Handmade By Amber

New Blog!

2010-04-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

I just wanted to give you all a heads up that I will be switching my blog over to my brand new blog name: Heart Escapes. You can find it here: http://heartescapes.blogspot.com/. I will be posting there from now one, starting this week. I will also be moving all my content from this blog over to there in the next day or two.

I hope to see you all there! :-)

~Amber

My progress so far, and some new goals too.

2010-03-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

I'm typically not great at setting goals for myself, but I am starting to think I should do so more often as I seem to actually be working towards them. Huh. Go figure. :-)

My first step towards meeting my goals this week was to once and for all, come up with a new blog and Etsy store name. I just really don't like the name now, so I have really been putting some thought into it. This is what I came up with: My Etsy store name will be Art~Escapes and then my blog will be Heart~Escapes. Thoughts?

I also needed to purchase a few things in order to get my Etsy store started. Specifically, I needed some mats for my photography. I took care of that today, and I also made a few new hair clips and pieces of jewelry, so I should be ready to start selling in no time! I just need to bring my light box in from the garage so I can take some nice pictures of everything. That will be my project for next week. I think I should be able to get my Etsy store up and running by mid-April.

As for my new goal, I am determined to start living a healthier life, and slim down a bit. I have been overweight for a good portion of my life, with a few times here and there where I was in great shape. I am at a time in my life where I just want to be healthier! I am also at a time in my life where I want to think about having kids... and that just wouldn't be healthy for me to do in my current physical condition. I want to be able to be a good example to my kids, and I know I need to start that now. Sooooo..... I am starting Weight Watchers this week. I'm not actually going to the meetings, because I really can't afford that. Instead, I am just keeping track in my own logs, weighing myself once a week, and staying accountable be posting my progress here and on my Facebook. Plus, I have some great people that I know will be checking in on me. Feel free to leave me a comment every now and then and help me stay on track!

I am thinking the key to meeting my goals is putting them out there for the whole world to see... what better motivation is that??

On another note, this year I am an Easter baby. That's right, my birthday is on Sunday. I am a whopping 26 years old! Goodness, how the time flies by... For my birthday, I am driving down to Sacramento for a concert, and then over to Carson City to see my best friend ever, Sarah. Sarah has a wonderful husband (Chris), and adorable little boy (David), and is expecting baby #2 in August... YAY! I love her and her little family, and I fully plan on taking many, many pictures of her precious son, and her little baby bump. I am leaving Sarah on Sunday to drive home so I can actually spend at least part of my birthday with my hubby. Seriously, I could not ask for a better birthday. :-)

Since I need to leave at 7 tomorrow morning, I should probably start packing and get some sleep. I will leave you this evening with three collages that I made for a Photoshop assignment. I love how they turned out, and I hope you do to. Feel free to leave some critiques if you know anything about Photoshop... I am still just learning!

~Amber

The Beginning of Something...

2010-03-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

*Goodness*

It has been almost a month since I last blogged... Feels like it was last night! Things have been a bit busy with moving and such, and I guess I just got distracted! I started this blog with the intent on posting regularly, and using it to help start my Etsy shop. Instead, it has become my lace of random posts when I think about it. Well, no more. I am ready to really commit to my blog, and to my art. I am ready to set some goals for myself, and really work towards them and see what happens. So here goes, here are my 3 goals for now... I am sure I will add to them more later!

Goal #1: Post on my blog once a week, preferably about something related to my art or Etsy shop.

Goal #2: Take pictures of the items I have already made and post them on Etsy.

Goal #3: Start making new items! Maybe one a day for now??

I also really need to settle on a blog and Etsy shop name once and for all. I haven't really been happy with my current name (HandmadeByAmber), and I want something different. I decided I won't sell anything on Etsy until I have come up with a name, because in order to change my shop name, I will have to completely make a new account. I don't want to do that if I already have feedback on sales. So I need to just figure it out already!! I have some ideas that I am throwing around, and I am hoping I can come to a final conclusion tomorrow. Then, I can start working towards my other goals!

