Willow Branch Designs

I'm still here.

2011-10-29T12:18:00.001-04:00

It's been a long hot summer & I've neglected my blog. I didn't have anything fun to post about, not that it's ever stopped me before, but I wasn't even amusing myself, which says a lot. I'm going to dip my toe back into the blogging pool, break out my camera & see what I can come up with. It's a pretty dark & dismal day in Carolina today, so nothing fun to share..not even fun pictures. Autumn decided to pop up yesterday afternoon & smack us in the face a bit to remind us that she was here. Nothing like going from a sunny & 77 degree Thursday afternoon to a 47 & rainy Friday afternoon. Really?? 30 degrees in less than 24 hours? Oh well, we're supposed to get back up to the 60s next week & at least we don't have the threat of foot of snow. Hang in there, my Northern friends!! I wish lots of hot chocolate & warm nights for you.

I'll be back with....something next week. Not sure what it'll be, but it'll be something. Maybe a nice stew, I dunno.

Until then, be safe & play purdy!

Pam

New Art

2011-03-28T11:12:00.000-04:00

It's been a while!!

My computer had a little break down so I had to send her off for some "help". She's back & in fine working condition, thanks to Mike at Triangle Tech Group. Who knew it would be so hard to find someone to repair a computer in Durham?? I mean..RTP? Come on!! Well, I don't have to look any further because now I have found my place. I was able to drop it off in Durham where Pinky (my pink computer) was swiftly picked up & taken to Raleigh. Pinky was a troubled one, so she was sent to Chapel Hill & settled in the capable hands of Mike. He kept me informed of the progress & even replaced my anti-virus software (which let a few nasties into my computer) with the one that he uses. I couldn't be more happy with the customer service I received. My motherboard was even reflowed instead of replaced, saving me a bundle of money. I have idea what that means only that it made Pinky come back to life.

During our "break" I worked on drawing faces, faces & faces.

I wanted to branch out from my whimsy girls & my stylized girls & try my hand at more realistic, stylized faces. I finished one of the first stylized faces I painted a couple of months ago. I mounted her to an old piece of cabinet, then made my own texture paste to make the background more interesting. I collaged scrapbooking paper to the background then painted over the top. A few more embellishments & stamping & she was done. I need to get a fixative to spray on top, but other than that, she's finished.

Here are several faces that I've been working on & trying to get the noses just right. Noses are hard, then sometimes lips are hard too...then the eyes..oy. Well, I'm relatively happy with these whole faces. I practiced each component individually, but the pages of just eyes, noses & lips were getting pretty creepy, so I had to put them together.

They scanned pretty lightly so it's hard to see the shading. I did complete a mixed media piece with one of the faces. I haven't named it yet, but it's a little gypsy mounted on wood.

I ripped the face out of my sketchbook & glued it to the wood, using my texture paste for her hair. I cut the leaves & flower out of decorative papers & collaged them around her, then added lots of layers of paint. I used India ink & & paint for the drippy parts, then scraped on a little gesso to soften it a bit.

I added a few floral pebbley things on the bottom & the fabric at the bottom is a section of hem from an old pair of jeans. I drilled 2 holes at the top to thread a piece of a tie from an old dress, then ripped an old shirt, dress & fabric scraps for the hangy thing on the left. I'm happy with the way she turned out.

She seems to need a little something at the top, so I may add words. I thought of burning the words into the wood, but not sure if I should do it into the paint. I'm going to give it a try & see what happens.

I have another face shaded & glued onto another piece of wood.

She's on the way to becoming Mary. It'll probably take a while to get her finished because I'm still looking for inspiration. I really am a bit addicted to drawing faces now.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Mortar Monday, Roasted Lemon Chicken

2011-03-07T11:15:00.001-05:00

(Dakota was not diggin the butt shot. It's been a long winter & she hasn't gotten her svelte, swimsuit body back yet.)

This week the spotlight is on my granite mortar made in Thailand. I picked it up at my local Asian market for under $10 & if you only want to get one mortar, I'd say this is the one to get. It's ready to use as soon as you get it home & can be used for most everything. That's right. No arm achingly rice grinding or slathering it with oil, just a wash & it's ready to go. I bought the 8" one & although it's still no sissy, I can lift it with one hand. I think a larger one would be a little too heavy for me to easily navigate around the kitchen. It's great for making fresh pesto, curry powder, guacamole, etc. It's also a great way to get rid of a little tension after a rough day.

I use it to make the paste for my Lemon Roasted Chicken. This is another one of my "no recipe" recipes, but it's recipe & can be adapted to whatever herbs you like.

For 2 chicken quarters I start out with fresh rosemary a little sprig of fresh oregano. My oregano didn't like the winter so much so I had to add dried oregano to the mix along with a little thyme. I popped in a couple of cloves of garlic with salt & pepper. I also throw in a couple of teaspoons of unsalted Greek seasoning, I use Cavender's (love, love, love). You don't have to use Greek seasoning, but I just love Cavender's & try to use it whenever possible. It's time to smash, smash, smash.

After it's nice & smooshy I move the paste to glass bowl & add the juice & zest one one lemon. I prefer to use 2 lemons because I love lemon, but one was all that I had.

After I get the lemon juice mixed in with the paste,

I whisk in a couple of glugs of olive oil & add the chicken in a glass bowl.

I rub the marinade into the chicken & make sure that every surface of the chicken pieces have been slathered with the yummy marinade.

I let the chicken hang out in the marinade for about an hour, but it's not necessary if you're in a hurry.

While the chicken is soaking up the lemony goodness, I cubed some potatoes & tossed them with a little of the reserved marinade mixed with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

When I'm ready, I throw the chicken & potatoes into a baking dish & roast them in the oven at 375 degrees until the chicken is cooked through & the potatoes are tender on the inside,

occasionally basting the chicken & potatoes with the juices.

I transfer the chicken & potatoes to another dish & skim as much fat as possible from the juices.

I use an enamel baking dish so I can put the dish on top of the stove & deglaze with a little white wine, lemon juice, chicken broth or water, just to loosen the browned bits on the bottom.

I turn off the stove & add a pat of butter & stir until the butter has melted & imparted it's glossiness to the sauce.

I dish it up & spoon some of the sauce over the chicken & potatoes & I'm ready to eat.

I made rolls & a salad to go along with the rest of the meal.

I love these rolls & they're so quick (relatively speaking) & easy to make.

The olive oil in the marinade gives the chicken & potatoes a nice crispy

exterior, but leaves the chicken moist & the potatoes soft on the inside.

I usually roast everything about 30-45 minutes, but if I'm uncertain, I use a quick read thermometer to make sure the chicken has cooked through.

The balsamic vinegar makes the potatoes look a bit dark, but I promise they aren't burned.

This is my easy, "go to" meal that I make once every week or two. I think it's perfect for guests,

a date, or just a weeknight meal. I always use chicken thighs because I like them & they cook quickly, but I've also roasted a whole chicken using the same marinade.
It's a budget friendly dish that uses ingredients that most can find in their pantry. If lemons are crazy expensive, I sub with limes & the result is just as tasty.

Please do try this recipe & make it your own. I've never served it to anyone who didn't like it, & trust me, my friends can be painfully honest (hugs). I know they like the meal if they ask for the recipe
or ask me to make it again.

If you'd like the recipe for the rolls, I'll be more than happy to post it for all to enjoy.

Hope your day has been nice.

Bits & Baubles

2011-03-02T11:21:00.001-05:00

Yes, I've made a few more trips to The Scrap Exchange in the last month or so. What else can I do when their Facebook status taunts me with mysterious new treasures?

I know that some of the things I bought may seem silly, but they jumped into my basket. Things at Scrap Exchange seem to do that.

I don't sew a lot so I don't have a lot of fabric scraps, especially the smaller printed, quilting like fabric. I can get a handful of little scraps, all different, for under $1.

Buy puzzle pieces? Yep. I don't have a puzzle & don't really want to run out & buy a whole box when I only need a few pieces.

I also bought a few laminate samples, empty tins & lunch tickets. I dunno what I'm going to do with everything, but I'll have fun experimenting. I also happened upon a Speedball lino cutter handle & a brand new Speedball carving block. I just have to get the little nibs then I can carve my own rubber stamps for my art journal and mixed media pieces.

The little wooden houses were .10 cents a piece so I thought I"d paint them, then attach the "chimes" from an old wind chime, similar to one that I revamped a couple of weeks go.

I don't remember where I got this wind chime, but it sounds pretty & I don't like to just get rid of things if I can "pretty" them up a bit.

The colors were a little bland to me, so I brightened them up a bit. A little gesso to prime them, then acrylic paint. I haven't sealed it yet.

I'm going to look around at The Dollar Tree to see if I can find a wind chime that I can take apart & use with the little wooden birdhouses I got The Scrap Exchange.

I looove the leather pieces that I was able to get for $1 a piece & have big plans for them. Maybe a couple of journals, maybe a couple of leather cuffs.

More leather, more fabric & I love, love, love the vintage Christmas bulbs. I had to stop myself from snaggling all of the bulbs, but Mama said it's nice to share.

Here are a couple of ATCs that I made for an online swap using a few of the things I bought. The theme was Valentine love (of course).

The base of the ATCs are playing cards which are the perfect ATC size. A little fabric, paper, ribbons, sewing & here's one:

Again, I use a playing card for a base, but covered it with book pages, cheesecloth, paint and more paper. Both of these have safely reached their destination of Wales, UK. ATC swaps are so much fun. I've only done it for 2 months & so far my creations have gone to Canada & Wales. I love it!!

Look what came back to me:

How sweet are these? I love how she told a story with those two ATCs.

I spray painted 3 of my old plastic patio chairs & had a little green paint left over. I have intensely disliked the mailbox on the front of my house for a while, but the ones I do like are so expensive. I sanded the mailbox, cleaned it, primed it, then sprayed several thin coats of paint. It went from rusty & painted black (sorry, no before pics) to this. I accented the design on the top with a little gold paint & cleaned the over spray from the address bracket before I hung it back up. Once I started working on it, I realized that it was a really nice, thick mailbox so I'm glad I decided to paint it instead of buying another. They don't make em like they used to.

I'm sure my mail carrier is just tickled by my "new" mailbox & I'm sure it makes his heart lighter & his step more jiggly just by looking at the happy new color. Ok, that was dripping with sarcasm, but at least it's something a little different that the standard black or brass that he looks at all day. I can also identify my house by the one with the apple green mailbox.

A few cards I made for Mom & Grandma for Valentine's Day.

I have a few things that I'm working on right now, but they don't seem to be cooperating with me. I have them in time out so hopefully they'll be more cooperative when I go back to them. Until I "see" you again, I wish you all happy days & fair weather.

Copper Etching Tutorial

2011-02-24T08:15:00.000-05:00

I blogged about this tutorial before Christmas & I'm sorry that's it's taken me so long to get this posted. I don't have any excuses, really, I just kept putting it off. Well, here it is & I hope I'm clear in my directions. There are several different ways of etching copper & brass, but this is how I do it. If you have any questions, please ask & I'll do my best to answer them.

Pictured above are the supplies that I used for this project.

Ferric Chloride solution (I ordered from Dick Blick)

packing tape

acrylic paint (used as a resist)

Sharpie (also used as a resist....seriously, what would be do without Sharpies?)

baking soda (to neutralized the solution)

plastic take out container

styrofoam

I also used a small paint brush to apply to resist to the copper

The first thing I did was to saw the copper the size & shape that I wanted. You can etch the design into the copper first, then cut out different shapes, but because I was going to have a central figure, I went ahead & shaped the base.

The copper needs to be clean & pretty & free of residual oils to get the best results. I sanded & steel wooled the copper to a nice buttery sheen.

Next I added the design to the copper. It was a combination of graphite rubbing & sketching in the parts that didn't transfer well. You know, outline the design in graphite, then flip it over & rub the edges so that the graphite transfers onto the copper. In this case, I had to do a mirror image because I didn't want both puppies facing the same way. If you're etching words, don't forget that the image will have to be reversed or your words will be backwards.

After I had the design transfer onto the copper I painted the area that I didn't want etched. This is the part that will not be eaten by the solution. I also used my Sharpie, but noticed that the Sharpie had the tendency to pull off some of the paint. This took a bit of time because there were some small areas where it was hard to get my paint brush in. If I messed up, I took a cotton swab & removed as much of the paint as possible. If it was Sharpie, I had to use a little steel wool to remove the lines I didn't want, sometimes accidentally taking off some that I wanted to keep. I just painted them back. I also tried to keep my fingers from the touching the nice clean copper as much as possible.

After I let the paint dry, I used the Sharpie again to go around the edge of the copper. This needs to be protected or the solution will start eating away at the edges, which could be a nice effect, but I didn't want the relic look for this piece.

I put clear packing tape on the back of each piece, burnishing well. I didn't want the solution to get behind the copper so I burnished, then burnished some more. I just snipped off the extra tape that hung past the edge.

I had some little pieces of styrofoam that I used as floats. I just doubled over another piece of tape so that both sides were sticky & stuck the copper to their little boats, pressing firmly.

I poured the ferric chloride solution into a little plastic take out container. You can use most anything plastic or glass but no metal. Your container needs to be large enough to hold your little boats & I wanted one with a lid so I could save the solution for the next time. Be sure to label the container & keep it in a safe place away from little hands & little paws.

Drop the little babies into the bath, face down, & try to take notice of the time. Notice I said "try".

After about 15 minutes, I carefully removed each piece & rinsed it off with water.to remove the tiny copper bits that had already started to fall away. The reason the piece has to be hung upside down is to allow the copper particles to go to the bottom. If the copper was design side up, the copper "etchings" would stay on top of the copper & interfere with the etching process. It may be tempting but DO NOT use anything to try to wipe the copper while you're rinsing it off. I did it & a wiped off a little of the paint. I used another little container of water to dip the pieces in to rinse off the particles. This is also when you should check to see if it's etched enough for you.

I rinsed & checked the etching process about every 10 minutes, & sooner as it got closer to what I wanted. I think I let this etch about an hour, but I'm terrible at clock watching. After it was etched to my liking, I rinsed & neutralized the etching solution with baking soda. I used an old toothbrush which also served to remove most of the paint & Sharpie marks. (Ferric chloride can also be neutralized by a 50/50 solution of ammonia & water. Just let the pieces soak in the solution for about 15 minutes.) I also dropped a little baking soda into the rinse water to neutralize the minute amount of the solution that may have come off of the copper pieces.

I unstuck it from the styrofoam boats, also popping them into the neutralized rinse water. Not so pretty, huh?

I polished with a bit of steel wool.

Ok, a little better. After a little more wooling, I applied a little LOS with a paint brush around the edges of the designs.

More polishing, a gentle dapping & a few hours in the tumbler netted me these pretties

for my Mom.

It's not a perfect etch, but I like it's organic nature.

If you don't remember, this design was the first collaboration of Mom & me for a pendant that I donated to a silent auction for Independent Animal Rescue. That pendant will always be special to me for so many reasons, but mostly because Mom was part of it's design.

This is a chemical so be sure to wear your safety goggles & gloves. No little feet or paws should be around while you're working with this.

I've used the same solution in the same container 3 times & it still seems to be etching just fine. Once the solution is spent, do not pour it down the drain . Proper disposal is a MUST. You need to check with your local Hazardous Waste Company on to how to dispose of the copper sludge that you will eventually get from etching as well as the old solution.

I hope this tutorial has been helpful. Really, it's not scary at all. It is a chemical & should be treated with respect, but I accidentally got some on my skin & it didn't burn or sting, I just washed it off with soap & water.

I'll definitely be doing more etching..maybe I'll even do a little today. I'm working on a little something for a giveaway. Details coming soon. Really. I promise it won't be another 2 months.

Have a wonderful day!!

Mortar Monday, Butter Chicken

2011-02-21T09:17:00.000-05:00

It's Monday again so I decided to do another Mortar Monday. This week features my favorite mortar & pestle. This is my little workhorse, but she only has one job......bashing garlic. Oh yeah, baby!! I searched & searched for the perfect garlic pounder & finally came across this little beauty. It's made of some type of unfinished wood so the first thing I had to do was "season" it. See a pattern here?

