Ghetto Class Prep & A Little Progress

So this weekend was my first time to do class prep in my demolished studio, which has no stamping desk as of yet. (Insert growling and exasperated nose breathing here.)

It is finally coming into the home stretch, but not having a surface to stamp on or any of my stuff in my room (it's all in a big pile in the breakfast room) is seriously hampering my creative output!

However, the end is in sight. This weekend, we picked up a tabletop from my sister that will be my work surface, and Wednesday I will get the base of the table - these adorable filing cabinets - from The Container Store.

I will love the pop of color these bring to what, for too many years, has been a pretty dark and drab room. What took me so long?

When I get done I'll do a very detailed video with all the organization solutions and everything I've done to get finished, but in the meantime, you'll have to live with a sneak peek - this is about 25% of the room (the smallest room in the world, BTW), which I planned around this adorable card catalog I finished with this paint and this wax. I've learned so much about this process, which I will share in my video. Excuse the cords - my computer desk has cord management, but I don't have my cord management for my TV yet - but I couldn't wait to share this peek.

It's already so liberating I can't stand it.

BUT - I only have a very tiny computer desk (by design - I'll tell you why in my video) so preparing for a class with 21 people in it was challenging at best! I will say it forced me to only have out what I needed and put everything away (and by away I mean back on the pile in the kitchen) before I moved on to the next step. #itsthelittlethings

But I did pull it off! And I really liked the cards. This one was my favorite.

This is the new Spring Flowers Embossing Folder from the Occasions Catalog, which goes live today. We just embossed a piece of Naturals White with it, and then, holding a Q-Tip parallel to the paper surface, gently colored the flowers with Real Red and Old Olive reinkers. SO fun and easy! The greeting is from the Butterfly Basics Bundle, which is what we're using in this weekend's class! I sort of went crazy and scheduled a million classes for January - vacation does that to a person.

It's a super fun way to use your embossing folder, inspired by this GORGEOUS tutorial by Jeanne Jachna.

I'm back at work as of yesterday, trying to adjust from a week "off"- sanding, painting, etc. Are you experiencing re-entry pains? I feel ya. No really - I do. The only saving grace is being back in my routine - normal food, normal driving, normal sleep schedules, normal laundry. I do love my routine, even if it means I have to work. Tonight, I made this AWESOME holiday food recovery salad for dinner. I loved it - it was so light and fresh and completely the opposite of stuffing and fruitcake :). A sweet friend from high school posted it on Facebook. Here is my modified version:

Ingredients

• 2 broccoli crowns
• 1 head cauliflower (I used organic orange cauliflower)
• 1 small bunch kale (stems removed - make this a very small bunch - two pawfuls)
• ½ cup parsley
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup almonds, chopped
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup raisins
• Juice of one Meyer lemon
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions

1. Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into florets.
2. Roughly chop the kale.
3. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the broccoli, cauliflower, kale and parsley until fine and add them to a large mixing bowl. Work in small batches.
4. Stir to combine.
5. Add lemon juice, vinegar and syrup and dried fruit.
6. Toss to coat.
7. Add the sunflower seeds, almonds only when serving.

I added cooked quinoa to this and it's divine. I love a good cold quinoa salad.

Loveyameanitbye.