Tickle Me Tuesday

Hi everyone! I thought I'd give some love to some of my favorite handmade shops for this Tickle Me Tuesday. 

I just bought this lovely ring from NSPottery and I've been wearing it nonstop. The ring is adjustable so you can wear it on any finger or either hand. I've been wearing it on my pointer finger like they have it displayed in the picture below. :)

NSPottery on Etsy

I've seen the lovely cards of riverandbridge floating around on instagram and decided I had to have this set of french macaron thank you cards. I've recently become obsessed with the actual french treat so these were a must have. I chose the pink set. 

riverandbridge on etsy

When I first saw this print I knew it was meant for my kitchen. I love tea, teal, and yellow. I've had this print sitting in my kitchen waiting to be framed and hung on the wall for awhile. Were getting an old hutch from my husband's parents and I'd like to hang it by it. I can't wait to get it on the wall!

penandpaints on etsy

Lastly, I couldn't pass up this lovely head wrap from Jacky of the sweetest petunia! She really makes the cutest hair accessories.

Petunia Blooms on Storenvy

That's it for this tickle me tuesday! Will YOU be a part of the next one? :)

Honesty

I'm not one to open up easily. I'm the type of person who has a lot of friends but only a few I'm really close to. Some of those friendships took a long time to establish with a lot of cultivating. I guess you could say I'm an introvert. I've often questioned my motives for this blog. I haven't been consistent and most of what I share besides what I've learned from reading the bible is...I can't really find the right word for it...empty? maybe? Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with inspiration posts filled with pictures from pinterest but I want to represent myself honestly and bare more of my soul. I think it would be good for me.

Having said that, I'm about to get real with you. I hope that's ok!

This past Spring and Summer I did a few craft shows with a friend. As our acceptance e-mails rolled in  from each show we grew more and more excited. I bought up lots of pretty fabrics and zippers and sewed each and everyday up until the shows, shoo-ing my 2 year old away because "mommy has to work!" If you didn't know, sewing continually is kind of exhausting.

The first show rolled around. We were so excited! We showed up, got set up, and saw some familiar faces which made us feel more at ease but as the day rolled on the show proved to be a bust. I didn't sell a single tote or clutch at the show, nor at the following two. I did end up selling one tote on etsy to a lady who had really liked it at the first show but didn't buy it at the time for whatever reason. All my hard work and basically nothing to show for it...what a bummer.

My etsy has been on vacation mode ever since. And I still have all of my product (what I haven't given away) just sitting in a box. I haven't had the desire to create anything in a long time. I kind of just shut the whole experience out of my mind.

But! I've finally been in the mood to create (for myself) again and it's been so wonderful!!

I made this headband on the 4th of July to complete my outfit.

I finally finished my flower pots from this post.

And I made this the other day just because I wanted to sew. I offered it up on instagram for $11 dollars shipping included {to test the waters}. I got a lot of likes but no luck so I'm using this little lovely in my purse. It's currently holding my lip stick, lip gloss, and lotion. I love it so I guess it's no longer for sale. :)

I hope I didn't come off as whiney or complain-y. I just wanted to share that I've been discouraged for a long time but I'm finally coming out of it and feeling inspired again. I'm even working on opening up a storenvy shop. I may get discouraged again but I don't ever want to give up.

Have you ever been discouraged in this way? Or felt inadequate? And finally came out of the funk? I'd love to hear about it.

-Mandy

Blackberry Grapefruit Popsicle

It's been so hot here in Arkansas we finally broke down and bought an 8 foot blow up pool for our little family. So far we love it, we spent most of the morning in it yesterday. Anyway, you know what goes great with Summer besides a pool? Popsicles. I love a good popsicle on a hot day...so refreshing right? I came up with a really delicious and basically calorie free popsicle the other day! I had two giant grapefruits sitting in the fruit bowl with every good intention of eating them for breakfasts; but lets face it, that wasn't going to happen so I decided to use them as the main ingredient...

Blackberry Grapefruit Popsicle

(yields 6)

INGREDIENTS

First you need popsicle molds. I think mine are from ikea, they were a gift. 

2 grapefruits - juice those babies

1- 2 tbsp. honey (mix into juice of grapefruits - taste as you sweeten)

12 blackberries - mash them a little put two in the bottom of each popsicle mold)

Then pour the grapefruit juice with honey mixed in into the molds

freeze

& enjoy!

I might be biased but this is literally the best tasting homemade popsicle I've ever had. 

Try it! Let me know what you think!