Every day for a week I lovingly rubbed mineral oil into the mortar & onto the pestle. Even though it was ready to use after a few "oilings" I continued to oil it once a week for a month. I still oil it as needed, but after it's conditioned, with proper care, it doesn't need it that often.

This little thing just perfect. The pestle fits my hand & the mortar is small enough that I can easily hold it while I pound the heck out of garlic. I use this mortar almost every time I cook something that needs garlic, which is a lot.

In this recipe I used it to make a paste of the ginger & garlic. I just add a little salt & start pounding & within about a minute I have a lovely, creamy paste.

This is not really a recipe for a quick dinner because of the marinade time, but perhaps it could be started in the morning & marinaded in the yogurt mixture in the fridge until dinner time that night. I've never tried it so I don't know if the acidity would effect the texture of the chicken if it was left that long.

I marinaded the chicken with a little salt, ground red chile pepper & the lemon juice.

After about 30 mintutes I added a yogurt mixture comprised of turmeric, cumin & garam masala & let it languish for about 4 hours.

I popped the garlic & grated ginger into my garlic pounder with a little kosher salt to help with the paste making.

About 60 seconds later....voila!!! A lovely garlic/ginger paste:

After some cooking & stewing & more chopping & stirring my meal was ready. I served it with basmati rice, dal & naan. I garnished quite liberally with cilantro because I like it. Even though this is a huge plate of food, (yes, I cleaned my plate) I still had 3 more servings that were packed away & popped into the freezer.

I did include the recipe this time for myself & for any of y'all who may want to give this a try. I used about 3 different recipes to come up with this one & realized that I really do need to write this down before I forgot what parts I used from which recipe.

This seems like a long recipe with a long list of ingredients, but most, if not all of the ingredients can be found in your local market & you probably already have a lot of the ingredients on hand. It isn't a complicated dish & could easily be accomplished by adding everything to the pot at the same time, but I tend to cook in "layers".

I don't know that this is an authentically Indian recipe, but this is how I do it.

Butter Chicken

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken cut into 1" chunks (I used breasts but prefer boneless skinless thighs)
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground red chili pepper

1/2 C plain yogurt, divided
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala

2 T butter
1 large onion sliced into thin wedges
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 garlic cloves, smashed into paste
2 tsp fresh ginger, smashed into paste
1 T ground coriander powder
1/4 C ground almonds (I bought unsalted, raw almonds & ground them in my coffee grinder)
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 T tomato paste

Toss chicken with lemon juice, ground red chili pepper & salt. Let this sit for about 30 minutes.
Mix 1/4 C of the yogurt with turmeric, cumin & garam masala. Stir this into the chicken & let this marinade for about 3-4 hours.

Over medium heat, heat butter in large sauce pan or pot until frothy then toss in the onions, stirring to coat the onions. If using unsalted butter, I add a little salt to help sweat the onions.

When the onions are tender, add garlic & ginger paste, stirring to keep the garlic from browning too quickly & becoming bitter.

After about a minute, stir in cinnamon & coriander powder followed by the tomato paste. Stir well to incorporate the paste into the onions & keep it from sticking to the pan.

Once that is simmering add the chicken, including the marinade. Let this simmer gently on medium-low heat until chicken has cooked through. Don't let this boil or the yogurt will break & look curdled. I don't think it effects the taste, but it doesn't look so pretty.

When the chicken is cooked, add the almonds & diced tomatoes. Cover & let this gently simmer for about 30 minutes. I think I let it simmer about an hour, but 30 minutes is fine.

Adjust the seasonings as needed, then stir in the remaining 1/4 C yogurt & heat through, being careful not to let it simmer too hard. I actually forgot to add the final 1/4 C yogurt & it was still great.

Serve this with balsamic rice.

This is not a crazy hot dish, to me, but if you're not sure, you can reduce the amount of chili powder in the first step to 1/2 tsp.

I hope you try this & I hope you like it. I'm kinda new to Indian food, but have had fun experimenting with different recipes. This one is a keeper for me & even my Southern bred Grandma loved it. I did reduce the chili powder when I made it for her.

Hope you have/had a great day.

Find Your Ace

2011-02-16T11:10:00.001-05:00

Trilogy

Art work by KJ Grigoriadis

I think as artists, or just people, we sometimes suffer from feeling like things are passing by us so quickly that we can't breathe. We wanted to be further & have done more than we have. Many goals are made & lost & we feel so frustrated by letting another year go by without realizing our dreams & hopes. We wallow in our misery & disappointment while we watch others seemingly achieve their goals & find their place with little to no effort. These "others" may be friends or family that we love & are so happy for them, but sometimes it's hard not to say "why not me"? "I've worked just as hard, but I'm still treading water, but to what end?"

This topic came up on a message board on one of the art websites that I've joined. I have so much respect for the original poster in her candor to express her true feeling for her friend's "success". I think a lot of us may have felt that way before. Wanting to be sooo happy for a friend, but disappointment in our own situation descends like a dark cloud. We find ourselves being almost catty when their success was mentioned, until we took a step back, took a breathe & remembered that, if we really cared, we had to let our friend shine in the light. Smiling through the darkness & hugging through the disappointment.

Another artist on the site, KJ, offered up this demo that she saw at a convention. I think the scenario is so brilliant on so many levels that I had to share it with you.

Poppy Bay

"At a sales demo this man gets on stage and ask for 2 ladies to come up to the stage. He sat each one down in a chair about 15 feet apart facing the audience. He then ask for 6 more people to come up from the audience and he had 3 stand behind each one of the ladies sitting in the chairs. He then gives each lady a deck of cards and instructs them to open the deck and when he tells them to flip through the cards and find the ACE. He tells each of the 2 groups of 3 standing behind the ladies to make alot of noise. One of the 3 was saying things like; that's not it, you can't find it, it's not in the deck....another one was to be saying encouraging things, another was to say hurry, hurry, find it, etc.... They were to be kinda loud creating distraction over the shoulders of the sitting ladies. He then says and when you find the ACE stand up and shout "I found it" and then I'm going to give you $10. And then he says go! They start flipping through the deck in a hurry the ones standing behind them were making lots of noise with their comments. Then the lady on the left all of the sudden stands up and shouts "I found it!" And the lady on the right stops flipping through the deck and watches as everybody is happy for the lady on the left. The speaker hands the $10 to the lady on the left. And he turns to the audience and says "it happens every time". I told these 2 ladies to flip through the deck and find the ACE. When you find it I'll give you $10 and did you see what happened when the lady on the left found her ACE? The lady on the right stopped looking for hers. She let the success of someone else get in her way. I didn't tell them "who ever finds it first I will give them $10. I said when you find the ACE stand up and shout "I found it"

So, just because your friend found her ACE don't stop looking for yours! Success is about staying focused and not letting the distractions of others get in your way. The success of others is a huge distraction but stay focused on your own endeavors. Your ACE is in the deck...."

How awesome is this & how true is it as well? So often we may get caught up in how successful this person is with their jewelry or body products or art work or.........or...anything really, that we forget to keep working & trying & striving to be the best that we can be at the time.

I'm just really starting on my art journey even though I've been doing artsy things for most of my life. I want my first faces to be perfect & moody & dark like this artist..I want my jewelry to be more dimensional like that artist & I want it now!!! Yeah, yeah, I know they've been practicing & growing into their art for years, but I want it now...like magic. I'm trying to relax & accept that most things in life are a journey, but I'm not known for my patience. I want to do it all & I want to do it well....right now.

I also wanted to share some of KJ's art work with you. Her pieces are so ethereal & calming to me. I love Poppy Bay & feel like the ocean is just beyond their papery blossoms.

"Kayla" ACEO (ATC) display pillow

I also love her idea of this ATC display pillow. I've just started making ATCs to swap & still not sure what to do with them, but how nice would it be to have one (or more) of these to display those mini pieces of art. Maybe switch them out every month or every week, depending on the season or your mood.

I hope y'all have a great day & I hope you find your Ace.

xoxo

Pam

Mortar Monday- Tacos

2011-02-14T11:31:00.002-05:00

I've posted earlier about my mortar & pestle collection. I really do love them & love using them. They each have their own purpose, well, accept for the wooden one on the left. I can't find much use for that one other than just looking pretty. The pestle (the little stick) is too rounded on the end so it doesn't really make good contact with whatever is in the mortar. The rest of them have their own jobs so I thought I'd start showcasing each of them every once in a while. I'm not saying that I don't have, and use, my food processor, coffee grinder, etc, but I do occasionally enjoy primitively crushing stuff with stone or wood.

This week will feature my molcajete as I make chicken tacos. I don't have the exact recipe because I usually don't measure anything, but this will give you a general idea.

I start off charring some jalapenos & dried quajillo peppers in my little cast iron skillet. I just popped them on the stove in the hot skillet & kept turning them until they were nicely charred all the way around.

I know..they look very charred, but it's OK. The dried guajillo was almost too black, but it wasn't bitter. The jalapenos went into plastic wrap to steam & the quajillo went into a heat safe container with a little garlic & boiling water.

After about 30 minutes soaking in the hot water, I moved the chiles to a small container & used my new immersion blender (thanks Mom). I just added a little of the soaking water to make a nice puree. No, I wasn't going to tackle the chile with my mortar. I'm a fair weather mortarer.

Meanwhile, I was boiling a couple of chicken thighs with a a few pieces of celery & carrot. When the chicken was cooked, I removed the chicken to cool & reserved the stock to use for the rice. I shredded the chicken when it was cool enough.

I removed the skin from the jalapenos & popped them into the molcajete along with the garlic & a bit of salt & started smashing. It doesn't look like a lot of peppers, but these jalapenos were hotter than usual. I added some coriander seed to the mortar to crush them up as well.

I added a can of strained tomatoes (reserving the liquid for the rice) to the mortar & got them nice & saucy.

I used salt, arbol molido powder, oregano, cumin & chile ancho powder this for these tacos. The round things in the middle are the coriander seeds which were exiled to the mortar.

I chopped up an onion & started browning it in a pot with a little oil. When the onions softened I added the chicken, gave it a stir & added the spices.

I know, blurry picture. My kitchen is really dark so when I try to take a photo without the flash it all goes awry.

I stirred the spices to keep them from burning while I let them "blossom" in the oil. I don't let them go for long before I add the mortared tomato mixture or they'll go bitter.

While the chicken simmered....

I rinsed the rice & got that started then I broke out the masa to make the tortillas.

I mixed up the dough & let it rest for a bit before I started pressing & cooking them.

The finished product.

I didn't mention the refried beans, but maybe in another post. I accessorized the tacos with queso cojita, radishes & fresh cilantro along with a squirt of lemon. Lime would have been better, but there were no limes in sight.

This made enough for me to freeze for later. I did finish off the tortillas the next morning by way of bean tacos.

Prepping & seasoning your molcajete

Molcajetes are really great for crushing things, but they take a bit of elbow grease to get them ready to use.

I recommend buying one from a Latin grocery or somewhere similar. I know they're sometimes available at home furnishing stores, but a lot of them are for decorative purposes & man made. A true molcajete is made from volcanic rock & just like a cast iron skillet, gets better with age. The ideal thing is to get a used one, but I've never, ever seen one that's already been broken in.

So, you bring home your new molcajete, remembering to get the tejolote (pestle) which is sometimes behind the counter at the market.

Soak it in water over night. Meanwhile, look up your safety goggles & some raw rice.

The next day, hopefully a nice day so you can sit outside, grab your new molcajete, safety goggles & raw rice.

Get comfortable.

Take a hand full or two of raw rice & start grinding.

You'll soon see why I recommend that you be outside, donning safety goggles.

Rice flies out of this thing faster than you could imagine!!!

When you've finished crushing the rice, pour it out & do it again.

Do this about 5 or 10 or 20 more times until the rice is no longer a putrid shade of gray.

You may have to rinse the molcajete while crushing the rice to get rid of the rice dust & the grit.

Failure to complete the aforementioned steps could net you a mouth full of grit when you use this.

Once you've finished "ricing" the molcajete, rinse it out (no soap) using a vegetable brush or some sort of stiff brush.

Grab some garlic & cumin seeds, salt, coriander seeds & smash the heck out of them in your new molcajete.

You're almost there.

Let the paste sit over night, rise it out really well & you're ready to roll.

These are made of volcanic rock so they are heavy. I have to use both hands to pick up the molcajete I used for this recipe. I have a smaller one that I use more often but it can still be a struggle.

I hope you've enjoyed my first installment of mortar Monday.

Sorry for the really bad photos & the even worse directions, but this is how I cook. A little bit of this & a little bit of, but I'll try to do better the next time & actually include measurements.

Whew!!! This was an obnoxiously long post, huh?

Thanks for hanging in!!

xoxo

Pam

My Little Snow Bunny

2011-02-06T11:54:00.002-05:00

Just thought I'd drop in a couple of pictures of Dakota in the snow over Christmas. I know she's not so little, but she thinks she when she tried to crawl onto my lap. She's just a 44 pound puppy. I don't think she's ever been able to play in this much snow & she had a blast. I tried, but couldn't keep up with her. Luckily her 2 best friends, Sadie & Banjo romped over to play. They were too speedy for me to get a good shot of them, but here's my girl.

Aaawww

The little white speck in the sky is part of a flock of snow geese.

These little fellows love Mom as she keeps the feeders full.

I hope this finds you all safe & warm.

Stumps Begone

2011-01-28T14:04:00.003-05:00

Last Fall I had to cut down several little trees. The trees had sprung up from my little gardener squirrels cache & had grown too close to the house.They weren't large trees, but large enough to leave annoying stumps in my future flower beds. I wanted to find a way to get rid of the stumps without chemicals & a lot of work ('cause I don't like it so much) & stumbled across this method. I don't know if it's going to work, but thought I'd try it & see what happens.

Soooo, I drilled holes into the stumps. I probably drilled the holes about an inch to two inches deep & pretty close together without running the holes together.

My neighbors didn't even look twice at me when they saw me drilling holes in a tree stump, then taking pictures. I guess they're used to seeing me hammering away on the curb.

I filled the holes with salt. I happened to have rock salt (the kind for ice cream), but I'm sure other salt would work. I tried not to get a lot of the salt on the ground around the stump because I do want to be able to plant flowers in the area. I also read that sugar works, but I'm going to try salt for right now.

I heated some water in my kettle & poured the hot water into the holes, trying not to flood out all of the salt. A lot of the salt quickly melted so I may go back, add more salt, then just pour in cold water. The last step is adding a little hat to the top to keep in the moisture & to let the bacteria get started.

This was the most tedious art of the whole operation. I used a piece of plastic bag & cotton twine. It was a bit fussy, but I didn't have any rubber bands around so I had to make due. I think I'll invest in some rubber bands the next time because I ended up chasing little plastics bits around my yard. I wish I would have thought to get those little shower hats that people put on top of bowls for storage because they would be perfect & easy to take on & off. You know what I'm talking about...right?

I haven't peeked under the plastic to see what's happening under there, but the plastic is still foggy. I think that means that there's some kind of heat going on so I've just left it alone. Also, I don't feel like chasing plastic right now....maybe tomorrow. I'll keep checking & let y'all know how it works.

Speaking of working.........

Come on....really!!!!!?????? That's not for you, that's for the little birdies. You're the reason I'm drilling & salting & wrapping & saying ugly words.

Sorry for the gratuitous trash can shot. It was trash, yard waste & recycle day so all of the soldiers were lined up on the curb.

Happy weekend!!

Score, Score & Some Art

2011-01-25T15:57:00.000-05:00

I went to The Scrap Exchange a few days ago & totally scored!! I got everything in the above picture for about $22.00. There are 7 skeins of nice wool yarn, a new bottle of Folk Art Artist Pigment paint, 4 (3 not pictured) bins that were originally used for something, but will be perfect to hold magazines, 15 new chicken boxes that would be perfect for me to alter & use for an ornament exchange I'm going to participate in next Christmas. On the bottom is a sweet little art journal for me to use when I finish my current one (composition book). The Scrap Exchange is a non-profit reuse center that has great "stuff", especially is you like mixed media.

