Dear Blog

Okay, you could call me crazy. In fact, you'd probably be right. But I have an announcement to make.

I'm deleting this blog.

I know, I'm not totally sure I can do this. But honestly, I need to. I'm going back to my "roots". Right now, my life and my family is going a little crazy, so I need to step back from The Sweetest Petunia.

If you really loved my blogging and want to keep up with me, I'll be hanging out at {This Time Around}. I would feel so blessed to know someone was still reading and still cared.

I'm sorry. But I've gotta do it. Maybe I'll see you {This Time Around}?

{Anything Etsy} RHBDesigns

I have got a GREAT {Anything Etsy} feature for you today! I'd like to introduce you to RHBDesigns.

Hope Springs Eternal Necklace

I asked Rosalynn how she got started making this beautiful jewelry, and she said:

"I've always loved jewelry but just started making my own 4 years ago. 2 years ago I discovered metal stamping and it quickly became my favorite. I love that I can customize jewelry with names or meaningful words, it makes it more personal and more sentimental."

Mom to the Xth Power necklace

Tiny Heart Tags Necklace

BLESSED Beyond Measure Necklace

I think Rosalynn's work is just lovely, and she has sooo many amazing pieces of jewelry in her shop. I was actually lucky enough to win a giftcard to her shop recently, and I was so excited! Here's what I ended up getting:

Now, I know my photography skills are nowhere near fabulous, but the necklace really is. I had it stamped "h+j", and I think it looks great! I love owning a piece of personalized jewelry. =)

Thank you so much for sharing your jewelry making with all of us, Rosalynn!

Be sure to visit RHBDesigns and browse through her great selection!

Fun Weekend?

This weekend, I plan on taking it easy. Resting up from a tiring week. I'm going to...

Finish this:

Spend some time with this wonderful person:

And wish for some of this:

What are your plans for the weekend?

Autumn Inspirations

I love Fall. Of course, living in Florida, Fall is a little different for me. We have one tree that has leaves that change color. And that doesn't usually happen until January...

So I guess I don't really get to experience the fun of Fall. But I know I would like it. =)

I've been using my new paper stack to make cards, and they just scream "FALL!!" to me. I could be wrong, they may say nothing of Fall, but I guess you'll just have to let me know. I'm planning on listing these in the shop very soon, so today you just get a sneak peek:

These last cards are a set of miniature cards. They are really fun and cute! I have a second set of these (a tiny bit different, but mostly the same) for one of you! I randomly picked a winner from this post...

RNJen!! I will be getting in touch with you shortly so you can claim your prize! =)

So tell me. Do these card remind you of Fall?

A {Small} Announcement.

Okay, so I (in my imminent wisdom and all that good stuff) was planning on taking some pictures yesterday afternoon when the light was fabulous. However, I (in my not so imminent wisdom) totally forgot to take the pictures!

Sometimes I so disappoint myself.

Anyway, because I didn't take the intended pictures, and thus cannot continue with my original post idea, I have a few small announcements to make instead.

1. You will have until tomorrow morning to comment on this post for a chance to win a set of miniature cards. (Which was one of the things I was supposed to photograph) I'll go ahead and share two of my favorite papers from the set:

Only 8 people have commented so far, so you have an excellent chance at

snagging the mini card set! =)

2. While we're on the subject of miniature cards...

When I posted these cards yesterday, the lovely Aunt Spicy brought something to my attention:

Sigh. I saw the J cards, didn't read the post, went straight to the etsy site...J cards are no where to be found...went back to the post...Okay, am super excited that you made yourself something! But if you ever take custom orders for J cards let me know!

Well, I am now working on pulling together a custom order for her!

Which is ridiculously exciting to me.

And just so that the rest of you know, I am pretty much always open to custom orders. So if you would love some personalized cards (mini or otherwise), or if you have an idea for some cards that you love to see on the shop, let me know! You can email me personally at {thesweetestpetunia(at)gmail(dot)com}

or visit The Art of Paper and send me a convo through Etsy! I'd love to hear from you!

Well, that's all the announcements I have for now. My day will probably be filled with scrounging through my paper stash and taking lots of pictures...

...which I will remember to take today. =)

How to have a {not so} lovely day.

• Stay up really late one night. So late that you skip out on washing your face and brushing your teeth. I know, it's gross.
• Wake up about 6 hours later, groggy and disoriented. Drag yourself out of bed anyway.
• Proceed to spend the rest of the morning cranky and upset about pretty much nothing. It's a miserable state to be in.
• Promise yourself that you'll go to bed much earlier. So you won't have to repeat your {not so} lovely day.

Yep, that was my life yesterday. Not fun at all. Last night I went to bed at 12:15 instead of 1:15, so I am sincerely hoping today will be a better day. Much better.

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

On the happier news front, take a peek at these little darlings:

Oh, I love them. They are adorable, and I looove the beautiful colors. And they have a "J" on them. Because I made them for me. =) I never make cards for my own personal enjoyment, but in this case, I'm glad I did! They've been added to my stationary drawer. =)

These are actually miniature cards, measuring about 3x3 inches. Which makes them extra sweet and petite. You could snag a set of your own mini cards by commenting on this post. And trust me, they turned out great! But be quick, because I'll be picking a winner tomorrow morning!