Sounds like I have some work ahead of me! Okay, I am going to get started on that, and in the meantime, I will leave you with some new pictures. I have been really into using my old film camera lately, and I have been getting some great shots. Here are some of my favorites. I am looking forward to matting some of my pics soon and selling some of them on Etsy. :-)

Have a great night everyone!!

The newlyweds, at the beach in Bandon, OR

My nephew Colton, play at the beach.

Covered wagon, in Sunny Valley, OR

I love the depth of field on this picture!

Mt. Shasta, after the first big storm.

The elk across the river on our way to Bandon

Love this picture!

Colton was playing leapfrog over the dunes, I love that I captured this!

An update, and lots of pictures!

2010-03-02T02:23:00.001-08:00

Hello friends. Be warned, this is a LONG post with lots of pictures!!

Well, the last few weeks have been crazy! Seems like life gets crazier and crazier ever day! Allow me to give you a recap of my last few weeks. I want to first give an update on my Grandma. After her surgery, they did find a bit of cancer out side of her uterus, so the changed her diagnosis from stage 2 to stage 3. They are going to treat her with both chemo and radiation in the coming months. Please be praying for her health. She still plans on being around for a long time to come!

In other news, we found a new place to live! A few weeks ago, we found a beautiful house about 15 minutes away from where we are currently. We were very excited about it, but then the For Rent sign was taken down, so we assumed it had be rented. We filled out an application anyways, just in case, and a few days later, the owner called and asked if we were still interested! We went up right away to put down a deposit to save it. The new place is really wonderful. It is much bigger, both inside and out. There will be plenty of room for our dogs to run and play, and also more than enough room to have friends and family over to visit more often! We move in on the 15th. Please feel free to come visit us anytime!!

Our New Home :-)

The big craziness over the past few weeks has been my Mom's wedding. It has been a crazy 6 months or so getting everything planned, but it was truly worth it. Their wedding was by far, the most beautiful and fun wedding I have ever been to! And my Mom, well she was just stunning. Everything really came together so well, and made for an amazing day.

The big day got of to a hectic start when the poor bride developed a bloody nose right before the ceremony! She was fine, and was taken good care of by her oldest son, Dustin. :-)

Before the ceremony, the Bride, with her Mom, two of her sisters and of course, Zachary.

Such a handsome little man!

The Kiss!!

The beautiful Bride, outside for some fresh air, and pictures.

All the Girls: Laura, Me, Mom, Misty & Christin.

The Birde & Groom cutting the cake.

After the reception, ready to head to their hotel in their decked out ride!

My dear Catie joined us up in Roseburg for about a week in order to help us with all the last minute details. And let me just say, that girl was a lifesaver! She did so many things, and she remembered all the little things that we would have forgotten. She made sure that everything ran smoothly. Without her, it may have been total chaos!

THANK YOU CATIE!!

One of the best things about this wedding, was that we really put so much work into it ourselves. My Mom and I planned everything, and made almost everything ourselves. It was a lot of work, and A LOT of fun too. Here are some of the things that we created.

The Flowers. My Mom made all of the bouquets for the girls, and also the bouteniers for the guys. She also put together a floral arrangment for the guest book table. She does such a great job!

The cake. Well, of course I made the cake! Who else would make my Mom's wedding cake? :-) The cake turned out beautifully, despite a few hiccups. It was also pretty yummy, with three different cake flavors (chai, lemon, and coconut) all covered in cream cheese frosting. Mmmmmmm!

The Ring Bearer pillow and Flower Girl basket. I made these the day before the wedding, and burnt myself a few times in the process!! I think they turned out so cute! Much better than many that were in stores for $30+!

Mom's hair comb. Mom & I saw so many of these in the bridal shops, and they looked so pretty on, but they were SO expensive! Most ranged between $50-$100!! That was just a bit much for us, so I decided I would make one instead. I had never made anything like this before, but I think it turned out really well!!

Mom's jewelry for the wedding was actually originally made by a great friend of mine in Sacramento, Alicia. I gave her an idea of what Mom might like, and she just ran with it. When I showed it to Mom, she LOVED the design of the earrings and bracelet, but didn't like the necklace as much. What's funny is that the necklace was the one peice that I gave Alicia more instruction on. The earrings and bracelet she just came up with herself, and we all liked them so much bettter! I should have just let Alicia do whatever she wanted in the first place... silly me! So, I spent some time redesigning the necklace to match the earrings and bracelet. I ended up making a few more changes in the days before the wedding, to add a little more sparkle to the peices. Overall, they turned out so great!

