Weekly Wrap Up

What a week!  My work life has been insane and subsequently my personal life has been entirely BORING!  I have spent a lot of time lounging around my house!  6 of the 8 pictures were taken inside my house, which seems rather unusual for me, but it's been pretty nice, I do love my apartment.

Can you see why I love it.  Check out how pretty it is, and this is just the view from my couch!

I got some new business cards (thank you Klout and Moo.com)

A Denver staple, the Duffyroll.  Hello delicious!

Look at how cute my friend's dogs are, they always wrestle with each other!

This is my new favorite thing.  Are you catching on to how much I love cupcakes?  So much so that I hung some cupcake pans on my wall.  Love!

Chocolate, Nutella and Salted Caramel cupcakes.  Hello delicious!

Strawberry and cream scones anyone?  Yes please!  Perfect way to bribe your boss during a morning meeting.  I shamelessly push baked goods :)

Ah good life choices.  San Pellegrino and garlic truffle fries.  I'm a fatty.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Love, 

Keely

Budget With Me Wednesday-Week 6

Getting back on track is tough.  It's hard to correct your direction.  I kinda splurged this week, I don't even really know what happened.

Perfect is not the goal, improvement is the goal.  No one is perfect.

I'm making improvements, I'm striving for less spending, and I'll figure this out a little bit more.

This week was just a hiccup.  I'm going to move forward and not be concerned about the past, I'm just going to let it be.

Love,

Keely

Cupcake Tuesday-Peanut Butter Chocolate

Chocolate and Peanut Butter are such a classic combination!  It's just silly that it took me THIS long to get around to making a good chocolate peanut butter cupcake!  But I have hit my stride and this is the PERFECT way to do this cupcake!

Gosh this is so good! 

Having a girls night?  Bring these! 

Trying to impress that boy?  Bring these!

Need that promotion?  Bring these! (ok maybe don't do that!)

Chocolate Cupcake
makes 24
2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
vanilla
salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans.

In a large bowl whip together the room temperature butter with the sugar until they get nice and light and fluffy.  Add the 2 eggs and beat for about another minute.

When the eggs are fully incorporated add in the vanilla, salt and cocoa powder.  Mix well.

Next, measure out your baking soda, baking powder and flour in a medium bowl.  Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined.  Add 1/2 of the sour cream.  Follow that with another 1/3 of the flour, the last of the sour cream and the last of the flour, beating well after each addition.

Scrape the sides of the bowls and mix on last time to make sure it is all combined.

Scoop into the cupcake pans using a 2 oz ice cream scoop, or filling about 2/3 of the way full.  My rule with chocolate cake is that it should look like chocolate ice cream before it bakes

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool

Chocolate Cupcake
makes 24
2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
vanilla
salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans.

In a large bowl whip together the room temperature butter with the sugar until they get nice and light and fluffy.  Add the 2 eggs and beat for about another minute.

When the eggs are fully incorporated add in the vanilla, salt and cocoa powder.  Mix well.

Next, measure out your baking soda, baking powder and flour in a medium bowl.  Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined.  Add 1/2 of the sour cream.  Follow that with another 1/3 of the flour, the last of the sour cream and the last of the flour, beating well after each addition.

Scrape the sides of the bowls and mix on last time to make sure it is all combined.

Scoop into the cupcake pans using a 2 oz ice cream scoop, or filling about 2/3 of the way full.  My rule with chocolate cake is that it should look like chocolate ice cream before it bakes

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool.

Peanut Butter Frosting
2 blocks cream cheese
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
2-3 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl whip the cream cheese until smooth.  Add in the peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.

Once everything is well mixed, start slowing adding in the powdered sugar.  This can get too thick really quickly so go slow and take your time.

Pipe the frosting on to the cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Love, 

Keely

Sunday School-Peach Bundt Cake

So I've sort of fallen in love with my bundt pan.  It makes everything so much prettier than it otherwise would be, and it makes a normal cake seem much more brunch (but that may just be me!).

