Anthony & Jenn Consentino

2010-01-30T17:57:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I decided to make all of our baby nieces (which are all girls) these butterfly shadowboxes. I took 12"x12" scrapbook display frames and glued paper butterflies in a grid. They were fun and I really liked how they turned out.

For the older kids I thought it would be better to make them something they can play with. So one day I was driving home from work and it came to me! Magnets, every kid likes magnets! So I went to Micheals and got prepainted animals and other shaps and turned them into magnets.

They need somewhere to play with the magents, so I got 12"x12" magnetic dryerase panels and covered it with fabric to create a scene. Each scene depended on the theme of the magnets. The great thing about this size is the portability.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to go to the pumpkin patch in Queen Creek. If it wasn't for my beautiful niece, Morgan, I would probably never have went. She told me the whole way there how excited she was to go.

Anthony and I had bought her a red wagon that we could use to pull her all around. When I first told her about it she said, "Thanks, that was nice of you". She is SO polite. Once we got there she was all grins.

Morgan liked the wagon until she saw the huge expanse of area to run in! Then she kept whining, "I'm stuck...I'm stuck". My mom let her out and she ran around like crazy. The only problem was it was nearly 100 degrees out and it was way too hot.
After a super fun train ride we went to the petting zoo where Morgan ran from goat to goat petting each one. She kept telling me how cute they all were. She had the biggest smile on her face!

Morgan was not scared of any of the animals and just stuck her hand right in the cage to pet them.

This is a photo of Morgan having a great time on the train. She would laugh every time they blew the horn.

Here's a photo of Grandma, Grandpa and Morgan. Mom wore the perfect shirt for a pumpkin patch! Morgan could not look straight at the camera because she was so ready to check everything out.

Morgan loves animals so she got to ride a horse. She was a little scared at first but did such a good job. The rest of the day she kept telling me that she was such a big girl because she rode a horse.

Here's Morgan telling Grandpa how fun that was!

Once she found her pumpkin there was no letting go! She walked around everywhere with that thing.

It's the one!

She didn't let go of the pumpkin even when she fell asleep on the way home! Overall

Five Best Designed Resturaunts in Scottsdale

2009-10-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Krause Interiors was featured in the October 2009 issue of Arizona Foothills magazine for having designed one of the best designed restaurants in Scottsdale. It is really exciting to have something that you worked so hard on be featured in a magazine. The best part is that I was quoted and I sound half smart :). I was so scared that they would quote me and it would be incoherent.

The shot that they put in the magazine is a pretty bad shot (not that mine are much better), because you don't really get the feel of the space so I will add a couple of my own personal pics. The restaurant is called the Herb Box and has the most amazing food. This location is at Market Street in DC Ranch.

Max and The Zoebear

2009-10-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

We have the two most precious dachshunds. Their life consits of Anthony and I tending to their every need. They get fed gourmet food, get bathed every week and even get to sleep in the bed with us on weekends. They spend their entire day napping and "patrolling" the house. The picture above is of them sleeping in the sun in a window seat. We love them dearly and often wish we could trade places with them. What I wouldn't give to have no worries in life!

As I downloaded my pictures of them onto my computer, I noticed that most of the pictures I have of them are of either Max or Zoey sleeping. For those of us who wish for more sleep, just take some notes from my pups, it looks like they have it down.

Find a good spot on the couch.

Make sure someone you love is close by.

Always have a comfortable pillow.

Even if you don't want to take a long nap its okay to lay in bed and enjoy yourself.

Laying in the sun always makes a nap better.

Cankles

2009-10-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

The funniest thing happened to me at work the other day! Megan and I were discussing a project at her desk and our boss walked up to us to say hi. We proceeded to stand up which revealed Megan's amazingly adorable shoes.

Megan can defiantly rock a pair of sassy shoes, but for some reason they caught the bossman's attention. He stops dead in his tracks and says nice CANKLES!!! Megan and I stopped what we were doing and looked at him with blank expressions on our faces, shocked that the bossman just told Megan that she had cankles. Megan surprisingly said, "I don't have cankles!" and I could not stop laughing. The bossman turned red when he realized that he was not using the word correctly, then asked what cankles were! I explained that a cankle is a merge of the calf and ankle....

not an adorable shoe! We teased him all afternoon and I proceeded to send him the photo above to show him what a true cankle is. He apologized all day, but I don't think we will be able to ever let this one down!!!

Adorable Necklaces!

2009-09-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

I have a dear friend who is so creative and has such a great fashion sense. She collects vintage jewelry and ties and puts them together into an adorable new necklace. Each piece is unique and beautiful. Just thought I would share this adorable creation! Check her shop out on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8091540

Morgan's Birthday Party

2009-09-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

My niece, Morgan's, birthday party is coming up. Her birthday is the 1st of November and I always get commissioned to do the cake and decorations for the party. She will be three this year and really likes frogs, Dora and puppies. We keep asking her what she wants for her cake and she throws out something different every time. I have decided to make puppy cupcakes since last time I saw her she told me that my dog, Max, was her best friend.
It should be fun attempting to make these cupcakes. I will be practicing weeks in advance, so if you have a craving for cupcakes in the month of October, come to my house! Last year I made a flower cake and Anthony was in heaven because he got to eat the practice cakes. Thanks Shannon Lathum for all your help, I am bummed you are not around for round two!

The Blogging Has Begun

2009-09-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

Okay everyone (and by everyone I mean Ashley), here is my first blog! For thoses who don't know me, I can't sit still. I must be cleaning, cooking, cardmaking, snuggling Max, crafting most of all just doing something. I have become interested in painting and cardmaking recently. I have been spending all of my free time working on cards for my etsy site, poshposystudio.etsy.com. Today I was was bored with the usual house cleaning and decided to paint.

This painting was inspired by a dream I had. I have many vivid and "strange" dreams, but lately I have been having "interior designer" dreams. I am a commercial interior designer by trade and never really think about it much outside of work but for some reason keep dreaming about design related things. I keep having dreams that have a high contrast of dark and light so I thought why not paint it. So here it is. I love flowers and can't wait to start my next art project.