I also scored with my first ATC swap. Our theme this month was Frida Kahlo. I received my wonderful ATCs yesterday & now can't wait for next month's swap. Here are the ones I sent to my partner:

I like using playing cards for ATCs because they are the perfect size & the corners are already rounded. I actually picked up this mismatched deck of cards on a trip to Scrap Exchange for about .50 cents. The lighting is really bad in these pictures so the color is washed out. I added some tiny little flowers to her hair & little seed bead along the bottom, on top of the paper I sewed down.

This one was inspired by Frida's painting Broken Column & her quote "Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?". I used an old cross-stitch pattern & sketched out a dress form for her body. I tore it down the center, then stapled it back together.

This is what I received:

Are they not just gorgeous??? There is so much texture & color in these little pieces of artwork that I could stare at them for hours. I didn't have a lot of embellishments to use on art, but after seeing these, I'm definitely going to Scrap Exchange to pick up more bits & pieces. Where else could I buy one puzzle piece or one computer keyboard letter?

I just met up with a good friend of mine to exchange Christmas gifts. She have me this great box of bits & bobs (buttons, beads, wood figures, etc) & I love it. She knows me so well. I came home & dove into the box pulling out every piece & thinking of all of the lovely things I can garnish with these lovelies. For her, I made a pair of fingerless gloves & made a journal for her. She's writing a book so I thought I'd make a little something to carry in her purse that she could jot down her ideas, or reflections, or grocery list....whatever she wants.

The front & back cover are made from a canvas for ink jet printers that I painted, then gessoed, then sanded, then gessoed, then painted again. There is a coating on this canvas that gets sticky when water is added, so when I added water to start working the background it got mucky & gooey. It was an experiment & now I know. Well, once the canvas was properly defiled, I collaged a bit, painted a likeness of my friend & sewed on the fabric for the spine cover (don't know what it's called) onto the front. The fabric on the back is just glued, but could have been sewed, had I planned ahead.

I used a cracker box for the inside of the cover to make it a little more sturdy (sorry, no pictures) & covered that with scrapbooking paper. For the inside pages, I used reclaimed papers from notebooks, old ledgers, resume paper & an envelope made a couple of pockets.

I made this for a dear friend of mine who has a thing for owls. He's the kind of man with professorly tastes (maybe because he is a professor) so I wanted to stay away from the cutesy, whimsical owls. I hope I did OK......he seemed to like it.

I used a piece of a cardboard box & collaged vintage pages for the background. I painted the owl with watercolor crayons & acrylic, then cut out his tummy & added scrapbooking paper before I collaged him onto the branch. I used tissue paper on top of the moon to give it a little texture & before it was all said & done, used just about everything I had in my art arsenal (artsenal? lol) before I completed this. I used paper, matte medium, watercolors, acrylics, oil pastels, graphite & pen. Whew!!

Here's one of my girls. She's created with watercolor crayons, acrylics, graphite & pen & ink. I've cut her out of the watercolor paper because I think I'm going to collage her onto wood & maybe add some leaves & flowers to her hair. She reminds me of one of hippy chick friends, so maybe this will be a gift to her.

Just a couple more fun little goodies that I did while I was at Mom's over Christmas. She gave me a little set of acrylics & call I had was a sketch book & watercolor pad. I cut up the box that the pots of paints came in & tried my hand of "pulled" art. Mystelle calls it pulled art because you start applying paint to the surface with a brush, credit card, or whatever.

I used a piece of cardboard to smear the paint onto the cardboard. I stood back to see what was popping out of the paint. I saw this lady standing in her village. At first the poodle only looked like a giant fire hydrant, but finally I saw him. I also saw a giant flower in a barrel to go along with her big doggie. It's a very rough painting, but I like it. I'm finding that I really dig messy art with not realistic faces & smeared graphite & paint.

I tried pulled art again & got a little stumped. I think I work better in portrait than landscape because there's a big empty spot in this one that needs....something. I know it's not finished so I'll keep working on it.

I really enjoy painting on cardboard. For me, there's no pressure of "ruining" more costly paper or canvas, it's almost always available (& free) & it's also reusing something in a different manner than was initially intended. I've done that with a lot of things. I've turned a garden plaque into a clock, windows into candle holders, shutters into CD racks. I have a lot of old things that I'm going to convert into new things. I've got spindles, finials, etc. I hope to get started on those when it gets a little warmer then I can show you before & after & steps in between.

I haven't forgotten about the copper etching tutorial I promised. It's coming up soon, I just had to get back into the swing of things after the holidays.

I hope y'all have a warm & cuddly day.

Out & about & duck butts

2011-01-14T12:01:00.003-05:00

We're already halfway into the first month of a new year...can you believe it? We've had a couple of "weather events" since Christmas, but still plucking along. I went back home to visit Mom & Grandma & ended up staying a couple of weeks. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have such a wonderful & loving family, small as it is. I was able to chauffeur Mom & Grandma to Pizza Inn for the buffet on Wednesday night & have to say that I haven't eaten dinner that early since we went there over Thanksgiving. I loved how everyone "spoke" (that means a head nod or brief wave in Southern terminology) when they walked into the restaurant whether they knew us or not. I loved the amount of "ribbing" the men would give each other with the familiarity that only comes when you've known each other for decades.

I grew up in a small Southern village. Even though I spent most of my growing up years in Ohio, I'm still a Southern girl. We moved to Ohio with my Mom's second husband, who soon adopted me, but my summers were spent with my Grandparents in the same house that they moved into a few years after they married. We moved back to NC the summer before my senior year in high school & lived in a house that was about 100 yards from the house I lived in as a baby. The house is also just around the corner from Grandma & Granddaddy's (in the South, it's pronounced Grenddiddy). :)

I wanted to show you a little of my home. It encompasses areas miles from my little village, but is still so familiar to me. I took a little drive while I was home for Thanksgiving & I'm going to share what I saw & why I love it so.

I took the drive across the bridge to Edenton, a small town located on the Albemarle Sound.

This is the main drag in Edenton. The brick sidewalks lead into the little shops that line the tiny two block strip. This is one of the few existing downtown areas that is still bustling with everything from a movie theater, to a coffee shop, office supply & even a hardware store where one can purchase anything from crab pots to a new TV to plumbing supplies. Byrum Hardware is connected to the gift shop which is connected to the little craft shop. While I was in there (right after Thanksgiving) one of the ladies on the craft side was steadily making bows while taking calls for people wanting even more bows. This is the kind of town where one can just call & order bows, or floral arrangements & pay when you get there, no deposit necessary.

The main drag leads to the waterfront area, which is right behind where I was standing to take the downtown photo. There's a nice concrete pier to stroll on while you can take a look around at the homes adorning the bay.

The little brick building on the right side of the picture is the police station. While I was there, several working men pulled up in their trucks to enjoy lunch on the waterfront.

I walked to the other side of the park to the lighthouse that has been relocated & now being renovated. This originally stood in Plymouth, NC, but was moved here via barge as it's reminiscent of the old lighthouses that used to reside on the banks of the rivers & sound.

Once they complete the interior renovations the lighthouse will be situated over the water, but will have to wait until funds are available.

I looked around & saw this charming restaurant. I'm gonna have to check this place out because I'm so curious at to what is at the end of that little shady path, but it'll have to wait until another time......I have other lunch plans & must not keep my fellow lunchers waiting.

One last look at some of the cannons on the waterfront before I move on.

I head out of town to get a hot dog at The Tastee Freeze. No signs of my lunch guests as I headed inside to place my order, but I knew they'd show up & meet me at the concrete table beside the canal.

I settle down to enjoy my hot dog & onion rings when I see my guests arriving.

These little ducks have raw honesty. They ain't playas trying to make you believe that they're there for anything other than the food. They remain by the shoreline until they hear the paper crumple, signifying the end of my meal. They waddle up with full expectation of getting paid for their appearance. Once they finish their lunch, it's nothing but duck butts for you!!

This is across the street from The Freeze where you can travel via boat for your Sunday ice cream. The larger body of water beyond the little canal is a small bay leading to the Albemarle Sound.

Not a bad place for noshing on a hot dog, huh?

Still headed out of town I stop by one of the marinas to look at the purdy boats.

Last stop before crossing the bridge to get on "my" side of the river. I stop to take a look at the old bridge turned fishing pier. Most of the draw bridge was taken down when the new high rise bridge was built, but they left a section on the Edenton side, next to the boat ramp, for fishing & just looking around.

The wooden bridge branches out from a little cabin housing bathrooms & a little resting area to the actual bridge. Little ramps were built along the length of the bridge to elevate wheel chairs for easier fishing or just....looking. This is a shot of the boat ramps area & the cypress trees stretching towards the sun.

I had to check out the new boat ramps, after "speaking" to another workers taking lunch by the water side (can't be rude to a stranger). There used to just be one little ramp here with a pier than was a bit worn, now it's nice & fresh at only a few years old.

Driving under the new bridge takes me to a somewhat newly developed area. What used to be...well, I'm not sure exactly what used to be there, I think it was a boat company. Anyway, it's now home to a beautiful restaurant, Mac's Back Door Oyster Bar & Grill & Wharf Landing, a condo & private marina. Mac's had the restaurant festooned for Christmas.

Mac's also offers dockside service so you can call ahead & they'll bring your meal to you dockside so you don't have to worry about getting your land legs back.

In the background is Wharf Landing. A very nice community of condos, but I had to show you the fueling up station, properly garnished & ready for the holidays. My gas station doesn't have the pretty picket fence. I decided to spare you the pump out station, but I can assure you that it's a very pretty place for doing what you do in such a place.

That's my little field trip for now. I know this is an absurdly loooong post & bless you if you've made it this far. I just wanted you to see a little bit of home for me. I know I live in Durham & I do love Durham, but there's no place like home.

The end.

Hope y'all have a glorious weekend.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

2010-12-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to drop a quick note I jet out to do some last minute things. I wish you all a warm & safe holiday, hopefully spent with loved ones. I'm almost ready to call everything "done". Christmas really isn't about tons of "perfect" gifts. It's about so many other things, but sometimes we seem to forget & get caught up in the frenzy. I'm planning on just letting go & give all the love I can to friends & family.

I'll be giving a little blog love after the holidays. I'm going to post a tutorial on how I made a few etched copper pieces & I think a small giveaway. I'm not sure what I'll be giving away, so I'll ponder it & try to come up with something that someone may like.

Until then, enjoy your friends & family.

Once upon a time........

2010-12-20T11:20:00.003-05:00

This year I decided to "do" a handmade Christmas. Money is very tight so I knew I had to make do with the things that I already had, so no budget busting trips to the craft store. Luckily, I'm a bit of a pack rat who used to enjoy lots of different crafting so I dug into my craft trunk & had a look around.

Oh boy!!! It had been so long since I'd looked inside the old trunk that it was like shopping because I'd forgotten why I bought all of that "stuff". (I'm still not sure what I was planning on doing with a gazillion wooden balls.) My recent free art class with Tam, aka Willowing, opened my eyes to mixed media & I really had a lot of media to mix.

I've knitted a few fingerless gloves using some yarn that I already had or that Grandma gifted me while I was home for Thanksgiving. I also knitted a hat for an ex-neighbor as a "Thank You" for everything he did while he was living next door. I'm a new knitter, so nothing complicated.

Aaaanyway............ Grandmas are always so difficult when it comes to gift giving. Mine doesn't need anything & if she does, she goes out & buys it. I didn't want to revert back to jewelry (though I did with Mom) so I had to come up with something different. I decided to make a collage for her to hang on her wall. I wasn't sure about the direction I was going to approach the collage, but as it turned out, it pretty much made itself.

When I was home for Thanksgiving I collected a few old photos & a few letters that Granddaddy had written to Grandma while he was in the Navy. I scanned the photos & tried to fix them, but soon gave up because I'm no whiz with photo editing.

I came up with the title, then started telling the story.

I included pics of my Uncle Eddie, Mom, on the bottom left is Mom holding me when I was 3 days old (look at that head of hair) & me on the bottom right.

I used a stretched canvas & matte medium to adhere copies of his letters to the background. I smeared white paint on top of the letters to obscure them a little & push them into the background a little more.

I wanted to include parts of each of their lives, while they were apart & while they were married.

Granddaddy was drafted into the Navy while he & Grandma were dating & spent his time aboard the USS Brinkley Bass. I found an old photo of the ship & included it here, below a picture of Granddaddy. A friend gave me a box of old jewelry so I snipped the back off of an earring & glued it above the "Hope" ticket that I distressed.

This is my Mom's brother who died when he was 22. He was very much "snips & snails" kinda little boy so I had to include part of the quote.

My Granddaddy owned & ran a general store so I included the name of his store along with a few buttons as a little nod to Grandma's abilities as a seamstress.

The flowers were pretty & added more dimension to the piece, but Grandma also used to have beautiful flower gardens. She always had fresh flowers in her house & supplied flowers for her Eastern Star chapter & sometimes the church.

Mom was a little lady so "sugar & spice" was very appropriate for her as well.

I glued an old keyhole cover that I had with the intent of gluing a key on Granddaddy's side, but didn't have a pretty key. I wanted to convey the "key to her heart" thing, but couldn't quite pull it off. I still like it, though.

I made the "Family" embellishment by using rubber stamps to stamp into Sculpey, then distressing.

The piece still felt disjointed so I added the pearls to pull everything together, but there still seemed to be an empty space at the bottom.
Granddaddy & Grandma used to go dancing almost every week, so I made up a dance card with some of Granddaddy's favorite songs & forged his name to all of the dances. I distressed it, glued it down & I love it.

Hanging it put me in a quandary, until I looked through a bag of hardware that I'd kept when I remodeled my house. I found the painted "thing" that was used to wrap the string from the blinds to keep them up & thought it was perfect. It was already painted & shabby & it resembles a cleat used to secure boats, etc so I screwed it into the top. I'm going to look for some old chain to hook around the "cleat".

I didn't have boxes to wrap the knitted items so I made these. I got this great idea from Mystelle at Little Glimpses. Mystelle & Tam at Willowing have been so inspirational to me I can't stand it. It seems like they've opened a door such that I can't keep up with all of the ideas & things I want to do.

For these little gift pouches I used grocery bags, pages ripped out of a phone book, fabric & paper. I used a glue stick to quickly stick the items down to the bags, then struggled with my sewing machine to free stitch everything down, then I sewed up the sides. The bottom left is just a grocery bag wrapped around the item & tied up with butchers twine. He's a no nonsense kinda guy, so no frills for him.

If you've made it this far, you're a trooper & thanks for hanging in with me. I'm currently working on an owl collage & a pair of copper etched earrings for Mom so will post pics when I get them completed.

I'm also going to post a tutorial for copper etching.... keep an eye out for that.

I hope you all are able to gear down & enjoy the the holiday season. I know that everything seems to be rushed as the days tick away, but just slow down, take a breath & look around.

I know we all want to find that "perfect" gift for those special people, but don't forget to take the time to enjoy those special people.

Snow & Sleet & Freezing Rain...Oh My!!

2010-12-16T12:15:00.000-05:00

We've had an unusually cold "fall" this year. We had a tiny bit of snow a couple of weeks ago & had a little more this morning, but our winter wonderland was quickly replaced by our more typical sleet & freezing rain. Even though our previously confection-topped landscape now more closely resembles mud pie, I was able to capture some of the beauty still quiveringly clinging onto whatever it can.

Nature's tinsels dripping from a cedar tree.

Dogwood buds encapsulated in their frozen shell.

Hopefully, the ice will soon succumb to the warming temps & no power lines will assaulted.

No power + cold weather = no fun

I hope you're all safe & warm.

Ode to My Willow Oak

2010-12-13T15:11:00.000-05:00

We've had good times & we've had bad. I remember how you stole my heart when I first saw you. You stood tall & sheltered everything beneath your wide, strong boughs. As the days & years have past, you've gotten weaker, but remained a haven for all who needed refuge. Today we said goodbye for the last time. I watched as your diseased limbs were removed & taken away.

I mourned for the homes that were lost as I saw the last of you leave.

You'll soon nourish the ones that come after you, so you will continue to live.