So, going along with the peach situation (oh my gosh the peaches are so good!) I made you a peach bundt cake, and since it has fruit in it you SHOULD eat this for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner.

Have a wonderful Sunday my friends!

Peach Bundt Cake

adapted from Taste of Home

1/3 cup butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

vanilla

1 cup peach puree

2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

salt

1 cup sour cream

Diced peaches

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a bundt pan, extra well!  I use so much non-stick spray, it's just ridiculous

In a large bowl add the butter and sugar.  Cream with a mixer together until lighter in color and slightly fluffy.  Mix in the peach puree.

Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix well.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

Add 1/3 of the flour to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated.  Add 1/2 of the sour cream.  Add another 1/3 of the flour, then the last half of the sour cream and finally, the last 1/3 of the flour.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and then mix in the chopped walnuts.

Pour half the batter into the greased pan.  Toss the diced peaches in maple syrup and pour over the batter.  

Spoon the other half of the batter over the peaches.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.  Allow to cool and flip out of pan.

Top with more peaches and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Slice and enjoy!

Love, 

Keely

Weekly Wrap Up

IT'S FRIDAY!

High five ladies, we have conquered another week!  I hope that your week was lovely, things have been a bit crazy here in my neck of the woods.  Have you ever made 120 cupcakes in 48 hours?  It's pretty intense, but quite fun!  I really enjoyed doing it! (And of course it helped that I was getting paid for it).

So today I'm doing my wrap up a bit different.  I decide to go all collage on us because there were only 6 photos from my week. 

I got the August It's Paper Dear box, I love it!  There are always the cutest things!

Other than that, I spend a lot of time waiting for my Capoeira classes to start, I have just enough free time before class starts to make it awkward, so I end up sitting around, but it's totally worth it!

I've decided I need to make some changes to my photos around here, especially the cupcake ones, they all look the same! HAHA

In other cupcake news, I had my first BIG order!  It was a pretty insane couple of days making 120 cupcakes, but it was much better than I expect.

And then there's that photo in the bottom right corner.  I love the view of my apartment from my couch, the embroidery forms, the new barstools, the awesome bookshelf, the pieces on top of the kitchen.

I'm in love with my apartment, more and more each day, it's so fun!

Have a great weekend!

Love, 

Keely

If You Really Knew Me

If you browse blog-land at all then I'm sure you've seen this trend of these "if you really knew me posts."

It's fun to see some real life stuff about people, and it got me thinking, I don't share that much about myself with all you lovlies.

So, I'm going to go ahead and join the madness!  I think it's important that all of you get a little bit more about me, not always just the formulated, planned posts :)

If you really knew me you would know that...
I always start projects when I don't really have enough time accomplish them, or when it's just silly.  For instance, I got risers for me bed and was trying to set them up on my own at 12:30 AM (sorry downstairs neighbors).  This was of course after showering and putting my close away, after making 60 cupcakes, I should have been sleeping, but the motivation hits at really weird times in my life.

I sometimes act way more confident then I actually am, I second guess a lot of what I say when I get home.

I LOVE thrift stores.  When I "need" new clothes, thrift stores are my first stop.

I love to bake for people, I don't love when people expect me to bake for them.

Along with the above statement, I LOVE baking, but I'm not really sure I would actually want to open a bakery, I like to do what I love simply because I love it.

Someday I would love to produce documentaries all over the world, telling stories of people who's stories never get told.

I'm really good at being friendly, and I love to hang out with people, I have a really hard time building deep relationships with people.

I found my current career on accident, and I love it.  I was browsing through degree programs at my school when I got fed up with mine and found Broadcast Production, haven't looked back since (I have no idea what I would be doing outside of this!)

I am incredibly forgetful.  I usually know where my keys are but I always forget to bring things with me, put things away, etc.

I don't usually believe that my cupcakes are delicious.  More often than not I don't even have one cause I know I'll just be disappointed.  I guess I just feel like I could have always done better.