In addition to those items, we also made the favors, centerpeices, decorations, and guest book ourselves. It was so nice to have everything so individual and personalized. We had a blast!

I think one of the greatest things that has happened as a result of Mom & Mark's wedding is that I have gained so much more family. Mark has 3 sons (Aaron, John & Paul), 1 daughter (Laura), 1 daughter in law (Christin), 1 soon to be son in law (Chris), and 2 granddaughters (Kaybee & Teagan). They are all so great, and I am truly blessed to now call them all my family. :-)

The day after the wedding, the Newlyweds called and asked if we all wanted to go to the beach for the day, adn spend some time together. Of course we said yes! We could never pass up a trip to the beach! We went to Bandon, Oregon for the day. We went to the beach first, to enjoy some fun in the sun. It was a gorgeous day outside! Then, we cruised through the town of Bandon for awhile, and got some food before we headed home.

The beautiful view

Aaron, Erik, & Zack playing in the waves.

Aaron, Paul & Zack, running on the beach. (Paul won)

My Momma & I. :-)

Paul (climbing the rocks) and Aaron

My Catie & I

My dear, sweet, Husband. I love him!

Misty... such a beautiful girl!

All in all, it has been a great past week or so. I feel relazed, rejuvinated, and ready to take on the world! Now, I just need to find a job! :-)

Life is Crazy, but God is Good.

2010-02-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

Life has been a little hectic for me lately.

This week, my darling husband and I have been dealing with a few obstacles. We found mold growing in our bedroom, and have subsequently been sleeping on our front room floor. The mold problem has resulted in us needing to move because of not knowing where it is coming from and also because of the possibility of it returning. Erik has asthma, so living in a home with a mold problem is just not an option. We have lived here for 2 months, and now it is time to move... Oh well.

The mold also caused some significant damage to our belongings... Our mattress and box spring: ruined. Our shelving for our clothes: destroyed. Our nightstands: in the dump. All of my shoes (yes I said ALL OF MY SHOES): gone forever. Unfortunately, all of these things had damage from the mold and moisture that was just not repairable. So, that will cost us a pretty penny to replace!

On top of that, last week, my Grandma was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She had a radical hysterectomy yesterday. So far, it looks like the cancer was just in her uterus, so hopefully no further treatment will be needed. But, if chemo or radiation is needed, my Grandma is up for it. she is 69 years old, and told us the other day that she plans on being around until she is at least 80. That sounds good to me Grandma! I am praying (and I hope you will too) that the tests come back with good results, and that I will have my grandma around for many years to come.

So, to say the least, this week has been a bit overwhelming. But you know what? I'm doing okay. We have had great friends praying for us, offering advice, and just helping us out in general. I am so grateful for that! There is one person in particular that has really been such a great friend. And that is this girl right here:

This is Catie, and she is amazing. The day we found the mold, she came over and helped me completely clear out that bedroom. It was just her and I, as I wouldn't let Erik anywhere near that room with his asthma. So Catie and I, we moved all the furniture out of the room, and took it to the dump. Then, we took out all of our clothes, blankets, sheets, etc., bagged them up, and started doing load after load of laundry (when you have mold spores in a room, anything that can be washed needs to be, in order to kill the mold spores). Catie took a number of bags to her house and did many, many loads of our laundry. She gave me a hug when I whined that I didn't want to move again, and she drove around with me for 4 hours helping us find a new home. This girl is such a good friend, and I would have been lost without her this week!

Another great help this week has been my ceramics class. It is so therapeutic and really helps to release my stress! I have been having a blast building some beautiful pieces, and I can't wait to do even more. I truly look forward to that class every Tuesday.