A little too sentimental over a tree that had to be removed? Probably, but I've been working on a collage for my Grandma using old photos & letters that my Granddaddy wrote to her while he was in the Navy so I'm feeling a bit tender & weepy. My Granddaddy's been gone for over a decade, but I still miss him so. He was the best man I've ever known & like the majestic oak, he was always our shelter from the storm. I'm so gad that he & Grandma picked each other so that I could have both of them. They also gave me my Mom, who is the shining light at the end of the tunnel when I feel so lost & alone.

Hey Bunny!!

2010-12-09T08:43:00.002-05:00

My yard bunny.

I have a real one that doesn't like so much that I've been cutting trees & clearing the underbrush.

One drawback of not having a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner is not having all of the yummy leftovers for sammiches & pot pies & all of those other wonderful things that can be made from the myriad of dishes usually gracing a holiday table. Friday night I decided to make dinner for Mom & Grandma, if Gran was willing to try something new. I was surprised when she accepted the invitation for a couple of reasons. Grandma, like most, I assume, feels that she has made it this far in life without trying Indian food so why try it now & it was Friday night...her dancing night. She still hasn't made it back to the dance floor since her misstep while doing the Electric Slide which left her with a broken hip (now hip replacement) & a broken shoulder, but she still goes to "tap her toe & drink Coke-Cola".

I decided to make Butter Chicken, naan bread & rice. Butter Chicken is a really good Indian dish that's not too spicy, not too curry-y, but a nice little mix of spices that mingle together to make a sauce that's just complex enough to be pleasing on the palette. It's barely enough heat to bring a little warmth to your tongue without having to reach for something to ease the tingle.

I first made the naan bread & while that was resting I marinaded the chicken.

Mom doesn't have a tandoor oven (who does?) so I cooked them on top of the stove on a screaming hot griddle. There was some smokeage going on...enough that it brought Mom to the kitchen to open windows & doors (sorry Mom)..tee hee. Anyway, it worked pretty well, I just should have made sure that that the griddle was well scrubbed & well seasoned before using because it was a new cast iron griddle that hadn't been "broken in" yet. Well Honies, I broke it in alright.

The naan bread was just plain, no garlic, but I think they turned out well.

I only have this picture of the Butter Chicken cooking in the skillet. When I make it again I'll take more photos as I go along.

I served it with plain rice, but would have been better with basmati rice & maybe a little dal on the side, but wanted to ease Grandma into the whole Indian experience. I was pleasantly surprised that Grandma loved the dish. Grandma is a good sport with trying most of the things that I make, but is pretty transparent when it comes to somethings that doesn't she like. If it's something she'd rather not have again, her feedback typically starts with "Weeeeellllll........" spoken in her soft accent. Only a true Southerner can drawl a one syllable word into one which lingers on the lips long after the first consonant dissipates. I knew it was a hit when she told me how much she liked it as I walked her out to her car.

It was the first time I'd made Butter Chicken, but will be making it again. I'll take more piccies during the process & post the recipe the next time..at least I'll try. I'm not great with recipes because I really don't measure anything, but if you'd like, I'll try to be a good girl & measure everything so you can try it too.

Y'all stay warm & cozy.

Pam

Boy howdy, that's a lot of bugs!!!!

2010-12-07T09:10:00.002-05:00

I returned home a few days ago from a wonderful little respite from the mean streets of the Dirty D. I went back home & spend lots of time with Mom & Grandma. I came back feeling more balanced & more loved than I did when I left & also with the habit of waving to everyone I meet while driving around. In the country, everyone waves because everyone knows everyone else. If they don't "know" you, they know you must be Miss Venell's granddaughter because she was coming into "town" from Durham for Thanksgiving. As much as I love Durham, I do love my original home place. I wish I could somehow move them closer to each other, yet keep them separate...make sense?

I spent a lot of time with my Grandma talking about old times & her "holding" my hand while I tried knitting with circular needles for the first time. Even though she's a leftie, she was a huge help & laughed at me when I asked her how to get the stitch marker out of the knitted piece. Hey, I know I can't be the only one who didn't grasp the concept of a stitch marker. Anyway, she stitched up a seamed 1030's hat that I made & inspected another cap that I'd made for my neighbor.

We had Thanksgiving at Mom's house as Grandma's house was waaay too far to travel (about 150 yards). We usually have our holiday dinners at Mom's because it's easier for Grandma & for us, I think. Grandma always brings several dishes ...especially dessert. We rarely have traditional turkey. This year we had "backbone", but it wasn't really backbone, Mom used riblets because backbone wasn't readily available at the grocery she was in, but salted them as if they were backbones & they were yummy.

I guess I should maybe explain. I'm from Eastern NC where a lot of the food cooked is the same as it was 50 years ago......typical "soul" food. Pork backbone is, quite literally, the backbone of a piggie. As you can guess, it's mostly bones, but because the backbone is right above the loin, the meat that is there, is very tender. Mom salted down the riblets...I don't mean salted them, I mean salted them down. Lots of salt (non iodized, please) on each side of the meat & stack the meat in layers in a glass or plastic container. Don't be prissy with the salt. I asked Mom how much salt she used & she said that she didn't use the whole box of salt. That's how much salt needs to be lavished onto the unsuspecting piggie. The container sits (covered) in the refrigerator for a couple of days. The meat turns a little gray, but that means that it's started to "cure" After a couple of days, (in this case, the night before Thanksgiving), rinse off the salt & soak the meat in a container of water, changing the water several times to leech out the salt that you spent days getting into the meat.

The meat is then, simply boiled in a pot of water on top of the stove.

Potatoes & cornmeal dumplings can be added, but Grandma had made the collards & cooked the taters & dumplins for us. Of course, no Southern table is complete without a bottle of pepper vinegar.

Sorry I don't have pictures of the other Southern staples, collards, taters, cornmeal dumplins & baked sweet potatoes.

Here's Mom's mac & cheese:

Crunchy, crunchy on top, but creamy & cheesy under the surface. Not the typical mac & cheese, but my favorite. Just a few ingredients & I think it's actually less bad for you than others...maybe not.

Potato salad that Mom had in the fridge:

Holla to the sweet potatoes in the back. Yes, they're just baked in the oven & served on the table in their skins.

Grandma's cake...oh yeah. She usually makes chocolate meringue pie, but I forgave her this time.

When I was driving back on Saturday I ran into a huge herd....pack(?) maybe swarm, of bugs in Wake Forest. What in the world???? Further down the road, the bugs turned onto snow. By the time I arrived in Durham, the lawns & roadside were heavily dusted with this rare confection. I can't remember the last time we've had snow this early because for us to even get snow is a bit crazy. It would have been less of an anomaly had it been a giant swarm of bugs. If you've been to North Carolina in the summer, you'll know what I mean.

I hope you all had a great week. Now, back to gift making. Times are hard, so I'm making a lot of my gifts this year....I guess I should get to it, but I have a few jewelry orders that I need to get wrapped up. I have most of the designs sketched out, which is something that can sometimes take me a while. I'll post my things as I get them completed, plus I have little sneaks of my home to show you.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-25T09:10:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of my fellow Americans a very Happy Thanksgiving. Even in these hard times, when it doesn't seem that there's a lot to be thankful for, we can always find something. I can't express how grateful I am that I have the wonderful loving family I have in my Mom & Grandma. I'm excited to see them & spend time with them & cook up something. As usual, we're not having the typical "turkey" Thanksgiving but something yummy nonetheless. I plan on taking lots of pics & sharing them with you. I hope you all have a great time doing whatever it is that you choose to do.

((hugs))

Pam

A Day in the Life

2010-11-18T11:27:00.001-05:00

It's another beautiful day in the Ole North State & I'm here in front of my computer...well, why break traditions. We've had a little rain this week which has caused a blizzard of colors to drop from the trees. My truck was covered so I decided to take him out & let the wind brush the adornments from his face. My first stop was to see Tyrone for a quick holiday cut & for him to cover the natural "highlights" in my hair that keep popping up with more frequency as the years (maybe weeks) go by. Ty gives me great cuts & color (for a fraction of what I'd been paying) & who doesn't like to be called Princess & kissed on the head when they leave?? I'll take it.

Then I ventured over to Whole Foods for a few bulk items, then to the yarn shop to get the skein of yard that I bought last week rolled into a ball. It's so much easier to have them do it than to try to make Dakota hold out her little paws while I do it.

Then off I go to look at things I can't buy, but like to hold. Why is it that when I don't have money I see sooo many things that I want, but when I do have a little extra, I can't find anything?

I stopped by a local establishment to see a few friends & to do a little art. I love this place because I can go in with paper, pencils or yarn & knitting needles & do whatever I like to do. Drink juice or water...or maybe something a little more recreational, & catch up with the news. I chatted with friends & ended up with a couple more commissions for jewelry for Christmas.

I came home & noticed a big pile of limbs & branches in my yard. Aaawww, Earl had been here while I was gallivanting & had cut down the 3 trees in the front & had filled up my yard bin. I knew he was going to come by & do it, but wanted to be here to help him. He did great job & I think I'm going to have to throw in something a little extra in exchange for his help along with the necklace...I wonder if his wife wears earrings?

I worked on the last assignment for the online art course I'm taking here then realized that I had accomplished more than I had planned except for the most important. I'd forgotten to get my little sweetie more food. Poor, little, neglected puppy.

(BTW, she's laying on a flannel sheet, a wool blanket & her down duvet, yes, it's her down duvet.)

Well, I did have enough food for a couple more days, but must run out to get more today. I don't want her calling anyone & telling on me.

Here's my little angel painting.

Still practicing, still have a long ways to go.

Have a great day!!

Pam

Messenger Bag & Project Love

2010-11-16T14:02:00.001-05:00

I don't know how many of you are aware of the wonderful community that exists on Youtube. I thought Youtube was full of tutorials & the funny things that someone's dog did at the latest family reunion until I stumbled upon this certain group of vloggers. They have an annual party (called South Tube) where they gather, chat, eat, dance & just basically enjoy looking at each other in person instead of through a computer monitor. It seems like a family reunion. Aaaanyway. I "met" this great person named Beth. I've mentioned her before but it was a while ago, but felt like it was time to do it again.

A few weeks ago I received a package. I opened the package only to see the coolest most awesome messenger bag ever!!! I'd been wanting one to carry around my plethora of various notebooks, sketch books, cabochons..whatever, because I'd been walking to nearby places instead of driving. I carried my cabochons, my sketchbook (in case I get a brilliant idea for a new piece)& all of the other goodies that I like in my purse, which wrecked havoc on some of my purses. I had drawn out a quick pattern for a messenger bag using old jean, but then I got this from Beth:

It's really lovely!! It's soft & huuuge!!!! Here's what in my messenger bag right now.

That's my 11x14 drawing pad, watercolor crayons, watercolor pencils, pencil case & that's my art journal peeking from behind my crayons. It's only a composition book so I haven't really changed the cover other than adding some kraft paper to the front. I really like the size, so I'll use the cover of one for my next journal, but something more substantial for the pages. Notebook paper really doesn't like a lot of paint & water.

I love, love, love, my messenger bag & am sorry I didn't show y'all how wonderfully she lined the inside with nice little pockets on the side. It's so well made & Beth's finish work on her pieces are very professional & sturdy.

I mentioned the Youtube community earlier & wanted to take a moment to tell you about Project Love. It's something that was started in this little YT community to help others who were having a hard time. Sometimes the funds go to help someone who couldn't pay their power bull one month sometine it's to havelp a family have a holiday dinner. Earlier this year they arranged an online bingo game with the proceeds going towards getting someone a wheelchair lift for their van. There was also a little "drive" to help some get schools clothes & supplies for their little ones. The holidays are coming up & there are some who have had a hard year, through layoffs or illnesses that may not be able to sit down & have a nice holiday dinner or buy a few pressies for the kids.

Here's a way that you can help someone while picking up a few handmade presents for yourself or for someone else. Beth sews the cutest makeup bags, camera bags, stockings, bucket totes, aprons...just about anything you can imagine & sells them on her weebly site for very affordable prices. Seriously...you have to go take a look. She has several sections, so you must check them all out & you can even pick out the fabric that you like from the looong list of fabrics that she has. There must be well over 50 fabric choices. I'm not saying that that she has a "fabric" problem...I'm just saying.

coffee cozy

fleece hat & Beth's purdy face

I could go on & on about how some of her fabrics are made from Hawaiian fabric (sorry Beth, I don't remember what you call them), or that you may get a bag that's been lined with Japanese kimono fabric (if she still has it), but you should just go check her out.

travel set

camera bag

She has a separate section for her Project Love items, but be sure to look at all of the purdies she's made. I know you know someone who would loooooove some of her handmade things & if you're nice, maybe Beth will run through her yard with your items, gathering all of the the nice warm Hawaiian air she can before she seals them in the box.

makeup brush roll (fabric is no longer available :(

Thanks again, Beth!!!

Beth's Weebly site for the goodies
Beth's Youtube channel where she sometimes takes up for a ride along while she meanders around Hawaii.

I'm headed over there now to start my Christmas list.

Another Friday

2010-11-12T10:13:00.002-05:00

Friday has rolled back around, very quickly, it seems. I don't have any special plans, just working around the house & continuing my battle to gain control of my yard. It's been a pretty uneventful week, but that can be a good thing. Excitement isn't always positive, sometimes bland & boring is a good thing. I'm still struggling with the time change, but I think most everyone is. How can one hour be so disruptive?? I guess we're more of a creature of habit than we realize.

Last weekend I went to visit with a friend of mine. He lives in the same town & we do see each other quite often, but it's been a long time since we've something as "everyday" as grocery shopping. I stopped by his house on Sunday & went to the grocery store with him. He's a total man in the grocery store so it was go in, get what's on the list & get out. I think I actually went over to visit with his cute little doggies & hang out at his house for a bit. Do you blame me?

This is his garden shed. I think it's almost as big as my house, or maybe I should say that my house is just a little larger than his garden shed.

Here's his front yard. As you can see, he doesn't spend a lot of time behind a lawn mower. That great sculpture was made by his step son. I'll have to get a better photo of that one & some of the other artwork he's created.

That's his house at the very back. It's kinda hard to see from this pic, but it's embedded into Duke Forrest & just about a mile from Duke University.

I told you I would post a pic of the Christmas cards that I had made so far, so here they are.

I had fun making them with bits & pieces of things I had around the house. I'm no card maker, but I enjoyed making these. It's good to have something that you can knock out when you're feeling creative, but don't have the patience for a 2-3 hour project.

This is one of my favorites......I don't know why. It's not the typical Christmas colors, but I think it's the pine cone border at the bottom.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Hump Day

2010-11-10T11:28:00.005-05:00

I haven't really created anything new in the jewelry department in a while & I thought that it was because my muse had run away (again). Well, he/she has been wrecking havoc on the silver market. I really haven't kept up with the spot price of silver, but decided that I needed to send in some of my scraps & order a little more silver wire & silver sheet. I go strolling (not literally, I just like to use an active action verb to describe me sitting on my booty & looking at the computer) over to one of my favorite silver suppliers. Holy what????? Wow!! $28.00 an ounce for silver?? That's just the spot price, I still have to pay for the fabrication which takes it to about $32.00 an ounce. I was going to order a small sheet of silver & it would cost about $115 for that one little sheet. I remember ordering the same size sheet maybe a year ago & it cost me about $40 for the sheet. I don't see the price of silver going down any time soon, so I'm going to hold onto my scraps for a little longer before sending them in. It wasn't that terribly long ago that silver was down to $8.50 an ounce...maybe 2 years ago. Did I stock up?? Noooooooo, because that's not what I do. That would require forethought & planning, something I've never been accused of abusing. I hope it doesn't get to $50 an ounce like some are predicting, but it keeps on marching upwards.

Not much happening around here. I've been doing a little more yard work & have managed to fill up my yard waste bin every week for the past 3 weeks. As the weeks go by, I'm slowly exposing my house & I think now people can actually tell that there's a house behind the nandina, azaleas, squirrel landscaped trees. Hopefully I'll get 2-3 more trees taken down this week because a friend of mine is going to bring over his bow saw to help. He told me not to try it with my little miter saw....I think he's afraid I'm going to hurt myself, then he'd feel all bad & everything. I don't mind, I managed to get him to accept a gift of jewelry for his wife in exchange. I think he wants me to do a teddy bear necklace for her, so I've been working on a little design. I don't want the standard teddy bear silhouette, but want to keep it somewhere between traditional & well....my style. What good is making a teddy bear if I can't take a torch to it?