So there you have it!  What are some things that I don't know about you?

Love,

Keely

Budget With Me Wednesday-Week 5

Wow it has been quite the day!  Thus why I am coming to you a bit later than usual.

Things have been pretty busy around my house lately!  Aside from baking 120! cupcakes this week I've also been working out, working, going to church and trying to remain sane!  It's crazy, but this is when I really shine.

Turns out I'm incredibly good at keeping a million balls in the air.  My life tends to fall apart when I am only juggling one thing, I get bored and lose my focus!

Anyway, that has nothing to do with this silly budget of mine.

Things have been trucking along recently.  I actually cut down my cash money (sigh) in order to pay for my new workout studio fee, it's worth it but it's hard.  On the bright side, having less cash more or less REQUIRES me to bring my lunch now, so that's not such a bad thing.

I have to be really intentional about things.  I have to remember that I WILL be going out to dinner on Tuesday nights after church, so I can't spend all my money on Monday.  It's all about keeping things straight and thinking things through.

Overall things are at lot better money wise.  I feel much more secure in my finances even though there is still a lot of catching up to do!  Who knew this could make such a change in just 5 weeks!  Love it!

How have you been?

Love,

Keely

Cupcake Tuesday-Cinnamon Peach and the Tuesday Tango!

Peaches are in season right now in Colorado, and that means we have AMAZING peaches!  They are so juicy and delicious, I love them!

These fresh peaches inspired me to make some delicious cupcakes!

These have fresh peach puree in them and then are topped with some cinnamon cream cheese frosting, yum!  To add to the delicious peachy-ness I took some of that puree and mixed it with some powdered sugar and drizzled it on top!  So delicious!

I'm also hosting the Tuesday Tango today from After Nine To Five!  It's a really fun way to meet new bloggers!  Check it out at the bottom!

Let's get this going because these cupcakes are just too good to wait!

Peach Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes
2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
vanilla
salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powdered
puree of one peach (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 350 and line two cupcake pans.

In a large bowl blend together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about two minutes, until it gets slightly fluffy.  Add two eggs, one at a time, making sure to mix well after each addition.  Next, add the vanilla, salt, baking soda and baking powdered.

Measure out your flour.  With the mixer running, adding about 1/3 of the flour.  Follow this with the peach puree and mix until just incorporated.  Then add another 1/3 of the flour followed by the sour cream.  Last, add the remaining flour and mix well.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix one last time, making sure everything is incorporated.

Scoop the mixture into the cupcake pans, filling them about 2/3 of the way full.  I do this using an ice cream scoop, but you can also use two spoons.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
2 blocks cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 cups powdered sugar

In a medium sized bowl mix together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add in the cinnamon and continue to mix.

While the mixer is running slowly add in the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing completely after each addition.

Once the correct consistency is reached, scrape the sides of the bowl and mix one last time.

Pipe or frost on top of the cooled cupcakes.

Peach Glaze
1/2 cup peach puree
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a small bowl mix the puree and powdered sugar together with a whisk.  Pour into a squeeze bottle or use a spoon to drizzle over the frosted cupcakes.

Enjoy!

The Tuesday Tango is a multiple link-up post for everyone to meet new people and grow your audience. There will be eight link-ups that you can add your link to - Twitter, Facebook, Hello Cotton, Bloglovin, Instagram, Pinterest, Better Blogger Network, and RevolutionizeHer.

All you have to do is follow the host(s) for that week and then add whoever else you'd like to!

Permanent Hosts:

After Nine To Five | Big Apple Mami

This Week's Rotating Hosts:

Hairbows and Butter | Metropolitan Money Pit | Little Mudpies

Directions:

Follow the host(s)

Add your links to any/all of the link-ups

Add at least 5 people from the link-ups

- - -

Want to host one of the weeks? Let us know!