This afternoon I'm donning my photographer hat to take pictures of FOUR card sets I've made in the last couple of days, so stay tuned for that. It'll be fun. =)

Off I go into a {hopefully} lovely day...

Honest Scrap!

So, over the weekend I was awarded the Honest Scrap award by Ave from Made in Canarias. Thanks!

The rules here are to pass the award on to 7 bloggers who I think are honest in their blogging and to list 10 honest things about myself.

Okay, so 10 honest things about me? You've got it.

1. I do not post everything about my life on my blog. Which sometimes gives the illusion that I am a very pulled-together 18 year old.

2. I do NOT have it all together. In no way, shape or form. Just so you know.

3. I realized this week that I say "Just so you know." quite a lot. Like I just did in the last sentence. =)

4. I really am only 18 years old. Even though Lily thinks I'm a lot older.

5. I read too much. And I justify it by saying it's good for my brain.

6. I easily "waste" my time on the computer entering a myriad of giveaways instead of composing brilliant posts on my blog.

7. I am still wearing my pajamas. Yes, it is after 4pm on a Saturday as I type this. {And yes, I'm writing this on Saturday even though I don't intend to post until Monday.}

8. I have never really learned how to type. I need to. I just don't really want to. Since I think my own 2-finger pecking is great for now.

9. I am probably the most impatient person you'll ever meet. I am always waiting for something new.

10. I sometime let myself get depressed over the fact that I've made a grand total of ONE sale from my Etsy shop.

There ya go! As to the 7 nominees...

Maggie at Gussy has a lot to say...

Heather at Angel Face Designs

Aunt Spicy

Jenn at Diamonds, Fur and Laundry

Erica's Bloggity Blog

Traci at Ordinary Inspirations for the Everyday Wife, Mom & Homemaker

Whimsy by Victoria

Eye Candy of the Paper Variety

I don't know about you, but I loooove going to craft stores and looking at all their paper choices. All the colors, textures, patterns...Amazing. I recently picked up these stacks from Jo-Ann's:

I love fall-inspired colors the best of all, I think. As I flipped through these stacks, I just had to get them. I just wanted to share some of my favorite paper.

If you don't enjoy paper, I apologize in advance. However, if you don't like paper, but love color, you're still in the right place. =)

{There's a surprise at the end of this post, so keep going all the way to the end!}

These are from the smaller glitter matte stack.

It doesn't show up the best in the picture, but the green wood grain with the golden swirls is a great combination!

Who doesn't love polka dots?

These are from the 12x12 stack:

Now here's what you have to do. Tell me which of these paper you love. I will randomly select one of you to receive a miniature card set made with these lovely papers! You've got until Wednesday to let me know what you'd like. =)

A Little Excitement

Okay, I seriously almost had a cow when I read the email that informed me I had won this:

Beautiful, no? I can't wait to get it. Thanks, Favors With Love!

Well, I've deemed it a slow day on the blog today...The fall semester of homeschool co-op started up today, and while I'm not technically a student anymore, I am teaching a class. So I am worn out!

I'll be back tomorrow...=)

Sad that it's so easy...

I am very easily amused. It's also really easy to make me happy. I'll give you an example:

Right now, at 8:57 on a Thursday morning, I have 90 followers!!

90, are you serious? And they all want to read what I've got to write? No way!

Yep, that is very exciting to me. So I just want to say thanks. A great big thank you to each and every one of my followers! You are all special to me.

You know what else makes me happy?

I just couldn't resist throwing that one in there. =)

The Pie That Didn't Make It

The other day I posted my "Easy as Pie" Apple Pie recipe. I tried my hardest to make it easy, and easy to understand, and I think I succeeded. And then I read this post.

Now, don't go read the post yet. Just let my give you a little background.

Lilly left me a comment on the apple pie post.

I'm making Apple Pie for dinner tonight! Looks so easy....
Are you SURE you're just 18???
Thanks for sharing~
♥,Lilly

When I read that, I got excited. Really.

Let me know if you actually make a pie! I was so worried that the recipe wouldn't make sense...I usually just make it without really thinking. =) And yep, I'm only 18. =)

And even more excitement since she actually did make the pie!

I made your pie, I'm going to post about it later (I still have to upload pics).

Thinking all the world was good and right, this was my response:

Oh, it's so great you could use the pie
recipe! I'm definitely looking forward to your post. Hopefully it
worked out well! =)

Little did I know...

Okay, now you have to go read Lilly's post about her pie-making experience. You will be glad you did. I laughed so hard.

And I'm honored to know that, at the grand old age of 18, someone is comparing me to Rachael Ray, Martha Stewart and Paula Deen.

Wait, I didn't use that much butter!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Just go read the post. =)

{Anything Etsy} InvitaPaperStudio

Today I've got an {Anything Etsy} feature for you! Welcome to the lovely shop of InvitaPaperStudio.