A dear friend of mine took me to dinner last night. It was a local seafood place & they have $5 appetizers on Tuesday nights. I had the mussels & the beef carpaccio. The mussels were really nice in a chile & lime broth....perfect for bread dipping. The mussels were cooked nicely as well. I was very disappointed in the beef carpaccio, especially after the accolades I'd read in various reviews. It was very, very bland & seemed to be missing the acidic element that was necessary for seasoning & balance. It looked to just be a little pile of lettuces, parm cheese and a couple of onion ringlets placed onto the beef with an herb olive oil drizzled around the plate. It desperately needed the balsamic glaze as was mentioned on the menu. Maybe it did have the glaze & my palate is not delicate enough to pick it out, but it tasted like lettuce, onion & raw beef with herbed olive oil. I had eaten there before & was pleased, but this one just fell short for me. Although not on the $5 menu, the next time I'll order the mac & cheese with crabmeat. I think that would make my tummy happy.

I'm still enjoying my art therapy class. This week wasn't as hard as the previous ones & I get to make a fun stuffed monster. I have't even started on my monstah, but I've been working with paint, gesso & glue; you know, the fun stuff. I'll post a pic of my monstah after I create him & name him. I did say I was going to post a pic of the Christmas cards that I'd made, but I forgot, so I'll have to do it later.

I think that's all for now. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but I'm going to charge up the battery & start clicking. I'm headed down to meet a few friends of mine, one of which is an artist. I'll try to get photos of a couple of his pieces & post them.

I'll try to have pictures the next time around.

Play purdy!!

Pam

Happy Friday!!

2010-11-05T11:33:00.010-04:00

Fall has descended upon The City of Medicine, aka The Bull City, aka Durham. We've had a couple of dreary, rainy days this past week, but it did warm the air a bit & seemed to refresh everything. We're having a sunny Friday with temps in the upper 50's but it's supposed to be cooooold tonight. Cold for us anyway. It's cold here when it gets down to 32 at night.

I've been getting out into the yard to clear up a couple of years of overgrown bushes, shrubs & trees. Yep, I cut down a couple of small trees that were lovingly planted by my resident squirrels. I have the hardest time getting my plants to grow even thought I nurture them & love them, but a squirrel can "plant" something & the son of a gun grows up to 10 feet in a few years. If I could only train them to plant what I wanted.

I actually sawed down the trees...with a miter saw. It's the only saw I have other than my jeweler's saw & I don't even want to think how many blades I would have broken trying that. BTW, I don't recommend using a miter saw for small trees...nope. Just go out & get yourself a bow saw. On a positive note, my neighbors just got themselves a fire pit. Whatever will they do for wood since they only have one pretty little tree in their yard?? Jungle woman to the rescue!!!! I can saw down the trees & give the little trunks to Lee for their fire pit. Now that's teamwork!! I also won't have to worry about cutting the trunks down to size so I can dispose of them. I have enough dried limbs in my backyard to keep them in wood until the new logs dry.

I really haven't done much as far as jewelry & metalsmithing. I've kinda lost my muse, but have started drawing again. I'm taking a free art course from Tam at Willowings & it's been great. It's a healing art class, so it's kind of hard to get through, but it's been good. Go check it out!! Maybe I'll post some of my work. OK..I will, but be gentle. It's my first whimsy girl.

I already see several things that I should have done differently, but it's my first one. Hopefully, I'll improve.

I'd love to practice more & maybe next year create a few whimsies that I can have made into Christmas cards. I have been making Christmas cards this year, so I'll post the ones that I've made. Not today, but next week.

I'm going to include a few pictures that I've taken over the last few months...because I like to look at pictures. Some of my favorite books have pictures.

Not a great photo, but a great car. 1961 Chrysler New Yorker. How awesome is this car??

I went to the Duke/Alabama football game a couple of months ago. Yep, Duke has a football team, not a great one, but a team nonetheless. Alabama also has a football team, but most everyone knows that, & for good reason. Alabama has a great team unsurpassed by their fans. The fans were great when it could have been a really miserable day for Duke fans. I don't think there was a Duke fan out there that didn't know that Alabama was going to take the game, but the Bama fans made the losing less painful. The Alabama fans made me an Alabama fan. Still a little confused about the whole "Roll Tide" thing, but that's ok. Here are a few of the wonderful people that we met.

Just a shot of some of my friends. Aren't they purdy??? I have attractive friends.

Here's Joe

And just because I like fire:

Just a friendly bonfire, not to be confused with arson.

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend. I'm going to try to be a little more present from now on. I just took a little time out...besides, I gotta get a new blog header because my hydrangeas don't look like that anymore. I at least need to get back to the season.

Pam

((hugs & warm blankies))

Hey!!

2010-10-22T09:53:00.002-04:00

I'm still around. Really, I am. I'll be back. Enjoy your weekend!!

Hugs

Pam

Giveaway!!!

2010-09-23T09:08:00.006-04:00

I'm going to spare y'all from listening about my little mundane life (for now any way), & talk about a very talented friend of mine. Some of you may know her as Autumn Leaves Jewelry, some as Carolyn & probably most as Care. I "met" Care a couple of years ago, by accident, when I was looking for tips on how to make jewelry with my little torch. Care's is the very first metalsmithing blog that I'd ever read & I was hooked. Care has been an amazingly funny & inspirational mentor for me.

Who knew that kitty ears are the cure-all for bad soldering days??

I guess it helps if you get jacked on coffee, but not too much or you'll be chasing your solder down with shaky hands. Oh yeah, can't keep the cup too close for fear of mistaking it for the ever present quenching cup or flux brush dipper.

Care has been a wonderful friend to me & has helped guide me & inspire me to try things that I would never had tried on my own. I'm pretty much a self taught "metalsmithing" type person & I've learned 95% of the things I know from online with Care being a large part of that learning.

Put on your big girl pants (even though I don't have a Big Girl torch), put on your kitty ears & just try....don't be skeerd.

I know, I know. Why do I meander on & on when all I need to say is that Care's having a giveaway. Look at that stone & that setting!!!!! It's too yummy!!!! It looks like this creamy, velvety wonderfulness that would almost melt under your touch, but this baby will last & last. I wish that Care & I lived closer because I think that we could find all kinds of mischief, but she has a lovely hubby & I wouldn't want to foist another "wild child" onto him.

Go check out Care's blog & you'll see what I've been blathering on & on about.

I was really just hoping that you'd get bored, stop reading & forget to go the Care's blog to enter, but I'm sure there no chance of that. Go check out her ring & enter to win this lovely piece of art.

Check her out HERE

I'll have more in a couple of days about myself. Tee hee.

xoxo

Pam

One day in Durham...

2010-08-27T10:35:00.010-04:00

....I decided to take a little walk. I knew I needed my strength for this little walkabout so I stopped for food. Not many things can fuel the spirit like an old fashioned burger. I'm talking about a freshly ground, hand-pattied burger...oh yeah. The little shop close to my house re-opened after being closed for a couple of years & I couldn't be more happy. Business is booming & TJ (the new owner) seems to be settling into the neighborhood like he's been here forever. King's Sandwich shop is located across from the old Durham Bulls ballpark. You know the one, well, you do if you've ever seen the movie "Bull Durham". Anyway, I don't have a great pic of the outside of his little cinder block building, but I have something even better.

I know, I know. Not good for me, but soooo good to me.

Here's link to his very modest website, but with business booming the way it is I'm sure he doesn't have the time, nor the need for a fancy schmancy website. His website reflects the old fashioned values of his business. Simple and to the point. Freshly squeezed lemonade, yummy thick shakes & malts with whipped cream & a cherry on top. Most everything home made, except the fries, but I actually like these frozen fries. They're very nicely cooked & much better than the somewhat wobbly crinkle fries served at the same establishment by TJ's predecessor.

If you're in the area check him out at King's Sandwich Shop

After stuffing myself unabashedly at the picnic table I moved a little further down the street. My walk takes me between 2 buildings perched like guarding bulldogs. This is Measurment Inc. I'm not exactly sure how to explain what "they" do in these buildings, but it's basically a company that provides & scores achievement tests. You know..like those awful ones you used to have to take in school. Yeah, that's kinda what they do; I think.

I have several friends that work behind those foreboding facades, but they rarely talk about their work. Are they trying to forget their exhausting day, or is it some top secret facility posing as an innocent testing company housed in an historic building?

Nah..they probably just want to forget about work....right Eric...Joe.... James......hello?

Well..moving on. Maybe it some weird testing facility for these crazy snake trees.

Seriously. Forget about a dark alley at night. I wouldn't want to walk up to these trees in the dark with only the moonlight to point out the writhing, slithering snakes draped lavishly onto the boughs like some type of medieval boa. tee hee...git it?? Boa...snake?? Any one?? No one?? OK, maybe not so clever.

How crazy is that?? I'm not sure what type of trees they are, but only 3 of the probably dozen or so have these "snake" pods. The leaves & umbrella effect appears to be similar to a mimosa, but no one plants mimosas around here on purpose, no more than they would plant kudzu.

Well, to finish up my walk & this insanely long post:

Some friends hula-hooping in front of the neighborhood watering hole. They tried to teach me, but I didn't do so great. How cool are the lighted hula hoops?????

It's Major!!!!

2010-08-12T12:58:00.005-04:00

It's Major, the bull. More on him later.

I've been MIA for a while. Trying to get some things straight in my mind & other wise, but I decided that I was going to try to do both.

I really haven't been bending metal very much at all. I don't know if it's the shortage of silver on my bench or the shortage of imagination in my head...probably both. I've been in my little cocoon for a while, but am slowly trying to poke out my head to take a look around. My bench is now cluttered with watercolors, pencils & paper. I've gone back to my original artistic outlet which is painting & mixed media. I was never good at either, but I find the comfort & ease very healing right now. I've tried to put saw to metal, but have found myself at a loss for inspiration. It'll come back sometime, but I'm enjoying my time with paper & glue.

Even though I'm not smithing as much, I thought I'll still open a little bit of my life to you. It'll just be random things, maybe about Durham, maybe about the heat, maybe about how the darned cicadas won't stop screaming at me!!

Seriously. What's going on??

Between the cicadas & the cardinals, who have decided that my yard will be their new commune, it's never quiet in my house. I really don't mind because it's almost like being back home, but those cicadas.... All day & all night. Those are some crazy little party bugs that like to leave their "jackets" all over the place.

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in & say "hey". I intend to post more often, though it shouldn't be too hard to post more than once every 2 months. I'll show you a little bit of my town & a little snippet of my life.

Y'all play purty!!

Pam

Hello, my Sweets

2010-06-19T19:04:00.004-04:00

Just a short note. I'll be offline for a while. I have had computer problems & am also going to switch to a new internet server, sometime. For the moment I'll just be checking in randomly from a nice little space that offers Wi-Fi until I get my internet server issues worked out. I've put my shop on Vacation temporarily & it will be open again, but I don't know when. I've enjoyed y'all so much & can't wait to get back.

Thanks...y'all be nice & play purdy.

xoxo

Pam

Time flies......

2010-06-08T12:24:00.003-04:00

..then you realize you haven't blogged in a loooong time.

It's a gorgeous day in NC today. It was 77 degrees this morning at 11:00; that's just crazy!!! Well, we'll be back up to normal in a couple of days....hello, 95 & humid. I'll just enjoy today.

I really haven't been creating a lot lately, but I'm feeling the creative juices flowing again. I finally decided to break out some vintage glass beads that I've been saving for___________ (?). I don't know why I was saving them, I just enjoy taking them out & playing with them. I'm working on marrying them with a little silverwork, yet still keeping it as simple & organic as I can. I have lots of different colors & finishes that are begging to be released back out into the world, so slowly, I'll have to let them go.

Newly listed in my Etsy shop. Purpleberry is made from 2 different vintage glass beads. I love the frosted look of the round beads.

I'll have a couple more things to show you this week....another little pair of copper earrings & a custom order.

Wow, this was a really boring post. I'll try to be more entertaining in the future.

Take care!!

x0x0

Pam

Ouchie!!

2010-05-19T09:09:00.002-04:00

I've been a little MIA here & in life. I felt something pull in my back when I was helping my Grandma over a month ago..no big deal, right? Well, for the past month, my leg has been going numb & sitting up has become much less than comfortable. I come from the school of "walk it off" yet that hasn't seemed to help. I finally did some research & figured out that I have pinched my sciatic nerve. Huh. Well, isn't that something.

From what I've read, "walking it off" isn't really a remedy. Well, that certainly explains why the shooting pain increased after a nice jaunt around the town....who knew????? I've started on a little regiment of gentle yoga to stretch everything out & it's helped so much. I'm still not perfect, but I'm getting there. It was crazy how much better I felt after my first little yoga session. I used to do yoga several times a week, but for some reason, I slowly stopped....now I realize how much better I felt when I was stretched & flexible. It's still too early for a full yoga routine, but I'm happy to settle onto my purple yoga mat in my bedroom for 15 minutes & slowly pull the pins & needles out of my back & leg.

Hopefully I'll be back with new thoughts, ideas & pieces very soon.

xoxo
Pam

Periwinkle & Jade Thursday

2010-05-06T13:28:00.005-04:00

I made a little something for my Grandma for Mother's Day. She's doing well & the nursing home has left it up to her to decide when she goes home. I think she's going to wait a couple more weeks because when she goes home, she wants to be on her own. She's ready to hit the dance floor again...well, maybe not the dance floor, but she's ready to head back to the perimeter & watch others. I made these tiny little copper periwinkles for her; maybe she'll take them out with her on a Friday night. I think I'll add them to my shop because I love how they turned out all caddywhompered & cockeyed.

I think my ears need a pair of these too.

The last time I was home Mom saw Lonely Daisy and really liked it, but wanted a longer chain. She also saw a pretty Wyoming jade that I had found & fell in love with it. I guess there are few advantages to having a daughter who makes the occassional piece of jewelry, but Mom happened to luck out. I used the stone she liked & fashioned into the setting she liked. I had to change it up a bit, because I wanted her to have something a little different than the original, but here it is.

I've added the chain, packaged it up & sent this & my Grandma's earrings on their way. Hopefully it gets there by Saturday. The mail service is strange because sometimes it takes longer for a package to get a few states away than it does for me to send something all the way to the west coast, or even Hawaii.

That's all for now. I had planned on adding another piece to my shop this week, but still haven't gotten it finished. I think my muse ran away for few days, but she'll be back soon.

I hope you're all having a great week

Monday, Monday

2010-05-03T13:44:00.004-04:00

It is Monday, in case some of you have lost track, as I often do. A dreary Monday too. The clouds are laden with rain & I'm expecting them to release any moment. I guess if it's going to rain, it may as well be a Monday.

I have a couple new pieces to add to my shop today, if I can get them loaded onto Etsy. I also woke up with another design floating around in my mind this morning, now I just have to sort it out on paper. Sometimes that's much easier said than done for me. I'm feeling more of a pull from the metals than the stones right now. I want to sketch & saw & polish & file. Today seems like a perfect day to sit on the porch with a cup of tea & my sketchbook while the spring rain rinses everything off to a vibrant green.

Here are the new items I'll be listing today.

Same as my Willow Oak Dangles, but a bit smaller & with a little jasper dropping from the leaf.

Willow Oak Drops

I also found a little mushroom under the Willow Tree & decided to string it on a chain.

Nizhoni

OK, y'all have a great day..I'm headed off to list these in the shop...

A few things

2010-04-29T11:41:00.004-04:00

Willow Oak Dangles

A willow oak is a mighty tree with it's boughs reaching wide...stretching far from it's hardy trunk as a welcome oasis to everything beneath. Hidden within the multitude of delicate leaves is a playground for it's denizens:

The wren chasing the squirrel from one tree to another as punishment for being the curious little one who wanted to see what the fuss was about in her nest.

The mother squirrel watching the activity from the security of her tangled home.

