some photos from 2009....

CAN I?

Today as I think about the New Year, I ask myself questions. Questions about my dreams for the New Year...Can I? Can I be successful in creative endeavors? Can I learn the principles of Graphic Design? Can I continue to write articles and books? Can I be Love? Can I be creative? Can I teach myself Photoshop? Can I afford an apple computer? Can I create a beautiful blog and website? Can I save money this year? Can I learn to navigate WordPress.org? Can I? Can I? Can I?

Thank You To Everyone At Sommerset Studios!!

I want to take the time this holiday season and say thank you to everyone at Sommerset Studios for believing in me and allowing me the incredible opportunity to become a part of the most fabulous group of talented people! Thank You! Thank You All!! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, a fabulous holiday season, and and especially great New Year! xoMarie

Flowers are such inspiration especially in the desert.

Flowers inspire me so with their beauty. I wish we could all be so beautiful! I know we try but there are those days...So wishing you a beautiful day today and all days.

The Gratitiude Wreath

Living in the desert presents challenges to the holidays. After searching for green pine trees, wreaths, cut pine, anything green we finally realized there would be no such green coming our way this holiday season. So in these next posts I am going to show you how we made our Christmas a handmade Christmas...without the green...
We chose Silver and white...
Here is our gratitude wreath. We made this from last years grapevine wreath. we added beaded wire for a bit of sparkle, and we attached manila tags with all that we were grateful for all around the wreath. It is a great reminder of all of the blessings that we have already received....Hope you like it! XO Marie

More fabulous images from...

Jeanne d Arc Living

some images to enjoy

These images were taken from Jeanne D arc magazine. I am still hoping on selling the magazine but we have hit a bit of a customs glitz! Figures...Any how this way you can enjoy soem of the images. I am still trying to get the magazine here in the states...We'll see.

should I start to offer this fabulous magazine?

I can start to sell this lovely magazine...It is truley a gem. If you would like copies please email me and I will get them for you...I think I will go ahead and offer this wonderful magazine as it is truly an inspriation!! It inspires me in so many ways to create settings that sing of angel thoughts and beauty. You will see why. I will offer it as a pre-order until it comes in... starting with issue 6, If you would like issue five just let me know and I will see what I can do. xo until then...I tryed offering paypla here but it won't atke it. So email me on my etsy site convo and I will reserve copies for you. mariefrench.etsy.com

Images from one of my favorite magazines....

Try French Hot Chocolate too....

Italian Recipe
Try this rich chocolat chaud recipe, also known as French hot chocolate, for an over-the-top-treat. For centuries, chocolate has been purported to hold great health benefits – it enhances circulation, improves the libido, gives energy, and has been used as a tonic for infectious disease and digestive disorders.

In 1643, Princess Maria Theresa of Spain brought a gift of chocolate to France, a royal chocolate maker was employed, and chocolate has been a rage ever since.

Cook’s note: For a different flavor, use chopped bittersweet or white chocolate. Remember to choose a premium chocolate for the best chocolat chaud.

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons hot water, divided
3 cups hot milk
Sugar, to taste
Whipped cream
Chocolate curls
Preparation:
Using a double boiler or a heat-safe glass bowl over simmering water, melt the chopped chocolate into ¼ cup of the water. Stir in the 3 tablespoons hot water and milk until the chocolate mixture is smooth. Pour the hot chocolate into cups and add sugar as desired. Garnish each cup with a spoonful of whipped cream and a few chocolate curls.

Yummy Mexican Hot Chocolate

Mexican Hot Chocolate



Prep Time:
10 MinReady In:
10 Min
Servings (Help)
US Metric Calculate
Original Recipe Yield 2 servings
Ingredients
3 tablespoons instant hot chocolate mix 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 pinch chili powder 1/4 cup milk 3/4 cup boiling water
Directions
In a large mug, mix the hot chocolate mix, chocolate syrup, cinnamon, and chili powder. Pour in the milk. Add the boiling water and stir.

our christmas card tree

Living in the desert forces you to be creative. There is not a real Christmas tree to be found with in 200 miles...That's tough when you have two little girls that only want the smell of pine wafting in their noses. So to try to make up for it I decided this would be a glittery Christmas...because most girls love glitter and metallic..so to start with we made a Christmas card tree. I found an old tree, dead of course, spray painted it silver, put rocks in a tin can and sprayed it all silver. Then I got some of my cloths pins and spray painted them silver to attach the cards..Wha La...there you go a simple sparkly silver Christmas card tree.