blueberry Muffin recipe from the fabulous gluten-free baking book called, " Gluten-Free Baking Classics," by Annalise G. Roberts. Go here to see the book.

My friend Karen, who follows a strict gluten-free diet, recommended the book. We are not a gluten-free household but these recipes are delicious and I think having variety in your diet is always a good thing.

Recipe:

2 cups Brown Rice Flour Mix

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon xanthum gum

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4-1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 cups unsweetened fresh dry blueberries

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin pan with cooking spray.

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xantham gum, salt and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl. Add blueberries; stir to coat evenly.

3. Combine milk and oil in small bowl; remove 1 tablespoon of combined liquid and discard it. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add to dry mixture and stir until just blended.

4. Fill muffin pan and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.*

5. Bake 18-25 minutes and until light golden. Cool on rack.

* Cinnamon sugar is 2 tablespoons sugar to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

We happened to have wild huckleberries on hand, so we used those in place of blueberries.

I hope that everyone had a lovely long weekend. We, once again, spent our entire weekend working on the house. The upside is that we accomplished a lot and I'll have some after photos of the dining room in my next post!

xoTrina

a little sneak peek

for the last few weeks i’ve pretty much been M.I.A. from blogging, twitter, facebook, etc.  i’ve had a good reason though.  i was busy putting the final touches on my plans for a model home that i’ve been designing for a development in houston, texas.  well, last week i finally got to install it.  i have a lot of photo editing to do before i share the whole home on the blog but i do have a sneak preview for you until i get them all edited. 

thanks so much for sticking around in my absence.  i’ll be back soon with more pics of my design.

LiveJournal Tags: my design,model home,houston,tx,interior design