The stately cardinal perched in indifference, only interested in his next snack.

I'm pretty sure they watch me with the same interest & amusement as I watch them...in fact, a little squirrel watched me as I made these earrings. I used a leaf from one of the oaks in my yard to make my pattern for these earrings. They are perfect in their imperfection as anything from nature would be. They are cut out of rose brass & granitized. I made a new word...granitized. I texturized them on the old granite curb that lies beneath the tree. Each pair of earrings will be slightly different because they are cut & texturized individually.

Raindrops

Sold

April showers bring May flowers & I collected these raindrops from dripping hydrangea leaves in my garden. Luckily, it was dripping sterling silver & amazonite raindrops. These are handcrafted by my two little hands with sunny days in mind.

Show & Tell

2010-04-27T11:28:00.008-04:00

Aaaww pretty!! They aren't mine (not enough sunny yard), but I captured them with my camera.

Dakota says "Hey!!!" That's why her little mouth is blurry...see her talking??

I got a little something in the mail today. I bought this for my beautiful Mom for Christmas or her birthday, or something like that. I know it's so early to be thinking about Christmas, but I had to snap this up. I found this wonderful Etsy seller via Twitter. She made a comment about having too much coffee, I commented back, then decided to check out her shop. Wow!!!! I love her illustrations & I love that she uses ink, paint, whatever on top of pages from vintage books. The one I picked out for Mom was on a page from a book written in German. It also has little notes written off to the side from someone who was reading the book, but I can't read those either. I'm so glad that she got the coffee jitters that day because I love so many things in her shop.

This is just the packaging. I ordered the illustration Friday afternoon & it got to me on Monday. How's that for fast?? She makes her own packaging & I can't imagine them being packaged any more safely or creatively. Lookie!!! I got a free owl illustration of my very own. The owl was encased in a clear envelope & taped to the outside of the packaging..all I had to do was peel it off. Yay!!! I got myself a present too...accidentally.

See?? What did I tell you? It came mounted on black cardstock(?) & backed by white mat board, so all I have to do is find the perfect frame. I love the torn edges of the page & the way that the black makes the little birdie "sing" from the page.

Here is a closer up of "Spring". I love it's filigreed simplicity (if that makes sense)....it makes me smile.

The artist also has a collection of signed prints that are just too funky & cute & she also sells some of her originals. I'm afraid I'll be stalking her shop from now on because her works speak to my quirky heart.

I didn't have anything new from me to show you today, but I wanted to share one of my new "finds" & new friend on Etsy.

Betcha want to know who did this..right???? As if you couldn't see it on the back of the package...it's

Deadpan Alley

Go check out her shop...I think you'll find something you like.

I hope y'all have a great day.

Pam

Chocolate Blossom

2010-04-26T14:30:00.003-04:00

Happy Monday..or not, perhaps. Anyway, I though I'd pop in & make a quick post on the new item in my shop. It's Chocolate Blossom, & now I want chocolate....the cookies that have the gooey inside. For real, I do. I wrote the description, now I'm really, really craving a huge batch of those cookies....or was it that I was thinking of the cookies then the stone reminded me of the cookies??? Hmmmmm.

Either way..Pam wants a cookie.

I'm going to try to release a few more pieces into my shop this week. Maybe one a day or every other day. I have a couple more custom pieces to work on, but will post them when I'm finished. One is for my beautiful Mom for Mother's Day & the other is for my beautiful friend, Rupa.

Well, gotta do a load of laundry & maybe a stroll to the store for a little choccy. I don't trust myself with a batch of cookies.

Oh..guess I'll show a picture of my new piece...almost forgot.

Chocolate Blossom

I hope y'all have a bright & wonderful day.

Pam

Candy's "Something Blue"

2010-04-16T13:20:00.005-04:00

Just thought I'd add a pretty little flower to start things off.

My friend, Candace, who inspired me to make Candy's Heart, asked me to make something for her. Her heart had mended quite well, as Candace is getting married!!! She asked me to make her a ring for her "something blue" for her wedding. Isn't that just the best???? So much for the demure, simple jewelry for your wedding day. I've been looking for an excuse to buy a larimar & Candace gave me an excuse to order 3 (well, I had to order more than one so she could pick....right?).

The stone is even more beautiful than I imagined it would be. I love, love, love the color & the white swirls remind me of lying on your back in a field & staring up at the sky. It's going to be a garden wedding, so I embellished it with flowers & a single calla lily. There will be 3 people uniting on the wedding day; Candace, her gorgeous fiance & the cutest little boy you can imagine, so I decided that the ring should have 3 very different flowers, yet bonded together.

I really hope she likes it (I always get nervous), because Candace left it all up to me...no pressure, right?? It's only her wedding day. Care, I can't imagine making the wedding rings like you do.

Here's Candace's ring with my monster. I've struggled with this ring because of the size & I was trying a different method of soldering. It's mounted on a thinner backplate than I typically use, but it's mine & this was more of an experiment than anything. I'll end up taking it apart & remaking it at some point, but it'll have to be after I get a larger torch. I still have to work on the bezel because it's quite ruffled & not in a good way. It's a fun, clunky, somewhat gaudy ring, but it was a good experience & I learned a lot by making it. In fact, I'm sporting it right now & haven't hurt myself with it yet....it's another small victory for me. The stone reminded me of a tulip so I decided to place it in a garden, even a little butterfly stopped by to check it out.

Candace's ring looks like a little baby next to mine. The stone in her ring is 28x11mm & my ring (total size) is 40x45mm.

I hope you all have a great weekend!!
Thanks for stopping in to see what's going on in my little world.

The Green Cloud

2010-04-14T09:20:00.002-04:00

Good Morning all!!!

I'm reporting to you from under a green cloud of pollen. Well, to be fair, we had a little shower last night that rinsed the sidewalks & cars into a streaked, tie-dyed looking landscape. This has been one of the worst years we've had for pollen in several years, but hopefully it will end soon. Luckily, I don't really have sinus problems & allergies, but I sympathize with all my friends who have been sniffly & headachy for the last few weeks. It's no fun seeing green water pouring out of your hair when you wash it, but there are worse things in life than a little green goo.

I'm back at the bench & working on a couple of new pieces. One is for my friend who is getting married next month & she wanted me to make her "something blue" for her wedding.....most of it's in the pickle right now waiting for completion. The other piece is a little something for me. I realized that I only have a couple of my own pieces & that I needed to do something about it. Well, I may have bitten off more than my little torch can handle. It's the largest piece I've attempted & I may not be able to do it, but I'm going to try. It will require the use of 2 torches at the same time (safety hazard?? Yep.) but it's a bit exciting to have fire in both hands. Hopefully I'll have photos tomorrow....I don't work very quickly so it does take me a while to create new piece.

In the meantime I hope y'all have a great day!!

Happy Spring!!!!

2010-04-03T12:32:00.013-04:00

After an unusually cold & bitter winter we are greeted by the beauties of Spring. I love Spring & Fall. I think it's because it's almost like a new beginning. The air smells fresh & the landscape seems to change daily.

The trees are stretching their limbs getting ready to sport their new Spring attire....

...and the flowers start poking their little heads out of the soil to see if it's safe to come out & bask in the soft sunlight.

align="center">I kinda feel the same way. I feel more energized & more like taking on new challenges with more vigor and obstinance. In the past several months, it's been too easy for me to succumb to my own doubts & personal challenges. I was afraid that I'd forgotten how to dig deeper & find the tenacity that used to be exist on the surface (just ask my friends)..lol. I'm hoping that it's coming back & with it, the old Pam. I miss her.

Sometimes something happens that shakes you out of your own self pity & makes you open your eyes & take a look around. I had that happen & luckily, it turned out OK.

A few weeks ago my dear, sweet, sweet 84 year old Grandma fell & broke her right hip & right shoulder. When I received the phone call I had my first mini anxiety attack. I'm very close to my Mom & Grandma....we're all each other has so we're bonded in a very deep way. I felt something was wrong when I woke up that morning, and called both Mom & Grandma, but neither were home. I tried to put it out of my mind, but it was still pressing down on my consciousness.

Anyway, Grandma had a total right hip replacement & a rod put through her right shoulder. Luckily, she's left handed so it could have been worse. She has wonderful physical therapists & occupational therapists working with her right now & hopefully she'll be back dancing in no time.

Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that my Grandma fell while she was line dancing. Yep...that's my Grandma. While I'm sitting home most Fridays nights, she's at Red Barn tapping her toe & occassionally dancing to the tunes with a handsome gentleman. It was the Electric Slide that got her. I told her from now on she just needs to hold on to a nice man & dance & forget about those group dances.

My Grandma's always been a little firecracker & I hope she continues to be one (without p*ssing off her therapists & nurses, of course). I love your Grandma!! You & Mom are my heart.

I've also had a few technical problems that had nothing to do with being in the country where I couldn't get proper internet service. I've had the hardest time transferring photos from my camera to my computer. I'm not very techie, but I think I've figured out a different way to do it. I should probably get a new card reader because sometimes my pics will transfer & sometimes they won't.

Anyway...if you're still here after all of this, muah!!! You're a good sport & very patient. Now take yourself away, pet your furbaby & hug your kids or pet your kids & hug your furbaby....either way, have a great weekend & thanks for listening.

xoxo

Pam

Searchin' My Soul

2010-03-31T00:28:00.001-04:00

I'm back, baby!!!

I'm Here!!

2010-01-25T14:18:00.001-05:00

I am...I really am. I'm gonna have something to say here soon. I don't know what it will be, but it'll be something.

I hope you're all having a beautiful day.

xoxo

Pam

Happy Tuesday!!!

2009-12-15T13:13:00.007-05:00

I've been doin' stuff.......

A few Etsy sales, but mostly custom orders. When I say custom orders, I mean (mostly) my guy friends tell me they want something for their sister/mom/girlfriend/wife then I ask them questions about their sister/mom/girlfriend/wife to try to figure out what type of jewelry they may like.

I'm no longer confused about some of the presents my previous boyfriends have gotten me.

I asked one of my closest friends if his person wore smaller jewelry or larger statement pieces.

He told me she had brown hair.

You know who you are, my love, that's ok though, you're still one of my favorites. I hope your sister is happy with her "Birdy" necklace. It'll look great with brown hair.

I have been breaking hearts like crazy around here due to my friend Christina. This is the second or third batch of Candy's Hearts I've broken, then mended (Mama taught me to how to be a proper Southern girl...& some of it stuck). Christina got one of the necklaces, has been wearing it & people want the necklace after seeing her wear it. Great model, huh? She's a beautiful model & a beautiful person, thanks Christina!!

The pink jasper will be going into the shop tomorrow & the rest will be delivered this week..hopefully. I have a couple more things let to do, but I'm waiting on final approval before I start.

This is a stone I bought from a show this year & the gem cutter had it named Bruneau Turquoise. I don't know if it's a true turquoise or now, but this stone is just gorgeous. This was picked by another friend of mine for his sister. I had to show this up close so you could see how awesome this stone is up close. Also so you could see Dakota's hair & that I need to work on the bezel a bit more. Macro is soooo not forgiving.

OK, it's shower time, so I'll "see" y'all later

Exciting news!!

2009-12-10T12:20:00.004-05:00

I told you last week that I had some exciting news so here it is. It's probably not so exciting, but it made me feel really good about what I'm doing & I'm terribly flattered.

Over Thanksgiving I was contacted by someone locally asking if I would be interested in donating one of my pieces to an animal rescue group for their silent auction. Shut up, right?? I was so excited to be randomly asked to donate & also this was to help an animal rescue. The organization is called IAR (Independent Animal Rescue) & I believe the silent auction is in January.

Here's my little rescue dog. Maybe not so little, & not rescued in the now, traditional way, but my little rescue sweetheart nonetheless. Dakota was left chained to a tree when her family moved. We don't know how long she was there before the neighbor noticed & started feeding her as best as she could with what little money she had. A friend of a friend took her in & got her healthy, well physically healthy anyway, & that's when she leapt into my life.

I decided to make a piece especially for the event & came up with Booker. Mom doesn't know, but this is a collaboration between the two of us. I put the initial design on paper, she named him, I thought I should add something else because he seemed plain, she said no, he didn't need anything....this is what what happened.

Most of my pieces have a name & a story because I'm nearly always inspired by something I dream, or see or feel and Booker is no different. Booker's story is Dakota's story.

Booker

Booker thought he was a good dog. He misbehaved sometimes, (as we all do), but he loved his family. One day his family didn't come home. He stared at the back door waiting to see a familiar face until his eyes were dry & burning. Day turned into night...turned into day....turned into night.

Booker didn't know what he had done to drive his family away, leaving him alone, cold & hungry, but he vowed never to do it again.

Now, as the dusk settles over his little world, his eyes fixed on the encroaching darkness, he looks for his new friend, the moon. He makes his wish that one day he will find his forever family.

I printed this onto a card to accompany the piece in the auction. I hope this speaks to people the way Dakota spoke to me & they give as freely as they can. Fingers crossed that Booker will bring in a little money for the other animals when he finds his forever home.

Hugs & puppy dog kisses to you all.

Pam

Hey, Long Time!!!!

2009-12-03T10:16:00.009-05:00

I made it back to Durham from one of the most beautiful places in the world...well, to me anyway. Nothing like going back home & getting Mom & Grandma love. Watching the ground flatten & the cotton fields whiz by me as I got closer made me realize how much I love this land.

It wasn't until I moved away, that I noticed the brackish fragrance that drifts in from the sound & lingers in my memory. One day I'll go back home....to stay. I'll have a house on our farm that looks out onto the water to be awaken each morning by the warmth of the rising sun.

I have a few things headed to the shop this afternoon. This is my golf ball marker. Carolyn, from Autumn Leaves Jewelry has been a huge help to me while I was trying to get this off the ground...after all, she cornered the market on Etsy. Mine is a little smaller & has the little peg thing on the back. A friend of mine asked me to make him one & gave me a little plastic one as a model.....probably the only thing from Rolex I'll ever own.

Care, what do you think? I'm going to make it available with up to 3 letters. I only have one letter stamp set & this marker is about the size of a dime, so I don't have a lot of space for stamping. It'll come in a "velvet" pouch packed in a gift box.

Here's a pendant with a simple white quartz. You can't see it from this photo, but behind the little flower is the silhouette of a dandelion. A simple little necklace.

I have some exciting news, but I'm gonna wait to tell you. tee hee. Doncha hate that??? It's not really a huge thing, but means a lot to me, for several reasons.

I hope you all have had a great week..I missed you.

Pam

xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T08:33:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to say Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Amerians. I'm heading out to go back home to visit Mom & Grandma for a good Southern meal. I hope you enjoy your day regardless of where you are & what you're doing.

Blue Skies

2009-11-20T10:26:00.004-05:00

After a week of steady rain from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ida we finally saw this.

The sky always seem so clear & blue after a hurricane/tropical storm; it's as if the rains have cleansed the air to make way for the sun & air. It started raining again after this, but we have more blue skies today.

Do you smell these?? I placed an order with Candles by Victoria & could not be happier. Victoria makes these candles in Van, Texas with her partner, Matt (aka Candleman) and their daughters, Chelsea and Melissa. Victoria has well over 500 scent recipes & when you finally decide what you want, your candles are poured. Yes, she pours your candle when you place your order, which means that even if they weren't already scented with triple the amount of fragrance, they would still smell better than the ones that have been sitting on the store shelf for months (maybe years).

I opted for the 8 oz No Frills Sampler Pack, (which is the 6-8oz candles...you pick the scents for $40.00), 4 Scent Shots (the tarts that you place into a warmer & a great way to try out new scents for $1.95 each) and the Surprise Bag on Mini Bud Tarts (12 [I think] of misc tarts for $4.00)
Most of the candles & tarts I ordered are for gifts & very reasonably priced. The scent of each of these is amazing. I'm not a fan of the bakery-types scents, but I ordered a few for gifts & they really do smell like Pineapple Upside-Down Cake & Pumkin Pie Spice. French Quarter & Mango Sage Tea are probably my favs of this batch, but Apple Jack N Peel is a close third for this time of year. Victoria is also on Youtube, so go meet the woman behind the candles at CBVictoria.