Love,

Keely

Sunday School-Lemon Honey Strawberries

Sorry this is so late! I've been such a slacker recently!  I really enjoy being here and sharing recipes with you, so I made sure to get on here today, and share this little snack with you!

This recipe is great on ice cream, or plain, and it takes simply minutes to make!  It's so fabulous! 

The only time consuming part is just cutting up all the strawberries and squeezing the lemons, but that's just fun!

So here we go!

Lemon Honey Strawberries

Juice from 5 lemons

1/4 cup honey

16 oz strawberries

(Yes, that's it).  Juice the five lemons into a medium sauce pan and add the honey.  Bring it a boil and allow to boil for about 2 minutes.

Pour the syrup over the strawberries and refrigerate for about an hour.

Scoop the strawberries over the top ice cream, or just eat with a spoon!  

Enjoy!

Love, 

Keely

Weekly Wrap Up

Happy Friday Lovelies!

What a wonderful week it has been!  It was nice and relaxing and lovely and great.  There was family, roommate time and friend time, all great things!

I've done plenty of baking, watched a lot of How I Met Your Mother (I have a problem).

It's been fun, back to real life and FINALLY not housesitting for an extended period of time!

I started doing Capoeira.  This is my fancy shirt (aka not fancy shirt).  I'm having so much fun and actually making it to classes!  Total win!

IKEA chocolate cake, yum!

The roomie and I assembled some barstools!  Our apartment feels complete!

Swing dancing!  I love swing dancing!  Isn't it such a fun room!

My friend and I decided to make a little sign for our treats that we bring to church.  Nothing fancy but it totally help!

My uncle's beer, best beer EVER!

OH MY GOSH the weather is finally cooling down a bit!

Chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, recipe later!

Rehung some decorations!  Loving it!

Have a great weekend!

Love, 

Keely

Budget With Me Wednesday-Week 4

Happy Wednesday Lovelies!

This week has been an interesting one, not in a bad way per-say but not in a good way either.  I haven't been splurging, but I haven't been saving.  I've been sticking with my 10 dollars a day, but not doing as well with my other rules.

For instance...

-I ordered two subscription boxes this month
-I bought some adorable accessories during some sales
-I took out cash for groceries but still put some stuff on my debit card
-I stopped emailing TheBirdy

Sigh.  Baby steps right?  I'm doing A LOT better than I used to be, but still not perfect, but who needs perfection!  (When it comes to money it would be a VERY good thing).

The end of the story is that I still have money left in my account and I'm two days away from payday.  Usually at this point I'm stuck in a "a crap I have no money for the next two days so I won't buy anything, until I decide to buy everything on pay day" mode, but I'm not doing that.  I went and made my car payment and didn't freak out and keep my fingers crossed that the money was there, because I KNEW the money was there.

It's great.  It's a lot better.  That's why the cash aspect of this is SO important to my plan, I can cheat a little bit with cash, but it's a lot harder to spend cash you don't have than to make purchases on your debit card with money that you don't have (or replace debit card with credit card...now that's bad!).

In other news, am I missing a secret to budgeting for gas, or is it just not possible?

Love,

Keely

Cupcake Tuesday-Chocolate and Honey

Finding the perfect chocolate cake recipe took me forever.   I tired so many recipes, oil based, butter based, with sour cream and without sour cream, etc.

As my experiments progressed I knew I wanted two things: butter based and with sour cream.

After some messing around in the kitchen, I made my own vanilla recipe, and it's actually the base of pretty much all my cupcakes, it's insanely versatile and I love it!  Turns out that adding a touch of cocoa makes the perfect chocolate cupcake as well!

You've seen variations of it before in my Black Forest Cupcakes and my Malted Chocolate Cupcakes, but this one is the plain, all chocolate chocolate cake recipe!

It's nice and dense and moist and delicious!  It's hard to find in a chocolate cake!

Chocolate Cupcake
makes 24
2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
vanilla
salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans.