Flowers on a String

(from InvitaPaperStudio's profile)

"In-vita Paper Studio is a one girl stationery design studio located in sunny southern California. I lived in Russia for two years teaching high school art, but I've always knew my passion was stationery design. After my two years where up, I came back and began what is now my dream job.
I design one of a kind notecards and stationery (and I know this because I drew them) and beautiful invitations. Colors, fonts, and paper make me drool, and I hope it my work does the same to you."

Roses

My only wish (besides wanting to own each of these cards!) is that I could draw like that. Seriously, her artwork is amazing!

How Can I Resist You...

One of my favorites! I think the concept of cupcakes and being irresistible is really clever.

I Love Cooking

Nerd

This one has got to be my all time favorite. I am definitely planning on getting it for Hayden at some point (I hope he's not reading this!), because he's pretty nerdy. =) I think it's such a fun card!

Many thanks to Adriana at InvitaPaperStudio! Go browse around her shop, because there is much more goodness there than I could put in this post. =)

If you would like your shop featured in {Anything Etsy}, please let me know! If you leave me a comment with your shop name and email, I'll get in touch with you. You can also check out this post to read more about it.

{GUSSY} Winner!

Okay, the {GUSSY} giveaway is now closed, and we have a winner! I plugged the numbers into Random.org, and the lucky number was 4.

Congratulations to Dina (XYYan)!

Thank you sooo very much to each and every one of you who entered! =)

{YAYS & BOOS}

I got the idea for this post from Erica. Check out her {YAYS & BOOS}, because they're more exciting than mine. =)

{YAY} My room smells really yummy right now because I got a Mulled Cider reed diffuser.

{BOO} I wanted to get a Febreze Flameless Luminary...and then I found out it would set me back about $15. Ouch!

{YAY} Crocs is having a BOGO Free sale! I found the ones I wanted, black and brown, size 8, and Hayden was all set to order them for me.

{BOO} They did not have a single pair of black or brown in size 8. And thank you, but I don't want brown in size 11 or pink in size 7. It just doesn't float my boat.

{YAY} I found this dress at Ann Taylor Loft for $5.22! That is extremely exciting to me!

{BOO} I didn't get to take a picture of me actually wearing it. I think it's pretty cute, though. =)

That's it for this edition of {YAYS & BOOS}! Lot's to do today, and not a lot of time...Maybe I'll have to do it again sometime. Thanks for the idea, Erica!

Easy as Pie

Apple Pie, that is!

Today I thought I'd share my "famous" apple pie recipe with y'all. It may only be famous with the people at my church, but I think it's still pretty good. And it's easy. Which makes it all the better!

When I first started baking pies, I jumped around to several different recipes. They were all pretty simple...but I kept losing the one I had used before and having to find a new one. Pretty pathetic, huh? This recipe (that I've actually hung on to) is kind of a revised version of one I found in the 12th edition Fannie Farmer cookbook. If you cared to know.

Moving on now...

The main thing I do when I make pies is cheat:

Yep, I use the pre-made stuff. And I haven't ever noticed a difference, so it must be pretty good. I've also started pre-baking the bottom crust, because I found that otherwise, it could be pretty raw underneath all the apple goodness. So, to start off, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the pie crust in your pie pan (8 or 9 inches), and pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes. Be sure to check on it fairly frequently to prevent burning. When it's lightly browned, take it out and leave it to cool while you move on to the filling.

Even though you pricked holes in the crust, they still might get a little bubbly. Don't worry, it's pretty easy to push the air out with a fork/spoon. Just be careful not to tear a hole in the crust! It doesn't have to be too pretty, cause it will be hidden by the filling.

Next, take 7 or 8 large, tart apples and peel, core and slice them. You can use and apple peeler/corer gadget, or just a good old fashioned knife. Whatever you have handy.

Now for the sugar and spice mixture. You'll need:

• 3/4 - 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. flour

Use a seperate, smallish bowl and mix all of that together.

Then pour that mixture over the apples, mixing as you go. You may not need all of the sugar/spice mixture, depending on how you like it.

Now pour the apple mixture into the pre-baked pie crust. If you like, you can also soften 2 Tbsp. of butter to dot all over it (before you put the top crust on).

How you do the top crust is perfectly up to you. You can just unroll it, place it over the apples, pinch the edges, cut some holes (decorative, perhaps?), and bake it that way. For apple pies, I usually do a woven top.

If you prefer a woven top, unroll the crust onto a large plate and cut it into similarly sized strips. Then lay over the top of the pie in different directions to give it that woven look.

Trim the edges and pinch it together.

Now all you have to do is bake! Bake it at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30-40 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it; it's done when the apples are tender and the crust lightly browned. The edges of the crust sometimes tend to burn, so be careful!

You know the only thing I forgot? To take a picture of the finished pie. Whoops!

But it's as easy as that. If you have any questions, let me know!

Now it's your turn; do you have any easy recipes you love to make? It doesn't have to be a dessert. Tell me about it, I'd love to hear it!