I'll definately be buying more candles from Victoria & I hope some of you check out her site & look into some candles as well. I will say that if you want them for Christmas, you may want to go ahead & order them because she gets increasingly more busy & may have a couple of weeks backlog. I ordered mine on a Friday, she sent them out on Tuesday & I got them on Friday, but that was a couple of weeks ago. If you want me to go into more detail on the candles I bought, just let me know & I'll do another post about the scents I ordered.

Fresh from the tumbler & waiting to be dipped into the stinky LOS, steel wooled, then tossed into the tumbler again. I don't usually tumble before LOSing, but thought I'd try it after some discussion on Lisa's Lovelies blog about polishing & tumbling & all of those things only interesting to us metal heads.

I hope you all have a blessed weekend & maybe I'll actually have new pieces to show. Most of the pieces I'm working on are for custom orders, but a couple are headed to my shop. Yes Beth, I listened & am working on restocking my shop ((hugs)).

xoxo

Pam

So, what happened was.......

2009-11-18T13:11:00.002-05:00

I was careless. It's easy to get too comfortable with the tools that we use everyday. We become enraptured by our next "piece of art" that the tools fade. The torch isn't a torch anymore & the glow of the metal is just a lovely color that we're trying to achieve, instead of it being a means to an end. All of that, added to it being a bad soldering day & my torch not getting the piece hot enough made me, yep made me, forget the basics. The really basic basics...like not haphazardly picking up the piece with the tweezers & holding it up so I have less of a heat sink. It's all fun & games until said person (that would be me) shifts in the chair, the piece over her lap, then drops cherry red piece into her lap. Oh no!! Let me tell you......not a good move.

The smoke created by a 1200 degree piece landing on sweatpants is quite incredible & a little scary. I quickly brushed it off of my lap, but it had already melted a hole into my sweatpants. I looked at my leg & nothing; it wasn't red & didn't even hurt. Well, I continued on my merry way & later that night my leg was itching..oh yeah. A blister like I've never had before. Oh well, it's better now, and never hurt like a burn, but hopefully I've learned my lesson. Am I really ready for a Big Girls Torch? I think so, but it'll have to wait; until then, I have new respect for my little butane.

Ya'll be careful!!

xoxo

Pam

Rain, Rain

2009-11-12T10:43:00.004-05:00

*sigh* Still raining here. Hopefully tomorrow the remnants Hurricane Ida will move along & leave us with a little sunshine. It's been raining here, almost constantly, since Monday night. The wind is still gusting, uprooting some trees & some areas are flooding, but this is an easy one for us. Maybe we'll see sun this weekend. Gotta throw in a picture.

Dakota's moping around these days, becausing she's reflecting back to her fun days in the sun. Right now, it's looking more like a mud pit.

Be good & remember not to drive through standing water.

Ft. Hood

2009-11-08T01:52:00.001-05:00

I just want to send love & hugs to the families & soldiers at Ft. Hood.

xoxo

Pam

Etsy Gift Guide!!

2009-11-02T17:17:00.004-05:00

I received a convo today telling me that I was in the Jewelry Gift Guide on Etsy!! Yay!!! My first one..I would have never known if it hadn't been for Carolyn from Autumn Leaves Jewelry, who is also in one of the gift guides. Thanks Care!! Her sterling silver dish is featured in the One of a Kind Gift Guide.

Candy's Heart is the one who made it to the gift guide.

xoxo

Be good!!

Friday Bits

2009-10-30T12:37:00.006-04:00

Happy Friday!!

I have a couple of little bits to show you today. They both still need a little finish work on them, but I dashed out to get photos because the sky seems heavily laden with an excess of moisture. Yeah, it looks like it's gonna rain.....again.

This is for my friend Beth for whom I made the little silver hibiscus pendant. This is a little gifty-poo for someone's birthday..I'm not going to mention any names, but her name in Hawaiian mean "heavenly moon" (I think, sometimes things get lost in the translation). I left the setting around the red plume agate heavily oxidized to contrast with the 4 full moons surrounding the stone, then "waning" back to the onyx "new" moon at the clasp.

My friend Bob wanted me to make a necklace for his sister & his mother. This one is for his sister because he told me her nickname is Birdy. It took me hours & hours to design a piece so deceptively clever that no one would immediately get the connection. Did you get it yet?? Yes!!! I made a bird pendant because they call her Birdy. See, I'm a clever girl.

I'm still working on getting beautiful photos of my pieces, but still haven't gotten there. I like natural light & the natural setting of being outside, but the glare on the stones is awful. Well, until I figure it out, y'all always know you can check out my foliage situation just by gazing at the reflections in the stones. As you can see by Beth's pendant, the dogwoods have almost lost all of their leaves.

I hope y'all have a great weekend & don't let the boogey man get you.

xoxo

Pam

SATeam Wrist Candy Holiday Giveaway.

2009-10-26T12:25:00.005-04:00

Do you remember this??

Well, the little fellow found some friends (see him there on the top/). This is the collaborative charm bracelet SATeam (Starving Artist Team) has put together for our first giveaway. This bracelet is loaded with 25 handmade charms from some of our members & will be given away in December. A purchase from one of our shops will get you entered in the drawing to win this beautiful one of a kind bracelet. Hurry, hurry, you have from now until Dec. 6 to find something pretty so you can be entered. For a list of all of the shops participating please go to SATeam's Blog . Good Luck!!

Have a great day!!

SATeam Wrist Candy

2009-10-24T13:00:00.002-04:00

What does that mean????? I dunno, stay tuned........

Around Town

2009-10-22T13:25:00.011-04:00

I haven't made anything new lately, so I thought I'd show you a little of Bull City...The City of Medicine......Durham.

These are old tobacco warehouses (built cira 1890's) that have been converted into apartments, but I'm sure they're not called apartments when they're this expensive. I love the units and their brick walls, exposed beams & the beautifully refinished floors. A lot of the old hardware was kept on the beams & in the floor & it's a lovely place. In the summer, there is a live band (free) every Friday. Bring a chair & some wine & you're good to go. If you're lucky (like me), you have friends in the building, so you get to hang out on their terrace or balcony & watch while mingling apt. to apt. It's been several years since I've done that.

This is a shot going into one of the courtyards. There are a few different building in the complex & an Italian restaurant st the edge of the larger one.

This is someone's "window"...it was a loading dock, but now is part of someone's living room. It's also makes a nice frame for their Christmas tree during the holidays.

Of course, I think every city has this.

The building in the background is a newer building(1948), but still part of Liggit & Meyers. Work has begun to revamp those buildings & they've opened a wine bar in one. Hmmm.....I bet y'all would like to hear about that. I'll have to check it out.....just for you.

The old Durham Bulls stadium. If you watched Bull Durham, you've seen this stadium, but it's a little nicer now than it was then. A buuuuunch of money has been spent on the grounds & buildings in the past year, but it's still used for festivals & ballgames, but not the Durham Bulls. You can see the old mascot still painted on the side of the warehouse in the outfield.

Here's the ticket booth. It looks a little meloncholy without a little face poking out of the window

Well, that's it for now. I've started working on something new..maybe I'll get it ready by my next post.

Be good!!

xoxo

Happy Friday!!

2009-10-16T10:31:00.008-04:00

It's another dreary, overcast day in North Carolina...seems like I'm always complaining about the weather doesn't it?? I think it's a Southern thing...or maybe just hereditary....my Grandmother does it too. Oh, the talks we have about the weather!!

*Edit*

The sun is pushing it's way through the gloom .....right now!!!

Anyway, I was going to show you a photo of a couple of my newest pieces, but I can't get the photo to transfer from my camera. It's only that one set of photos, but they won't budge. I'm going to keep working on it because one of the photos could be on a calendar. That's right. I draped the ring over a motorcycle like it was Miss June. Right there next to the chrome gas cap. Yeah, it's pretty hot.

This one was going in my shop but didn't quite make it. It was rescued by a friend of a friend, but she's such a fun, classy lady, I think we're friends now too. This is a yellow plume agate & I loved the color & "plumage". I had named it Harvest Moon.....aaaw pretty.

I'll have another session of Out & About in Durham maybe next week. I finally got some photos of the old Durham Bulls Stadium. Everytime I tried to get photos it was either Blues Fest or Beer Fest. Hmmmm, wonder if there's a connection (Blues.......beer)? Nah. Well, the stadium looks a bit different now than it did in the movie Bull Durham, but I think we just spent about the same amount of money renovating it as they did on the movie.

Oh yeah, my hydrangeas. They were blue 7 years ago, then they turned hot pink. I tried to fix them with whatever it is to "fix" the color of hydrangeas. This is what happened. I rather like them.

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend.

xoxo

Lunch with Tiffany........stone

2009-10-08T12:15:00.005-04:00

Purple Prose

*Edit*

Purple Prose has already been sold off Etsy.

I just finished making these littles. They're Tiffany Stone from Utah. I'm not a stone expert, but I haven't seen Tiffany Stone in such a yummy shade of purple. The color reminds me of Grape Nehi or some other artificially flavored, sugar laden treat. My favorite color has always been purple & when I was a little girl I so wanted to love Grape Nehi, but I didn't. It was so pretty & came in that cool bottle, but I couldn't stand the stuff.

This photo seems a little blurry...sorry, I thought it was OK. Anyway, this will be going into the shop today. I'll be headed down to my local tavern for a memorial for a good friend of mine. His family had the official Memorial Service last week, but this week, we're doing what Roy would have wanted. I'll be having a Corona with a lime for Roy.

Y'all have a great day & hug someone today.

I've Got Soap!!

2009-10-05T14:44:00.004-04:00

It's funny that as I was preparing (mentally preparing, so it doesn't take long) to write this blog I visited Carolyn & she was revisiting a vlog about some soap she had ordered. There are so many awesome "bath & body" people on Etsy that it's impossible to decide, so you just have to jump in sometimes. I had noticed this person on the forums & Twitter & when I saw that she was having a sale, decided to jump in.

These are from Burnt Mill on Etsy. She was having free shipping on her 6 bars for $24 item. Who could pass that up? The "free shipping" is over, but 6 bars for $24 is still there. Well, be warned, these are not your Grandmother's soaps as you can see by the photo. Thay are funky & swirly & fun. They arrived very quickly & the smell.....oh, the smell when I opened the package.

I ordered (from top left down, then top right down)

Enchanted Apple Type (love this....like a fresh apple)
Warm Vanilla Sugar Type( not too sweet & with a little bit of musk undertone)
Love Spell Type (very crisp smelling)
Jasmine (light jasmine scent..very clean)
Lavender Blossom (light lavender scent..very clean)
Island Kola Nut ( warm, but not too sweet & that is coconut you see on the top)

I knew these were going to be wonderful when it rained all day & the soap got a little sweaty. I don't know the real reason, but maybe I've figured it out. Glycerin attracks water & it was raining. If the bars were sweaty, (not sticking or oily), the glycerin in them is attacting the moisture from the air. Glycerin =softness & yumminess. It's all very scientific really...obviously....especially the yumminess. I used to make soap & I really enjoyed making soap, but not getting stuck with 5 pounds of the same soap whenever I wanted to "play". I'll leave it in the hands of the experts.

I love these soaps but have to decide which ones will leave me to be given as presents, but until then they stay with me in my living room. These are large sized bars (I'd say around 5 oz) and the seller sent them out the day after I ordered. I love the scents & was surprised at the ones that have become my favorites. The lather is awesome & makes my weathered hands feel "oh so good". She has over 30 scent & the bars are beautiful. It's a shame that I have to use them, but it's the circle of life.

Y'all have a great day!!

xoxo

Island Girl

2009-09-29T22:03:00.005-04:00

Just a quick little post to show you what I made for my little friend Beth. She vlogs, she blogs, she sews, she types & she makes me laugh. Beth is silverscreamgrl on Youtube & she really is a scream. She vlogs about things, pretty much what I do, but I don't have to do it on camera..HA!! Beth lives on the island of Oahu (not a bad gig, huh?) & I really didn't want to make her something exotic & tropical (because she sees the real thing every day), but when I see the girl vlog almost everyday with a plumeria tucked in her hair, it's hard to fight it. I went for it & came up with this.

I don't have any of these in my shop right now, but I may make a couple & throw them in there. It's not as big as your head like it appears. This is just a little baby at around an inch. Yes, that's my idea of a hibiscus...don't laugh, to' up flowers need love too.

Y'all be good.

Sisters

2009-09-28T15:32:00.004-04:00

I don't have any sisters, or brothers for that matter, but I've been fortunate in my life to have others who have become part of my family & part of my heart.

I just listed these earrings Sisters. I have already sold a pair off Etsy, but have made more.

I believe that everyone has a soul mate. I also believe that we can have more than one & that it isn't confined to a romantic connection. I believe in kindred spirits & that our kindred spirit is also our soul mate. I have people in my life who are my soul mates. We share a bond that is strong enough to bridge time & distance, just like the sisterly bond. They mean everything in the world to me & I know my heart would stop for a moment if anything ever happened to them. I believe you can be an only child and still have sisters.

This design is based on the Native American symbol for sisters. The circle signifies the unbreakable bond and the X with the O on top symbolizes the female. These symbols, side by side, represent the bond of two kindred spirits.

Guess Who's Having a Giveaway??

2009-09-25T13:52:00.002-04:00

Miss JJ of Rosy Revolver. I really can't say enough about this wonderful artisan, her work speaks for itself. If you think her pieces are amazing, you should see them in person & hold them in your hand, or wear them around your neck. She's generously giving away one of her necklaces & you really have to see it, so go check her out, don't enter because I really, really want this little beauty. Just kidding, check her out & enter (not really). ;)

Y'all have a blessed day!

My Saturday & Saturnight

2009-09-21T15:44:00.013-04:00

Warning!!

Better grab another cup of tea, coffee or whatever libation you usually need to get through one of my blogs. This one is a long one.

I intended on going to the Farmer's Market, but couldn't make it due to the fact that I didn't fall asleep until about 7:30 Saturday morning. When I woke up I wasn't interested in fresh veggies or much of anything else for that matter. To the shower & out the door.

I walked a few blocks to Centerfest,

That's part of downtown Durham in the background.

where I visited with my friend Jenni. I hadn't seen her in a while, so it was nice to catch up...in between her customers. We chatted & enjoyed smoothies, my pick was mango; yummy & the only think that could have made it better would have been a bit of pineapple rum. After we'd chatted up a storm it was time for my next mission so off I go searching for someone.

Who was it, you ask? Well it was Miss JJ of Rosy Revolver. I"ve been following her blog & admiring her incredible talent so I was excited to finally meet her & her jewelry in person. She is just as lovely in person as you would imagine & her pieces are even more than you would expect. So feminine & somewhat old fashioned or Victorian with an edge (I'm talking about the jewelry, not JJ). All I could do is ramble about the weather & fondle the rings, earrings & pendants that were displayed in front of me. I'm not sure what we talked about, but her jewelry is still etched in my mind. I had to leave because I heard the all too familiar wail of the gentle siren calling me home. I knew what I had to do & where I had to go.

I ran into this little fellow on my way out of Centerfest & he followed me home. He's going to live with my Mom. He's made out of left over steel from barges so he'll feel more at home a little closer to the water.

As I left Centerfest my feet took me to the left, then the right, then the left, right, right:

Oh, that was the call!! Like an old friend...the door's always open. I didn't know there was going to be a Dead Celebrity Party that night, but was quickly recruited to draw & cut stars out of glitter paper. Seriously?? Glitter paper?? Do you know how hard glitter is to get rid of when you get it all over you? By the time I was finished I looked like a Vegas show girl that had had a Care Bear throw up on her.

Time for the party. I didn't dress up, but the employees did. This is my friend & bouncer, Toa. I'm not sure who he is dressed up to be but it is not King Kamehameha. Toa is from Hawaii, but he's Samoan, not Hawaiian & very adament about that fact. He also used to be a wrestler, is related to The Rock (Toa's his uncle) & has a voice like an angel....a very manly angel.

This is Susan aka Judy Garland. I loved that she stepped out of the normal "Dorothy" Judy & went with the older, sassier Judy. Susan's wearing the fishnet & heels under that long blazer & looked absolutely perfect.