In a large bowl whip together the room temperature butter with the sugar until they get nice and light and fluffy.  Add the 2 eggs and beat for about another minute.

When the eggs are fully incorporated add in the vanilla, salt and cocoa powder.  Mix well.

Next, measure out your baking soda, baking powder and flour in a medium bowl.  Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined.  Add 1/2 of the sour cream.  Follow that with another 1/3 of the flour, the last of the sour cream and the last of the flour, beating well after each addition.

Scrape the sides of the bowls and mix on last time to make sure it is all combined.

Scoop into the cupcake pans using a 2 oz ice cream scoop, or filling about 2/3 of the way full.  My rule with chocolate cake is that it should look like chocolate ice cream before it bakes

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
2 blocks cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/4 cup honey
2-3 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl use a mixer and whip together the cream cheese and butter.  When those are combined, add the honey and mix well.

Next, slowly add the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time.  Beat well after each addition and taste occasionally.  Stop when you have reached your desired consistency and flavor.

Pipe or frost on top of the cooled cupcakes and drizzle with honey.  Enjoy!

Love,

Keely

Budget With Me Wednesday-Week 3

Hello loves!

So can I just start by saying that budgeting is no fun!  I know it's the whole sacrifice now, reward later but it's just hard.  I've been earning some extra money recently (I've been taking care of people's pets, AKA getting paid to live at someone else house) and it would be nice to treat my self to something special.  Alas, there are the rules.  Those tricky rules.

This week I went to Kohl's and bought myself some new leggings and workout pants (I also started this new workout shenanigans, it's a form of martial arts called Capoeira, need to figure out if that could fit in the budget), so there went my one purchase over 30 dollars, good thing it was "necessary".

Anyway, I've only strayed from my $10 a day of "fun" money once in the three weeks I've been doing this, so I feel like that's a good thing.

The temptation to spend more will only lead to my continual lack of money, I'm fighting that urge so much!  If I want to be able to save for vacation, a "rainy day" etc, I need to push myself now to not spend, and that's a lesson that is hard and incredibly annoying to learn.

Good luck with your budget woes!  What has helped you get past the spending "urge"?

Love,

Keely

Cupcake Tuesday-Strawberry Banana

Ah Tuesday, welcome back to Tuesday everyone!  

My niece turned 1 a month or so ago and we had a party for her this weekend.  Now as you can imagine I'm the baker in the family so I got to make her some delicious cupcakes!  She loves fruit so we went with Strawberry Banana and we also used some fondant and made a sock! 

I was pretty pleased with the result, considering that decorating is NOT my specialty.  And it was so fun to see my beautiful little niece smashing her cupcake into her mouth eating her cupcake.  I loved it!

So this recipe is super simple (do I say that about all of them?).  It's a banana cupcake with strawberry cream cheese frosting.  Yum!

Banana Cupcakes
makes 24
2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
salt
vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mashed banana

Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 cupcake pans.

In a large bowl whip the butter and sugar using a mixer, this will take about two minutes, you want it to be light and smooth.  Once the butter is whipped, add in the eggs, one at a time.  Mix for about a minute, or until well combined.

Next, add in the vanilla and salt to taste (I'm bad and don't measure either, ever) followed by the baking soda and baking powder.

Now mesure your flour as well as your sour cream and banana.  Add in about 1/3 of the flour and mix until just combined.  Then, add in all of the sour cream.  Follow this with another addition of 1/3 of the flour and then the mashed banana.  Add the last 1/3 of the flour and mix until combined.

Once mix, scrape the sides and mix one last time to make sure that everything is incorporated.

Scoop into the lined cupcake pans filling each one about 2/3 full, or using a 2 oz. ice cream scoop.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
2 8 ounce blocks cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 1/2 tablespoons strawberry jam
3-4 cups powdered sugar

In a large bowl cream together the cream cheese and butter using a mixer.  Once those two are well mixed and a bit light, add in the strawberry jam and mix well.

Now, start adding in powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.  I always taste as a go to avoid over sweetening the frosting.

