It's Her Business: Jane Blease Design

Hi friends!  In an earlier post I talked to you about how I was feeling about the blog and what direction I wanted the blog to go in.  So, today I'm really excited to introduce you to the first woman in the It's Her Business series.  Meet Jane and her business Jane Blease Design.  She creates sustainable lighting and interior products, beautifully hand-crafted from wood and reclaimed vintage plastics.  In Jane's current collection, she embroiders geometric patterns into wood veneer using colorful threads.  I like how she brings a hard and soft material together into one modern design and the way the vibrant pieces of thread weave new life through the wood.  Jane Blease Design offers everthing from bookmarks to acrylic lampshades and artwork to dress up your home with.  Are loving her designs like I am?  Go over to Jane's shop to see all she has to offer and buy from this lovely lady. 

How great are these broaches?


Parachute Ball by Jane Blease Design


This is just one of Jane's wood lampshades. 
I love raspberry and turquoise color combination that she used.

 

Do you know of a fabulous small business or are you yourself a small business owner?  Get in touch with me!  I would love to meet you. 

 

 

Winter Tabletop Part 2

Last week I posted part 1 of this winter tabletop post.  Today I'm including a dessert you could serve if you were to use this tabletop idea for a little winter dinner party.  Sticking with the theme, I'm serving up a scoop of classic vanilla ice cream and I placed a triangle shaped sugar cookie that I frosted with royal icing to make it look like a snow covered mountain.      

It's Her Business

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the blog.  I feel like I haven't been contributing enough.  I want to do more and I want Cupcakes & Confetti to be more.  I want to create conversation and a community.  I really didn't know where I was going with this and then a Facebook post from a personal friend sparked an idea in my brain.  My friend posted a bunch of photos of some of her friends' creative businesses.  I've had a long time passion for art and design and a general love for creatives.  I studied artists in school and I went onto work to help promote artists and I thought to myself "Why am I not doing this now with the blog?".  I should do what I know and do what I love.  

These thoughts have lead me to start a series called "It's Her Business".  I would like this series to be a space that highlights, encourages and supports small creative businesses owned by women. I would like you to get to know a little more about the women behind the businesses.  I would like this to be a space where you can find out about these businesses and hopefully, eventually buy from them and help support them.  To help It's Her Business grow, I need a little help from you too.  I'm on the hunt for well designed, well crafted work.  Do you have a friend, neighbor or relative who has a creative business that you want others to know about?  Do you have a creative business?  I want to hear from you.  Don't be shy.  Contact me.  I would love to see and learn about all the amazing work out there and the women behind them.  I would like this to become a community of talented, creative women that supports one another.  Later this week, I'll introduce you to the first woman in this series.  I can't wait for you to meet her. 

Winter Tabletop Part 1

 

I was flipping through an issue of Midwest Living and stumbled across an idea for a tabletop inspired by the tundra.  The centerpiece included a bowl of rocks and artifical snow and I wanted to try it out.  I would describe midwest style as traditional and approachable, which the idea is. 

Well, I'm obessed with all things French and lately I've been drawn to some designs where the outline of natural elements or everyday objects are modernized and simplified and then presented in a playful manner.  So, I married these two concepts from Midwest Living and French design and this is how it turned out.  I placed light colored rocks on a flat glass plate and sprinkled on some artifical snow and placed some cold climate creatures around the plate.  Going with a palette of white and gray, I made the mountains in simple triangle shapes for both the centerpiece and napkin rings out of scrapbook paper and card stock.  I finished the napkin rings off with natural looking twine.  What do you think?  Come back later to check out part 2 of this post.

 

 

 

Asian Style Fish

If you're observing Lent, you may be eating fish on Fridays for the next few weeks.  My husband is Catholic, so our family is doing the fish Friday thing.  I enjoy it, because it gets me out of cooking rut and it makes me search for and cook more fish dishes.  It seems as though fish is a scary thing to cook and it shouldn't be that way at all.  I swear to you that this is a super simple dish, that's fast, fresh and yummy, even if you're not observing Lent.      

Tip alert!  The most time consuming part of making this dish is chopping all of the veggies.  If you are short on time, chop the veggies earlier in the day or the day before you make the dish.  Put the chopped veggies in a plastic bag and stick them in the fridge until your ready to get cooking.  Do you have left over fresh ginger?  You can slice it up, lay it flat in a freezer bag and pop it in the freezer to use later. 

