Crickets...

I know you guys have been hearing them (the crickets). Sorry for my 2 month long hiatus. I've been slightly swamped with the wonderful goings on of business and daily life to say the least. Anyway, you're not forgotten! I have been working on some new designs for next year that you will looove. In other news, I'm very excited to share that Texstyle was in the Commercial Appeal! Read the article. And have a deliciously happy Thanksgiving!

LUVMUD is a 5k obstacle race and festival happening in Shelby Farms Park, Memphis Oct. 8th-9th. There will be lots of great local bands, fun activities for the whole family and vendors – like texstyle!  The event benefits Habitat For Hope, a non-profit that gives assistance to families with critically/chronically ill children. So come show your support and have a good time at this year's LUVMUD.

Cooper-Young Festival

This month has been very busy for us: we moved into a new house, went on vacation, and attended a very enjoyable festival right in our neighborhood – not to mention the birthday slash house warming party just a few days away that we're still clearing out boxes for. I added skinny ties to my collection and debuted them at the Cooper-Young Festival. People ate them up! Needless to say, I've got some restocking to do before my next show in two weeks (yikes!). Here are pictures from the festival and of some of the ties.

Map Art Wants

Map cutout lampshades by simple & handmade.

Plates by uncommon goods

A set of these would make a nice little gift: DIY card & envelope by Wear The Canvas.

This map table is such a great DIY rehab project for old furniture!

This is perfect for a study/office. Dublin map sculpture by littlewhitedog.

A Vintage Lover's Cup of Tea

If you like vintage then you will love Retro Threadz. And best yet, this chic vintage outfitter is having a giveaway, where you can enter to win a $100 gift certificate to their store! I really don't know if it gets any better than that. These are some of my personal favs. Check out all the giveaway details here. Don't miss out – this giveaway ends Monday, August 22nd.

Zucchini Bread

My farm plot is yielding a ton of veggies, not to mention what neighbors give me. Here's just a little snippet of what we got this week (guess I ought to do some canning). Since we're all tired of eating zucchini I figured it'd be nice to make some bread with it and since I've been experimenting with gluten-free baking I decided to make my zucchini bread gluten-free. After all was said & done I still had like 8 zucchinis left so I'm going to have to figure out some other things to make with them - brownies maybe? We'll see. Enjoy the recipe. If you try it, comment & let me know how it turns out!

A friend gave me this little sign as a gift a few weeks ago. I introduced her to the farm plots where I garden. Such a profound statement. I love this sign.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c all-purpose gluten free flour mix*

1 1/2 ts xanthum/guar gum

1 1/2 ts ground cinnamon

1/2 ts baking soda

1/2 ts salt

1/2 ts baking powder

1/4 ts ground nutmeg

1 egg + 1 egg white, beaten

1 1/2 ts vanilla extract

1 1/4 c brown sugar

2 c finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini

1/4 c veg oil

1/4 c applesauce

1/2 c toasted walnuts/pecans

* I usually make my own gluten-free mix, although you can also purchase all-purpose gluten-free mixes in stores. This time around I used 3/4 c soy flour, 1/2 c tapioca flour, and 1/4 c brown rice flour.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease the bottom & sides of an 8 x 8 x 2" loaf pan. In a medium bowl combine flour, guar gum, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture & set aside.

In another medium bowl combine egg & egg white, vanilla, sugar, shredded zucchini, oil, and applesauce.

Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Batter should be lumpy.

Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan & bake 45-50 min.

Cool in pan on wire rack 10 min, then remove bread from pan. Hang your apron & enjoy!

Liam loved it!

Getting Ready

My first Memphis show is just 5 weeks away and I have been chugging away preparing for the thousands of people that will be there perusing my booth. My goal is to complete 100 new bags by September 16th and so far, I'm on track! Ben and I are still figuring out structural logistics for my space, but I'm sure everything will come together nicely. I also plan to have some new items not (yet) on my site so if you're local/plan to be in Memphis Sept. 17th, come to the Cooper-Young Festival & say hi :}. I'll be in booth D38. Now, back to more bag-making!