a lovely night

well tonight has been a lovely night of crocheting and losing myself once again in downton abbey - It really is my most favorite thing on tv ever. Tonight I finally had some time to catch up on season three and it was wonderful!

So do you watch downton abbey - no... - WHAT! Surely someone in your life has gotten way up in your personal space and shouted with disgust "you haven't seen downton abbey yet? HOW have you not seen downton abbey yet!!" and while I too am a little shocked, but only in a loving way of course, fear not because there is still time for you to fall in love with this awesome show!

 So for you who haven't watched DA before here is the promo for season one - because I would hate to spoil how things have progressed!

click on it - watch it - and fall in love! 

So while I was becoming lost in pretending I am part of the crawley clan living the aristocrat lifestyle in England during the roaring twenties - I did manage to get some crocheting in!

I haven't really got too far - and I still have no real solid idea on how I am actually going to finish them I thought I would share with you all the yarn I have chosen!

I took a break in my crocheting to make some amazing tortilla soup - and by a little I mean alot! As I will be eating tortilla soup for about the next two weeks! good thing its soo delicious! 

hope all is well - ash

summer slipper fun! part one!

It has been quite a long time since i've started any new projects and so I was itching to find something that would just totally inspire me - and I found the most colorful amazing slippers ever!! Check them out!

Are they not the most amazingly comfortable brightly colored things you have ever seen! I instatly knew I had to make these!! but after following the link to the pattern this is what I found...

How this lady turnned these short little ugly booties into something truly amazing is something I am going to have to figure out!

Wish my luck as I try to write my own pattern to have these simply beautiful slippers on my feet by the end of summer!

happy summer days -- ash

crazy day of sewing!

Thought i'd share with you all the products of my day!

you can see more pictures at -- http://www.etsy.com/shop/ashleigh111

much love - ashleigh

boy booties!

Just wanted to share some pictures of the super cute baby booties I made for baby noah!

more booties to come!

Garage sales and DIY!

there is nothing that i love better than waking up early on a sunday morning grabbing a mango smoothie and newspaper and heading out garage sailing!

on my last outing I picked up this super cute yellow teapot! I do really love it - although I don't really love tea... but it was yellow!

I also grabbed this amazing wicker picnic basket

it's pretty much prepared with everything.

and as much as I loved it I couldn't help think I would love it more in green!

So I went down to canadian tire and fell in love with a color and set out on my DIY adventure!

ah! isn't it lovely!

doesn't she just beg to be taken out on a picnic!

happy garage sailing! 

ashleigh

Coconut & Lime Cupcakes

Hello all my friends - its been few days! I made these delightfully yummy gluten AND dairy free cupcakes and thought I would share them with you!

the lime and coconut together makes it pretty darn delicous! enjoy!

Coconut & Lime Cupcakes

• 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• ¾ cup organic fructose sugar (or 1 cup organic cane sugar)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• ½ tsp salt

• 1 cup sweetened soy milk, room temp
• 3 large eggs, room temp
• ⅓ cup applesauce, room temp
• ⅓ cup virgin coconut oil, melted
• juice and zest of 1 lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, shredded coconut, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Add in soy milk, eggs, applesauce, coconut oil, lime juice and zest. Whisk together well, until batter is smooth.

Pour the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin liners. Bake in the center of a preheated oven, until dome shaped and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. About 20 minutes, depending upon your oven.

Cool the pan briefly, then gently pop out the cupcakes and continue cooling on a wire rack.

 Vegan Lime Butter-Cream Frosting

• ⅓ cup soy butter, room temp
• 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• zest of one lime

Place soy butter into a large mixing bowl and beat until it is fluffy (using a hand or stand mixer).
With mixer running slowly, add in 2 cups of powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, and beat until crumbly. Scraping down the sides of the mixer as often as necessary.

Beat in lime juice and lime zest. Add in remaining powered sugar, beating slowly, until fully incorporated. Use immediately.

hope you enjoy these as much as I did - if you try them out let me know! 

much love ashleigh!

for the love of musicals!

I LOVE musicals - there is just something about someone breaking out into song in mid sentence in a movie that makes me smile and large dance numbers that make me jealous that I happen to have two left feet.

Here are 10 reasons why I love musicals

10 -- the songs really stick in your head - pretty sure that the songs are always the most memorable and crave to see the movie because I have a certain song stuck in my head!