When it has reached a nice consistency and flavor, scoop into a piping bag and pipe on to the cooled cupcakes (you can also just use a knife/spatula to frost them).

Decorate as you please and enjoy!

In other news, I used this fondant recipe.

Love,

Keely

Soundtrack Saturday-Dave Matthews Band

Ah, happy Saturday!  I hope you are having a lovely weekend so far!

I'm super excited because today I'm going to try something new! Have you heard of Capoeira?  It's Brazilian Dance Fighting and it looks AMAZING!  So I'm giving it a try and have high hopes (possibly too high?).

I really want to find a work out that works for me, something that I really love and want to do and that is also good for me.  I know that I LOVE dancing, so I figure that this dance fighting stuff would keep the dancing and add another element of strength into it as well.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

In other news, I rediscovered a band today.  An oldie but a goodie!  Hello Dave Matthews Band!

My sisters were in love with this band for so many years, and he is GREAT!  I didn't get into him until a few years ago, and to be honest I kind of forgot about him for a bit, but here he is, in all his glory!

This is pretty much my favorite song of his as well.  "You and me together we could do anything, baby."  I love that lyric, it's so positive and romantic really.

Enjoy!



Love,

Keely

Weekly Wrap Up

Happy Friday lovelies!

I hope you have had a wonderful week!  I have really been enjoying myself this week!  It's been raining a lot which I always love (except on days when I wear my hair curly...).

It's been super busy at work recently and I have spent LOTS of time watching the Olympics, I am in love!  Have you seen white water canoeing, what is that!?! It's SO amazing!

Don't forget to check out my sponsor giveaway here!  Today is the last day!

In other news...I only have 6 pictures to share with you, so this is going to be quite short :)

You may have already seen these, but the recipe for these Olympic cupcakes can be found here!

The roomie and I head out to a Lumineers/Cake show at Red Rocks, rain or shine people.  The first half of the show was in the rain, still so amazing!

My empty blog calendar for August, don't worry though, I got it all filled up.  There are some changes coming (nothing too major).

Olympics and blogging, what a great way to spend a Tuesday night!

This is my slightly messy hair.  I do love it, however, because of the way you can see the blue weaving through!  I am in love with having color in my hair (might do purple next...)

At work we did an outdoor space, and this was the one time I DID NOT want rain, but alas, you win some you loose some.  Needless to say, there was a slight weather delay.

So there you have it loves!  A VERY brief view of my week!  What were you up to?  Any big weekend plans?

Love, 

Keely

Sponsor Feature and Giveaway!

Happy August!  I am so excited to announce my first sponsor feature/giveaway!

Ad swaps are still available, check out the sponsor page for more details!

I asked all of my lovely sponsors some questions.  Read on to learn more about them and find out what they're giving away!  Good luck to you all!

Desert Rose Knit Shop/Living the Creative Life

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Hi I'm Jennifer from Living the Creative Life!  I'm a graphic design student who also knits in her spare time.  This summer I've been working on Build Your Blog! summer series.  I'd love for you guys to come check it out!


Why did you start blogging?
I started learning HTML around 1998 or so.  At that point in time there was no such thing as blogging, but I liked to create my own websites and just post recipes and pictures on them.  Eventually Blogger came into being and that was sooo much simpler!  I've since bounces around to several different blogging platforms but decided about a year ago to just stick with Blogger, so that's when I started Living the Creative Life.  My goal with this blog is reall just to be a creative outlet for myself and to be able to share tips and advice I have from my years of designing and creating things.

What is your favorite piece of clothing?
Great question!  I don't think there's anything in paricular that I'm in love with in my closet right now.  I did really love my grey Converse shoes but they broke a couple weeks ago and really need to be replaced!  Lol.  Generally though, I love a good pair of jeans and a soft t-shirt.  I'm a pretty laid-back, casual type of girl.

$20 store credit to Desert Rose Knit Shop!