Most of all, my greatest help and comfort has come from The Lord. I know, above all, that God has a plan in store for us. I know that there is a reason that we need to move again, and I know that it is all part of God's plan. That gives me so much hope and peace. If I didn't know those things, I would be so lost in frustration that I wouldn't be able to think straight! Instead, I am comforted by the fact that God is in control, and I am just asking for his wisdom and guidance through this. I hope and pray that when you are dealing with stress and uncertainty in your life, that you turn to The All Mighty God for your source of comfort and strength. There just isn't anything better than what he provides. Take peace in that, my friends. I know I do.

~Amber

I'm a Master of.... ummmm.... hmmmm....

2010-02-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Kelly over at The Startup Wife gave me a blogging award! My first blogging award!

Yay me!! I am supposed to list six things that I am a master at..... ummmmm.... idunno.

She actually tagged me for this award a couple days ago, but I have been procrastinating on posting about it because I'm not sure what I am a master of....

OH WAIT! THAT'S IT! I am a master of PROCRASTINATION!

Okay, so there is one. Only five more to go!

I guess to be honest I have a hard time saying I am a master of anything, because I still have so much to learn about all of the things that I love to do. Photography, cooking, baking, creating... all things that I love to do, and am pretty good at, but I still am so far from being a "master." And so, I will refer to some people that I love dearly in order to see what they think I am a master of. It seems so much less egotistical if someone else says I am a master!

My husband said I am a master all things cake. Baking, designing, decorating, etc. I hardly think I am a master, but I will take it! Thanks Love. You make my smile. :-)

My friend Catie said I am a master of baking. I told her to try again because Erik already took that answer. Ha! So, Catie says I am a master of crafts. I believe that would be most likely meaning the jewelry I have been making. Someday I will post my jewelry on here.... hopefully someday in the very near future!

I called my Momma, and she said I am a master of communication. I like that answer. My Momma knows me well. I do love to communicate (ie. I talk a lot), but I also just believe that communication is key. Many problems and disagreements between family and friends can be settled with just a little more communication! I am pretty good at talking with people and resolving conflict through communication. Thanks Mom. I wouldn't have thought of that.

Next up, Mom's fiance Mark. Mark said I am a master of creativity. Aw, thanks Mark! I do love to be creative, and to use my creativity to capture and make beautiful things. I get my creativity from your future wife, by the way.

And finally, the sixth thing that I am a master of comes from my adorable little brother, Zachary. Zack man says that I am a master of planning parties. That might just be my favorite answer yet! Every year, Zack gets to pick a theme for his party, and Mom and I go all out to plan a great party for him. That includes decorations, food, prizes, games, and a cake of course! As soon as his party is over, he starts thinking of what he wants the theme to be next year. We have done that since he was 5 or so. It's always so much fun!

I guess that's it! Those are the six things I am a master of. And what about you? What are you a master of? Leave a comment and let me know! For now, I will tag some fellow bloggers so that they can play along to.

1. Liza at yelizabeta

2. Lena at Rick and Lena

3. Brooke at Fun with Fuentes

4. Catie at Feeling a Little Bloggy

5. Amanda at Amanda Pratt Photography

6. Samantha at My Babbling Brook

The Rules:
1. List 6 things you are a master in.

2. Pass it on to 6 bloggers you think are masters at friendship, and make blogging so awesome.

Just some pictures

2010-01-31T22:43:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit sick this week, so tonight my post will just be some pictures that I have been playing with in Photoshop. I am really enjoying using and learning about this program, and I can't wait to do even more with it! Enjoy!

Holly Berries covered in snow

Mt. Shasta, after the storm

Hot Air Balloon Sillouette

A beautiful rainbow

And what better way to end the day than with a gorgeous sunset...

Goodnight.

~Amber

Birthdays & Baby Showers

2010-01-25T23:34:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been surprisingly busy, and also a lot of fun. We have had two very full weekends in a row, with the weeks prior filled with planning and getting ready for those weekends. First, we had my Mom's 50th birthday, which I showed some pictures from earlier last week. Below are some more pictures of her wonderful birthday weekend.

My beautiful Momma. The birthday girl.

Make a wish!

Eating her cupcakes.

The cupcakes. Lemon cake, lemon curd filling, and white chocolate lemon frosting. Yum!

This is Mom's favorite of the cakes I make, and it will also be one of the layers in her wedding cake in February.