9 -- there really has to be no plot in a musical -- I know this hardly feels like a reason to love them! but with all the pretty songs, dresses and fun dance numbers it makes up for it!

8 -- the men are always dreamy...

7 -- musicals are weird...

6 -- musicals usually involve dancing -- And I love dancing. Let me rephrase that: I love to watch other people dance. Dancers in musicals make it look so simple and fun that I almost want to try.

5 -- the men get to say things through song that in real life you would never hear them say

4 -- I like that at least once during watching a musical you can usually find yourself thinking "hmm... I wish I lived in a musical"

3 -- they are usually super cheesy -- and i like it!

2 -- you get to feel apart of the movie -- after watching your favorites a few times you get to sing along with all your favorite songs - pretty much like you are part of the movie

1 -- they always end with a happily ever after -- pretty sure its a requirement of musicals to have a hopeful ending!

So when live musicals happen in real life its pretty much the absolute ultimate! Check out this super sweet live lip-dup proposal! It may just be the most awesome thing you've ever seen!  Look how happy she is!

Isaac's Live Lip-Dub Proposal from Isaac Lamb on Vimeo.

just sooo awesome!!

happy singing -- ashleigh

wahoo -- its a boy!!

Welcome to the world baby Noah Jeremiah!!

I went into stealth mode breaking into the house and hanging up my baby wreath!
 My welcome home baby signs are certainly evolving - but I fell in love with these colours when putting it all together!

lazy sunday!

I did some organizing this afternoon in my sewing room! now its all clean and tidy and makes me just want to start some new projects and lock myself away down there!

Some of my yarn stash...

my patterns and what nots 

so while i was in my cleaning zone - i had some music playing and this song came on and in the middle there is spoken word that totally surprised me and it got my heart racing and made me excited - christ is risen!

what does that poor Jewish man, dying on a roman tree two thousand years ago have to do with me?

Christ came and died to marry his Bride to be - and although death could kill the groom it could not kill the ring! God made us one with Christ and life in matrimony's cling! and now the undying church - his everliving wife can sing - oh death where is your sting, oh grave where is your victory!

the body is rising - we are the risen church!

 so I thought I would share!

happy sunday! -- ashleigh

a pretty little dress for a beautiful little girl!

Hey guys - just wanted to share this little flutter sleeve dress I made a few weeks ago!  I had been holding onto this fabric for ages and once I saw this pattern I knew it would be the cutest little dress ever!


hope you think so too!

take care now- bye bye then -- ashleigh

on my heart...

hey guys - its been a while since i've posted last - its been a crazy time these last few weeks!

I felt challenged to pay a bit more attention to lent this year - and giving up hot chocolate may not be a huge sacrifice but for me its basically the same as a coffee addiction! and i wanted to choose something totally attainable and at the end feel like it was an offering. I totally feel the need to have it every morning has gone - I actually forgot my mug in the car this morning and forgot to bring it into work!

Also for the six weeks I wanted to explore a little more about what sacrifice means - when we sacrifice  we are giving up something valued for something else more worthy - and i was really challenged to find what I valued as worthy.

I started with changing around my personal space so basically at some point in my day I would be able to focus more about what I am passionate about and would help me re focus my mind towards Jesus.

I covered my car with truths, promises and encouraging words! At first I was soo nervous about this because well bright yellow post it notes posted all over the dash would kinda draw attention and for awhile I felt like no one really noticed! Then all of a sudden almost everywhere I was parked someone would be reading them while i was trying to get into my car - but after one or two I didn't feel so self conscious any more - it was actually kinda exciting!

I wanted to see this verse every morning Romans 12:1-2 -- and to be challenged for each day to be a sacrifice

"take your everyday ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around life and place it before God as an offering" and i totally felt like wow - i don't think i've ever read this before - He wants my life - he wants all of my nothing extremely important life given to him as an offering

the verses later go on to say this "Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him." 

- this just simplified making God happy soo much 

- embracing what he does for us makes him happy!

"don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God.  You will be changed from the inside out."

- this sometimes is really hard for me 

-so with all these reminders set everywhere for me I did find it was much easier to keep my attention on God and I've decided to keep them up for as long as I feel I need to have such extreme reminders in my life - to see my life align with Jesus and not my world

and this kinda became my prayer mirror - while getting ready each morning it was easy to pray because everything was just right in front me!

It was actually really fun to creatively bring more of Jesus into my life! 

--ashleigh