Celebrating Date Night This Weekend

I'm sooo looking forward to this weekend.  My husband and I are finally getting a long overdue date night.  We are treating this date night as our Valentine's Day celebration.  We usually don't exchange gifts, but we do exchange time.  With two small children, we rarely get a dinner alone where we don't need to cut someone else's food or that we actually get a chance to sit down through an entire meal.  Parents, you know what I'm talking about.  I can't wait to slowly eat my food, perhaps have a cocktail and enjoy an uninterupted conversation with my beloved.  I love spending time with my husband and way too often we take on the roles of "Mom" and "Dad", but forget to focus on the roles of "husband" and "wife".  Cheers to date night!  Have a beautiful weekend friends! xx 

My Valentine's Day Wish List

 

I think you can tell where the inspiration came from for this mood board.  I know some people find Valentine's Day annoying, but I just see it as a way to tell someone special in your life that you love them, because so many times throughout the year we forget to do just that.  It doesn't need to be a significant other or a spouse.  Tell your kids or your friends that you care.  These are just a few things I have on my wish list.  What's on your wish list?   

1. H & M 2.Essie 3.Send The Trend 4.Vintage Confections 5.Parc Boutique

Fat Tuesday

Happy Fat Tuesday or as we say in southeast Michigan - Paczki Day!  As I was researching Paczki Day a little more, which I thought was a southeast Michigan tradition, I learned that there are some other places in the midwest that also indulge in this Polish treat.  For those of you who are not familiar with the paczki, it's a heavy doughnut that's usually filled with a fruit filling.  The calorie laden sweet is only available during this time of year, right before Lent.  I love a good doughnut, so I love this day.  Do you celebrate Fat Tuesday?  How do you do it in your neck of the woods?

DIY Mini Cookie Gift Box

 

You know the old saying "bigger is better", I don't think that always the case.  I love mini everything - mini horses, mini bunting, mini candy bars, I could go on, but you get the point.  I was out grocery at the grocery store and came upon these heart shaped paper mache boxes.  I have a collection of mini cookie cutters and I thought what a great way to package some heart shaped cookies for Valentine's Day. 

Here's how I did it.  You can use your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe or take a short cut and buy some premade dough from the store.  No one will know the difference and it will be a little secret just between you and I.  First I baked the cookies, allowed them to cool, and then frosted them with pink royal icing.  I allowed the frosting to dry overnight before placing them into the box.  I decorated the box with a pink arrow I that cut out of felt, which I then glued onto the top of the box.  I was able to put four cookies in the box, which I lined with parchment paper.  For the finishing touch I wrapped the box in red and white stripped twine.  Adorable, don't you think?

Celebrating Snow This Weekend

It's Thursday and as I sit here writing this post, there is a major snow storm headed my way and to the east coast of the U.S.  I'm making sure we have everything we need in the house so that I don't have to run out tomorrow on the slippery roads.  My husband, my daughter and many other students are praying for a snow day so that they can have an extra long weekend.  One thing that I enjoy about snow is shoveling.  I know a little weird, but hear me out.  I like breathing in the cold air and standing in the silence of the neighborhood and simply hearing the scrape of the shovel against the pavement.  To me this is therapeutic, although I wouldn't be saying this after a week long snow fall.  Stay warm friends!  See you next week! xx 

P.S. We got our snow day.

DIY Heart + Ribbon Chair Swag

 

Are you and your sweetheart staying in for Valentine's Day?  Don't forget to add some special little details to your dinner table like this DIY swag for your chairs.  At the moment I'm loving the color combo of blush and mint, so that's what I went with, but make yours with whatever colors you fancy.  I made the hearts out of paint chips from the home improvement store and pretty ribbon from the craft store.   

 

 

 

Peppermint Meltaway Cookies

Sometimes you find good recipes in unexpected places, like when you're clipping coupons.  That's where I found this one a few years ago and you can find a copy of the recipe here.  I usually make these cookies for Christmas, but I always thought the colors would be perfect for Valentine's Day.  My family loves these light tasting, buttery cookies that have the perfect hint of peppermint to them.  I hope you make these for someone you love too.

Hello, February!

Hello, February!  Is is too late to say hello to February?  I don't think it's too late.  Well I had this post all planned out for the first day of February and then the flu hit me.  Blah!  The cold and flu season has been rough on my household. I've been trying to recover from my battle, while taking care of the other sickies in my family and I'm also trying to catch up on all the everyday things I missed while I was sick, so you can see why I had to put the blog on the back burner. 

Now, let's talk about some good things -Valentine's Day.  Swoon...what a sweet little holiday.  I love the pops of color and life that Valentine's Day brings to winter, as well as, the nostalgia that it brings to me.  Remember in elementary school when you constructed the little mail boxes made of an old shoe box to catch all the Valentine's Day cards?  You would decorate it with red construction paper, white doilies and stickers.  I get to relive those days with my oldest daughter now.  We brainstorm ideas and then we get to put together little goodie bags and cards for her classmates.  It's such a great way to bond with the people in our lives.  

Another great thing about February - the Oscars.  Many of us girls anticipate the glamour and glitz of this night.  Some of us have viewing parties of our own and play fashion police and I'm no exception.  I love to see who's wearing what and who's wearing what well.  That's what I love about February.  Tell me, what do you love about it?