Months ago, we all asked Mom what she wanted for her 50th birthday. She wasn't sure for awhile, and then she thought of something. She called me one day and said, "I know what I want for my birthday.... I want 50 presents!! One for each year of my life!" And so, our family began planning a birthday celebration that would include 50 presents for my wonderful Mom who deserves that, and oh so much more.

Mom in her new Pea Coat. One of her 50 gifts!

She had gifts big and small, from wine & cooking tools, to bath & body products, to clothes, and family pictures. It was so much fun to see her open all of them, and see how much thought everyone had put into her gifts.

All of Mom's presents.

We just had a small party, which included our immediate family, and some close friends. We made mexican food and margaritas, and just had a great time. We had great music, thanks to the musicians in the family, and later in the evening we had some great laughs while playing games.

My Momma and I.

Mom and my adorable little brother, Zachary.

My nephew Colton, with Mom and Zack.

Overall, I would say it was a huge success. Happy 50th birthday Mom. You are truly and amazing woman, and I am so very blessed to call you not only my Mom, but also my best friend.

I love you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following weekend, Erik and I traveled down to Sacramento for a baby shower for our dear friends, Christine & Andrew. Christine and Andrew have an adorable little boy, Oliver, and a little girl on the way, Lucy. Here are some highlights from the baby shower. Christine, I am planning on sending you a CD with all the pictures I have very soon!!

A precious baby blanket.

Miss Christine, looking beautiful!

Here is the cake I made for the shower. I decided to go with a small cake on the top tier, and then cupcakes below. This worked out perfectly, as there were enough cupcakes for everyone, and Christine was able to take the small cake home to enjoy! At Christine's request, the cake was a yummy combination of marble cake, raspberry filling, and white chocolate buttercream. The cupcakes were the same. I hope you loved it Christine!

Christine's cousin hosted the shower, and she did an amazing job! Her home was decorated so beautifully. All the little touches really came together for a wonderful shower. Here are some of my favorite things.

The sweet little favors.

The beautiful centerpieces and table decor.

The adorable baby clothes hung around the room. These mittens were my favorite!

The beautiful pink Gerber Daisies placed all over.

Precious pink pacifiers hanging from the chandelier.

And baby Lucy's name over the fireplace. This was just gorgeous!

Christine & Andrew, it was so great to see you both and celebrate with you. We can't wait to see baby Lucy the next time we visit! Congratulations on a beautiful little family!

Our whole weekend was really wonderful. It is always so nice for us to go visit our friends in the Sacramento area. We may not get to see them as often as we used to, but that makes our time together even more special and enjoyable!

Okay, that's it for me for tonight. I am working on some more pictures in photoshop, and can't wait to post more on that later... until then, Goodnight!

~Amber

Playing in Photoshop

2010-01-20T23:46:00.001-08:00

My Photoshop class has started, but we have not actually done anything in Photoshop yet... hopefully next week! In the mean time, I figured I would just mess around with Photoshop a bit, and see what I could teach myself. Here are a few pictures that I have been playing with this evening.

A beautiful flower

The same flower, with a vintage effect added.

Sunset at the lookout near Medicine Lake.

Another evenings sunset at the same spot.

Hopefully we will be starting some lessons in our class next week and then perhaps I will actually know what I am doing! Not too bad for starting out though!

This week has been crazy... My Mom and family left on Monday, and Tuesday was spent recovering from the weekend. Catie and I attempted to go to our ceramics class Tuesday evening, but we were caught in a crazy storm. So, instead of playing with clay, we were playing in the snow and putting chains on the car. The storm has still not stopped, and it is supposed to keep snowing through the weekend! Crazy! Today was spent shopping, cleaning, and baking. I am making a cake & cupcakes for my friend Christine's baby shower on Saturday. Pink is the color for little baby Lucy! Christine has requested marble cake with raspberry filling. Sounds good to me! I got started today, and am excited to continue tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will have lots of baking, along with some organizing. Now I just have to pray that the weather clears up enough for us to get on the road Friday morning!!

**yawn** Ohhh, I am sleepy.

Okay, I think it is time for bed now. If I plan on getting anything done tomorrow I must sleep!