Eat.  Enjoy.  Live

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I'm Helen the perfectly imperfect domestic goddess.  My version of crafting is making something pretty and then realising my fingers are stuck together thanks to a glue gun.  Cooking I'm slightly better at, but filo pastry makes me want to pull my hair out, and you can forget about getting bread to rise.  My life's a little bit crazy, as a result so I am and yes you've guessed it, so's my blog.  I love life and my littlet space on the web.  I would love for you to join this roller-coaster with me.


Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging because I was a couple years out of Uni, no real career on the horizon and I felt like I'd lost the essence of who I am.  Thanks to writing and communicating with people all over the world. I feel like I'm finally getting 'me' back.


What is your favorite piece of clothing?
My orange chinos.  Love, love, love!  In fact I may be in love with them; can you marry a piece of clothing?  Weird!

200 x 200 ad space for 1 month, 1 ring, 1 friendship bracelet

Yellow Umbrella

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Bonjour!  I am Britt from Yellow Umbrella.  I am a self-taught feelance graphic designer who absolutely loves her job.  I am also all about good music, dark strong coffee, amazing books, and of course my lovely dogs.  On my blog you will find graphic design freebies, music and book info, fashion, and a few other things I enjoy!  Stop by anytime to say hello!

Why did you start blogging?

I began blogging as a way to meet new people and as a creative outlet!

What is your favorite piece of clothing?

My favorite piece of clothing definitely has to be my black blazer.  I love wearing it casually with jeans and super cute shoes!

Win a Thirty-One Little Carry All Caddy!

Free Spirit Reigns 

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Hey all!  I'm Torrie, a 20-something year old residing in rural Alberta, Canada where I'm married to the guy of my dreams, have one cat that I love more than I should and expecting my first baby in the fall.  I blog over at Free Spirit Reigns where I like to document things I find inspiration from, like crafting, baking, cat memes, early 2000s hip-hop and the Good Word (in no particular order).  I try to keep things real and find humor in every day life.


Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging because I've always been a writer/journaler and blogging seemed like the next step in my journaling.  I love reading & interacting with other blogs, so having my own has been a lot of fun!


What is your favorite piece of clothing?
I don't think I have one piece of clothing I love the most, but I do love tops more than anything else.  I wear jeans pretty well every day so I like having a variety of tops to wear.  If I go shopping, I almost always come home with just tops, ha.

Win 2 embroidered note cards and 3 embroidered bookmarks!  A sneak peak into Torrie's Etsy store! 

The Thing About Joy

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Hey everyone!  I'm Bree.  A graphic design student, a newlywed, a blog designer, an art journal junkie and a fitness enthusiast!  That's a lot of what you'll see on my blog, as well as some personal random stuff that I like to throw out every once in a while.

Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because I needed an outlet to channel my creativity.  Blogging has done that for me and so much more!  I have met some amazing people that I now call friends.  I have a space where I can be as creative as I want to be!  And for some reason, people keep reading!  Never thought I'd have something to say that people want to read.  It's pretty humbling.

What is your favorite piece of clothing?

Umm... Is it bad to say my comfy shorts that I wear around the house? Ya know, the ones that fit so comfortably but are too short to wear out? ... no?  Is that just me. *yikes*  Umm... otherwise- do my Toms count!? I l-o-v-e my grey canvas Toms and my silver glitter Toms!

You can check out Bree's July giveaway here!

Skylarking Nanny

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Hi, my name is Elle and I blog over at Skylarking.  It all started out as a way for me to document my job as a nanny because some of my kids are funny as hell, but now it has turned into a more personal diary.  I post pictures, and crafts and stories and drawings.

Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging a couple of years ago over at Riding Giraffes in Stillettos with my best friend and haven't looked back, I love it.

What is your favorite piece of clothing?

My favourite piece of clothing, this is a tough one I just sorted out all my clothes recently, I would have to say a mid length tulle skirt in nude that  I wear ALL the time!

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