Lemon Rosemary Wanna-be Margarita

Hey friends! I wasn't planning on posting today, but it's hard not to when there's such a fun challenge with Melyssa's Creative Collective. I love this link-up of crafty projects and experimentation. Today's prompt is concocting a cocktail, which I should really start doing more often.

I wanted to try out the lemon-rosemary combo...Original thought was a margarita, but there wasn't any. A friend put it perfectly, saying "when you don't have tequila for a margarita...use rum". Catchy, huh? Well, that's pretty much what happened. This recipe was heavily experimental and it turned out really nice! 

Ingredients

- Margarita mix

- dark rum (or...tequila!)

- 1 tsp honey

- a few sprigs of rosemary

- 1/2 lemon

I like that I tried using honey in a cocktail - but it may not have been necessary since Margarita mix is darn sweet on it's own. Maybe a bit more water instead of mix.

First I infused the honey, lemon juice, and rosemary by heating in the microwave for less than 10 seconds. Since the honey has so much sugar, it will heat super fast. 

Then, I poured in some rum and probably triple the margarita mix. I poured it all into the blender, added ice and blended it up into an ice-y froth. Garnish if you like. This is great for summer and I'll definitely be making it again - who knows, maybe with tequila ?!

Did you join the link-up? What's your favorite cocktail? Cheers, all!

Creative Collective: Fresh Antique Jewelry

Hi lovelies! Happy to share one of my passions through Melyssa's Creativity Collective. Today's theme is "Anything-goes art". If you want to try some new things and get a little creative, head over here for prompts.

I started making jewelry in 2008 and quickly fell in love. Long story short, I've accumulated sooo many beads and materials (too many for my own good!). So last night I found some cool old beads that I've had forever and never used. They're really beautiful, with turquoise chips embedded with a type of clay and wire. They're kind of perfect for a big chunky pieces, so that's what I ended up crafting.

These earrings are for my dear friend, Rachel. She loves hoops with a flare, so these are just that!

 And I created this necklace just to make it. My mom is modeling it here.

Yea! Feels so good to create! What's your favorite medium to create with?

My Word of the Year

Hey friends! Gee, today was a whole mix of feelings and things. I'll maybe try to express the negative side later, but for now I'm going to keep this positive. So the good things are that I watched some great movies and got a little crafty. AND I'm all about this Creative Collective that Melyssa started! 

Essentially, it's about bringing more creativity into life and she's created some really fun prompts to link-up about twice a month. And you know how art is therapeutic? Well, this is kind of like free crafty therapy and I love it! Today is the first link-up and the prompt is: choose a word for 2014 that you want to focus on, then create something to remind you of it.

I chose the word..........DO! This is meaningful to me because sometimes laziness wins me over. When I get in a funk and can't seem to get out or when guilting myself about not getting back to someone for awhile. I know I can do better so I'm focusing on taking action, being pro-active in making my life wonderful!

This is also important to me because this past year I haven't been creating as much art and jewelry as I'd like. I would love to get back into these passions this year! I just want to be able to whip out a project to do if I'm feeling inspired and especially if I'm needing some creativity. Just like today - it was fun using some of my jewelry supplies and wire again.

Heck, I'd like to do a few things on my bucket list too! All around, I want to embrace action and growth in my life. Ups and downs but always forward! Let's do this, 2014!

What word would you choose for this year? What is your creative expression?