~Amber

A Preview of Blogs to Come....

2010-01-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I have had a busy, busy week and weekend! Luckily, a lot was accomplished, and Mom's birthday was a great success… Great food, great music, fun games, and of course, tons of love and laughter! Below are some highlights of the weekend so far. I will post more details and pictures this week. Enjoy!!

This is my little brother. He decided to hang out with our dogs in their crate. He is a big dork.

This is my Momma. Isn’t she beautiful! Ooohhh, and don’t those cupcakes look yummy?? Yes, I made them. More on those later…

Speaking of cupcakes… this is my brig brother Dustin and I, after the great cupcake fight of 2010. mmmmm frosting…..

Here is Mom, by her huge stack of presents. A gift for every year of her life, plus a couple extras!

And of course, no party is complete without music! We have my hubby on the left playing guitar, my brother on the drums, and his friend Bubba on the right also on guitar. Mom’s fiancé Mark also plays the drums, so he and Dustin switched off throughout the night.

That’s all for now. I will have much more later. Have a great weekend everyone!

~Amber

Classes, Cleaning, & Birthday Parties.

2010-01-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

Classes started this week at College of the Siskiyous. I finished up my AA last semester, so now I am just taking some classes for fun. I am taking an online Photoshop class and a ceramics class and I am super excited about both. My first ceramics class was tonight, and I am so glad I signed up for it! Tonight, we made our stamps that we will use to stamp the bottom of our pieces so our stuff doesn't get mixed up. It was just a little project, but it was so much fun and so relaxing and therapeutic! I can't wait to really get into both classes and learn more about both of these art forms. I will definitely have some posts in the future revolving around these classes, and what I am learning in them. Yay for learning new things!

Ah, so I have not been posting nearly as much as I would like on this little blog of mine. Soon... soon... At this point, I am simply not posting because I have not yet made good use of my new camera, so I don't have any pictures to post. I don't take pictures a lot of the time because I feel like everything around me is so unorganized and chaotic that I can't even imagine taking pictures. But not for long...

I am on a mission of home organization. This is a little hard for me, as I am naturally kind of a messy person... But, it is coming along. Our living room is now just how I like it, and we have managed to keep it that way for a few weeks now. Yay! Our office/guest room/craft room is getting there, but there are a lot of things to fit in a small place, so it is a bit overwhelming at time. This week, that will change.

You see, my Momma, soon to be Step-Dad (Mark), and adorable little brother (Zachary), will be coming to visit this weekend to celebrate my Momma's 50th Birthday. Happy Birthday Momma!

Momma, Zachary, & Mark. I know, I know. I have the most adorable little brother on earth. Trust me, he knows it too. :-)

That means the office/guest room/craft room needs to be cleaned, organized, and ready for company by Friday afternoon. Part of that process is painting my new desk... but that might have to wait another week or so due to less than perfect weather. :-( Oh well. The room will still look fabulous without a perfectly re-painted desk! Ohhh yes, and I also need to prepare things for Mom's party, and make her an a.m.a.z.i.n.g. cake. Oh, I will be busy, busy, busy.

On that note, these are my goals for the rest of the week:

1. Purge many items that are still boxed, and will most likely never be used anyways.

2. Find homes for all the items that are not being donated/sold/thrown away. ORGANIZE!

3. Wash/fold/put away much laundry.

4. Wrap mucho presents

5. Make a birthday cake

6. Make some jewelry for my Momma

7. Clean, clean, clean. Oh, and clean.

I think all that is pretty doable. I work best under pressure anyways! Plus, I am really excited about how nice it will be to really be fully 'moved in' (i.e. no boxes!) and also to actually know where all of our stuff is for once! I am also excited about making Mom's cake, and hopefully recording the process here. That may take up a few posts, so be sure to come back by and check in this week and next! For now, I am going to go get some rest so that I can wake up early tomorrow and get to work!

Good night all!

~Amber

A post while I wait for my new camera!

2010-01-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

My new camera arrives Friday... YAY! I am so very excited!! I can't wait to get started taking pictures of the things I have made and start selling on Etsy and posting more often on here as well. This week, I made a light box to use once my camera arrives. A light box is used to take great pictures of items indoors without using a flash. This especially works great with Macro photography, which I will be doing a lot of when taking pictures of jewelry for my Etsy store. There are a few different ways to make a light box, so check out the links HERE, HERE, and HERE for some ideas. The one HERE is the one I used.

My light box

Today, I am staying busy getting my house clean and organized for a small dinner we are having tomorrow with some friends. I am really looking forward to it! I have always thought that the best way to get your house clean is to invite people over! I don't know about you, but people coming over for dinner is always a great motivation for me to get off my behind, and get to cleaning! In this case, that also means unpacking the last few boxes, and organizing my new craft area. Fun, fun, fun!

Since I don't have my new camera, I figured I would just post some older pictures. So, allow me to introduce you to my Husband, Erik, and my children... that is, my furry, four legged children!

My Hubby, and his guitar at Medicine Lake. He is such a talented musician, and I just love it when he plays for me. Oh, how I love that man!!

Here we are, in December 2009. 5 1/2 years married, and going strong!

Our younger pup, Shelby, is part Black Lab, and part Great Dane we believe. She is about a year old, and she loves to sleep in the back window of our car.... even now, when she is WAY to big to be up there! Shelby is just about 1 year old and is still very much a puppy! She can be crazy at times, but she can also be quite a sweet girl. :-)

This is Cammie, our older pup. She is a Black Lab mix of some kind. She is about 2 1/2 years old. This dog has completely stolen my heart. She is so sweet and just loves to snuggle. She has very tender, loving eyes.

When we first brought Shelby home, Cammie wasn't quite sure what to think! But now, they are best buds.... most of the time at least!! Shelby is a little hyper for Cammie's taste sometimes. It cracks me up when they get jealous of the one another when one is getting attention for Erik or I!

So, that is our little family. No human kids for us yet, but I am sure those will come in the next few years. For now, I love our little house with my wonderful husband, and my two sweet doggies.

~Amber

Reorganizing, crafting, cooking, & lots of cleaning

2009-12-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

My Hubby and I moved into our new rental house about 1 month ago. Since then, we have been very busy trying to get it all organized. I have also been busy enjoying my new kitchen, creating new crafts & goodies for Christmas presents, and then of course, cleaning up all the messes I make in the process! Now that Christmas is over, I can get back to focusing on making our new home warm and inviting. We had a little kick start session last night when our friends from Sacramento, Stacey & Darin Nixon, were stranded in Yreka due to the snow and came to stay with us. There is nothing like surprise visitors to get me cleaning very fast!

Throughout this week, Erik and I will be focusing on getting our spare room organized. This room will be our guest room, my craft room, and Erik's computer & music room. Since it is truly a multiple use room, in needs to be very organized or it will not be functional at all!! On Sunday, we will be moving in a new desk for my craft area. I am so excited about that! I have never really had a designated craft area, and it will be great to have a place to put all my supplies. I also just ordered a new camera, and I am going to build a little light box later today. Once I have those supplies, I can start taking pictures of my crafts and start selling on Etsy. I am so excited about getting started!

Here are some pictures of our new place yesterday, after it snowed all day. :-) We are looking forward to sharing our home with friends and family, so feel free to come visit anytime. We would love to have you!

~ Amber

Starting off my blog :-)

2009-12-29T14:54:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends :-)

Those of you who know me well know that I love to cook and also enjoy crafts and art. After many suggestions and a little nudging from friends and family alike, I have decided to start a blog to share the things I enjoy with the people I love. I am also going to start selling some of my crafts (jewelry, photography, art, etc) on Etsy. I have my own store set up on Etsy, and the link is below. Right now, there is nothing posted though! I am in the process of purchasing a new camera, which I need to take pictures of my products in order to sell them. So, give me about a week, and I will start posting some items to sell. I am hoping to also post some "How-to" blogs on the different crafts I create, and some of the food I make also.

I hope you will join me on this little adventure. I have a number of blogs that I read on a daily basis and really enjoy, and I hope my little blog may be the same thing for you.... eventually... :-)

God Bless,

Amber

Check out my Etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/HandmadeByAmber