Now here's Chrystal. She started off as a bartender here several years ago & has found herself on the business end of the bar. She bought the bar a couple of years ago, but still enjoys slinging drinks a couple of nights a week. I've known Chrystal since she first started working here &we've become quite close...I actually made her wedding cake about 5 years ago. I tried to get a better shot of Chrystal, but if the music's playing & customers ordering, Chrystal's going to be moving.

She's Lili Von Shtupp. Lili is the saloon singer in Blazing Saddles played by Madeline Kahn.
Here's my first shot of her.....zroom......

I finally got her (after many tries). How great does she look?? Chrystal still loves to dress up & has been known to wear a pink wig & tutu at work just because it's a Tuesday. BTW, she makes a great Betty Page.

Don't I have beautiful & creative friends?? What would I do without them to make me smile?

The End.

Is it that time??

2009-09-18T15:59:00.008-04:00

No, it's not the holidays yet but I made this for a secret project. I can't disclose what it is but it is something. tee hee!! I'll show you the finished project when it's ready..probably within the next month or so. This little thing was a thorn in my side. It's only a little over 1/2" long & 2-sided. I realized I needed to make it 2-sided after I'd completed it & tumbled it for 3 hours. Oh well..back to the bench. I didn't get a photo of the back of it..I forgot. I think I may make up a few of these (1-sided) for little earrings for the shop, but I'm not trying it anytime soon. I'm still a little bitter.

This is my nod to Halloween. I wasn't sure I was going to try to do anything for Halloween, but decided to try one pair of little earrings. These are little babies at 1/2" but they're going in the shop sometime this weekend.

I hope y'all have a great weekend!!

xoxo

What is it?

2009-09-16T15:18:00.012-04:00

It's a dogwood seed pod.

The trees can smell the impending Fall & are getting ready for their Winter's rest; the mercury, however, has decided to fight the calendar. This is usual NC weather for our shiftless season changes... typically vaccilating from balmy to brisk, sometimes within a few hours. We are lured into complacency that we have made it through another sultry Carolina summer, then blasted with the heat & humidity that leaves us breathless & sticky. We are taunted by cooler days & even cooler nights buckled in by humid days & hot nights until we are finally granted a reprieve....at least until Spring.

My dogwood is getting ready for Winter so it can give me this in the Spring:

My trees are very good to me.

Have a great day Puppies!!

Remember

2009-09-11T08:07:00.007-04:00

8:45 a.m. (all times are EDT): A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center, tearing a gaping hole in the building and setting it afire.

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes. Both buildings are burning.

9:43 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of smoke. Evacuation begins immediately.

10:05 a.m.: The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses, plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris forms and slowly drifts away from the building.

10:10 a.m.: A portion of the Pentagon collapses.

10:10 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93, also hijacked, crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.

10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center's north tower collapses from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing a tremendous cloud of debris and smoke.

CNN.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember the taste of fresh strawberries and the smell of the first snowfall.

Remember the laughter from the playground and the sound of the waves.

Remember the first sight and the quickening heart beat.

Remember to love and to be loved

Video (and artwork) by SplitPZ. Music & Vocals by Sara E Morris.

Here's Candy

2009-09-03T11:07:00.005-04:00

Edited: Candy's Lariat is here.

Inspired by the lariats made by Lisa and Carolyn I decided to add something a little more sassy to my Candy's Heart line. Photographed on the real Candy, who by the way, loves her new namesake. I realize it's not the best photo in the world, what with the beer guy in the background, but this necklace needed a live model, and not just any model; this necklace needed Candy.

I added another little heart to the "lariat" portion of the necklace, but couldn't decide if it should stay or go. I decided it dressed up the otherwise somewhat stark, somewhat organically shaped circle.

I really like the way this little pretty turned out & I hope you do too. She'll be in the shop the afternoon (Candy's Heart, not Candy).

I hope you all have a safe & wonderful Labor Day weekend.

xoxo

Beautiful Day

2009-08-31T13:48:00.004-04:00

This photo was not taken today, but I love the bright red entangled in the emerald green. He's a pretty boy.

This is a beautiful day in Carolina. Not your standard "Chamber of Commerce" beautiful day, but everything seems so fresh. The skies are gray, but the trees are green. It's like they're opening up to savor the day, unemcumbered by the smoldering heat & the oppressive humiity. It is 2:00 in the afternoon and it's only 68 degrees with little sprinklettes of rain. This lusciously cool weather makes my body & mind want to stretch; it's an awakening of sorts. Fall is my favorite time of the year..it's a reprieve from the claustrophic summer because the air is crisper & lighter & even the squirrels seem to sigh with relief. This is Carolina so it'll be back to 90 degrees in a few days, but for today we can breathe.

Coming Soon!!!

2009-08-29T01:54:00.002-04:00

My new version of Candy's Heart, modeled by the real "Candy". You won't see her face, but you will see her décolletage. Yeah, fancy name for cleavage. I have to take my random outdoor photos, but this piece needed a live model. Check back in a couple of days & see what I've come up with. If you have ideas on how to improve, please leave a comment. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. (((hugs)))

In Progress

2009-08-22T16:10:00.009-04:00

I'm working on something to expand my Candy's Heart line. I must admit that it is inspired by a few pieces that a couple of our favorite silversmiths have been producing. There are a few design elements that I'm hammering out before I take photos. I've shown it to several people & have gotten a pretty positive response from all of them. A couple of them wanted me to tell their boyfriends/husbands that they wanted one. I'm always a little uncomfortable doing that, so I'll leave it up to the ladies to make their wishes known. I wanted to get the real "Candy" to model the necklace, but alas, it may not come to fruition as her schedule is a bit harried for the next week or so.

I really need to get working on some staple pieces for my shop, but my muse has left. I don't know where she went, but I'm sure she's having more fun than I. At least I hope she's sleeping better than I. Insomnia is awful. How can something that is so natural become so ellusive? I sit here at night, really quiet so as not to "excite" myself into sleeplessness, but I still witness the wake up calls of the birds while the encroaching dawn permeates the darkness. Another night lost, which means another day lost. *sigh*

Nina Simone

2009-08-21T15:21:00.004-04:00

Mortar Love

2009-08-18T14:13:00.005-04:00

I'm not really a collector of things, just your run of the mill pack rat who's afraid to throw anything away because I'm sure I'll need it one day....right? I've been reorganizing my kitchen, cleaning out all of the cabinets, putting things I use regularly within reach & things I don't use on the tippy top shelves. It's been a really good thing. I love it when everything has it's place.

I noticed something when I was cleaning. I love mortars & pestles. I love to use them & I love having them around. I look for recipes where I can use my M & Ps. It wasn't until I gathered them all up that I realized the seriousness of my "crush" (get it?? teehee). I actually use all of these, well all but one, because it's pretty much useless except for a serving dish, but they each have a certain purpose.

The large one in the back & the one in the center are molcajetes. They are from Mexico & made out of lava rock. I bought them new so I had to "season" them myself. Not an easy task. The insides are still a bit rough, but great for making salsas, guacamole, etc. The other one in the back is from Thailand is made of granite. That's the work horse. I can pound out pesto or most anything else in that one. The green one on the right is a Japanese mortar & pestle & has a rough bottom. I like to use that one for breaking up dried herbs & spices. The little marble one is for my peppercorns & anything round that likes to fly out of the other mortars. The mushroom shaped pestle keeps my victims where I want them. The wooden one on the left is the Diva....looks pretty, but that's it. The pestle is too round to get good contact with the mortar so she just sits around & hold things. The wooded one in the front is my garlic pounder from Syria. It is unfinished & I only use it for pounding garlic. This one gets most of my attention because I cook with garlic a lot.

I'm sure this has got to be the most boring post ever, but I'm feeling pretty boring today. Maybe the next time I'll show you my wooden spoons. Just kidding!!

I just found more of my favorite butane (Zippo) so I'll be firing up the torch to make more pretties. I'm trying to come up with a few staple pieces for my shop, but haven't really had any luck so far. I'll keep the Candy's Heart, but each one needs to be photographed because each one turns out so differently. I feel like I need to have a few simple earring designs that I can keep relisting as they sale (hopefully).

Well, I think I've done you in for the day, but just imagine how much more exciting your day will seem after reading this. Remember my hummingbird post?? Oh, the excitement of that one!!

OK, Puppies!! Have a great day!!

I just noticed that I have prattled on forever in this dissertation of my M & Ps. Sorry. :]

Candy's Heart Re-list

2009-08-10T16:40:00.004-04:00

I just re-listed Candy's Heart. I hope this one finds a new home as quickly as the last two...I don't want to get too attached.

Just Listed

2009-08-07T18:12:00.003-04:00

I just listed this Cathedral Agate in my shop today along with a pair of danglies. I'm working on another mended heart because someone wonderful bought the second one I listed.

I have no big plans for this weekend. I need to run some errands & work on a couple of new pieces...if i actually run my errands. I gotta get more butane, groceries, printer ink..all kinds of exciting things.

Ya'll have a great weekend & I hope you have fun. What are you gonna do?

Silver & a Little Jasper

2009-08-03T11:27:00.004-04:00

New in my shop.

I've sold several of these around town & one went to Afghanistan (as a lucky token) with a friend of mine. I haven't heard from him, but hopefully he'll come strolling back soon.

**Edited**

A Fine Distraction included me in her treasury. My first treasury ever!!! Well, I go to Etsy this morning & I have a convo from her congratulating me on my first sale. My first sale!!! The little mended heart is going to a new home in Vegas, baby!!!

This is my newest "baby" that went to her new home Friday. This one was hard to let go, but I can't keep them all. The photo isn't great, but I snapped it quickly because I had to get it boxed up. The stone guy told me it was a lahontonite jasper, but I bought it because it looks like the sea oats on the beach at my beloved OBX. I've never seen a stone like this, probably never will, but we had our time. *sigh* I miss her so.

New Pets!!

2009-07-30T10:54:00.008-04:00

Well, they're not really mine, but I feed them & they fuss at me when the food gets low (akin to Dakota). I have some crazy little hummingbirds that have decided that my feeders are the best thing since..well, since a readily available food source. (I don't think that made any sense.)

This feeder is right outside my front door, so I was able to get some photos of the little fellows. Look, I cleaned my window. The little blue spot to the left is the other feeder (IMO one of the best feeders I've ever had) so it's always entertaining to watch the 2 or 3 hummers fighting over the feeders. It's all fine, until I walk outside, then it's ducking & diving with safety glasses at the ready.

I got a shot of a couple of them vying for this feeder:

Well, that didn't bode well for one, but he's still hanging in there, waiting............

I'm working on another piece for a friends Mother. I've already taken it apart once. I had it completed, but it didn't look good to me; I liked the design, but not my workmanship. Oh well, this piece started off giving me trouble, so I should have known to just re-do before I completed the pendant. It's a really cool stone called Lahontonite...at least that's what the stone guy told me. Maybe tomorrow.

Y'all be good!!

PS. In case you didn't know, I thought I'd post a "recipe" for the hummingbird food. It's cheaper & better for the little ones than the bought food with the coloring added.

4 Cups water
1 Cup sugar
Heat water & sugar over the stove until the sugar has desolved (it doesn't have to boil). Let cool & store in the fridge. I think I have 2-3 hummingbirds, but I go through about a recipe a week. They're very thirsty.

Stone Porn!!!

2009-06-25T09:06:00.006-04:00

*Edited*

I finally have one little item in my shop, but will be working on new pieces this weekend.

I've been trying to be a good girl & utilize the stones that I already have, but I've failed. I couldn't turn these down. I bought these off of Etsy as a lot from an estate sale. It's lovely to have all of these stones to look at & hold, but some of the stones have not been identified. Could anyone please help me?

These are the ones I'm not sure about. I think the little green round at the bottom may be aventurine & maybe the 2 "clear" ones Montana Agate, but I could very well be wrong.

I've been MIA for a while, but I think I'm back now. Sometimes life gives you lemons & you don't have any sugar for the lemonade, so you just do the best you can. Occasionally, doing the best you can still isn't good enough so you just have to pull yourself up & move on...with or without the sugar. Sorry to be such a downer...I'm doing better now (aren't you glad I was MIA during my "dark" period????). I'm working on a few new pieces so I'll be posting again soon.

Y'all be good.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!

2009-05-24T11:45:00.005-04:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. I haven't blogged in a while, but I've had some things happening not necessarily good things, but things nonetheless.

I made a couple of pieces for a friend of mine as a gift to his girlfriend for her birthday. After he gave them to her she broke up with him. Was it something I did??? Anyway, I told him that I would buy the pieces back from him, clean them up, give them a little good mojo & see what I could do with them. The ring has already sold.

This stone is Agua Nueva from Mexico. Mexico really does have some of the prettiest stones. It's hard to tell from the pic, but the blurry bit under the granulation was my attempt to texturize a little leaf under the "flower". Back to the drawing board on that one. I did have a little solder blow out on the bottom, but the ring got the "oops" price & the buyer is more than happy with the ring.

This is a little piece of sea glass that I bezel set. I wasn't able to get the bezel completely flush with the top of the glass, but I kinda like the "waves"; it seems appropriate somehow. I made the "buoy" bail with some twisted wire I had ordered for no particular reason & decided to use it. I'll use it again, probably for the same purpose.

I love sea glass, but it can be a bit of a pain to find a piece that even wants to get acquainted with a bezel, much less one that will let a bezel embrace it like an old friend. This is a piece of white sea glass & I cut the back out of it so the light can shine through. If you look through the sea glass you can see the beach. Well, maybe you have to use your imagination a little.

I hope y'all have a safe & fun weekend.

I've Got Stones!!!

2009-05-09T15:40:00.014-04:00

One of my mail carriers brought these to me today. Yes, I have about 4-5 different mail carriers. I rarely see the same one 2 days in a row...I don't understand. Anyway, this should be a lesson to you kiddies Do NOT order stones without checking the size of said stones.

Oh, BTW, the shells did not come with the stones a little squirrel didn't clean up after himself.

The ginormous stone on the right is said stone. I'll have to keep this stone until I get a Big Girl's torch....I'll never get a bezel soldered with my little butane torch. this stone is approx.

1 3/4" X 1 1/2"

See?? My little torch is skeered.

Dakota couldn't understand why I was standing on my back porch & not paying attention to her, as she really digs attention & sometimes gets a little miffed if she's not the center of attention.

She tries to be aloof:

Then she pouts and plays the "poor, pitiful me". It's not like she's a drama queen or anything.

Y'all have a blessed day & Happy Mother's Day!!!

Headed to Mexico

2009-05-01T10:56:00.007-04:00

Well, I'm not but these pieces are........eventually. I completed this custom order which was not due until August, but the solder was flowing so nicely for me that I just couldn't stop with the fire!! AAhhh, good times, good times. These are all going to my friend's Tias, Abuela, y Madre in Mexico. Araceli hasn't seen her family in Mexico in a few years and she wanted to take them a love gift. These little babies still need their jewelry, but that will have to wait until my mail carrier brings the chain I ordered. It's fun to think of jewelry having jewelry. Kinda like getting Dakota (my dog) a dog, which I have actually considered. Dakota could walk her dog & teach her dog tricks.....hmmmm. Ok, I need to step away from the edge of this abyss or I will start rambling. No, I'm not rambling yet, but I'm never more than a couple of thoughts away. Is it any wonder that I have insomnia?

Back on topic (sorry)

I'm still working on my photography, I'll get it, I promise. It's pollen season in NC, so the stones still have a slight chartreuse patina, even thought I kept wiping them off. My truck has been several shades of chartreuse for the past month, not a very attractive color for a black truck. Does that make sense??

I'll have another order ready to go by this afternoon, I know!! I can't seem to stop, but my poor hands are telling me that they need some healing time.

Y'all take care , be safe & wash your hands.

For my Mom & Grandma & a little extra

2009-04-23T10:14:00.006-04:00

Here are the pieces I made for my Mom & Grandma. My Grandma gets the Sea Glass. It was my first attempt at setting something that wasn't polished & buffed for the purpose of being enveloped in silver. It was easier than I thought, but it is a small piece. The Ocean Jasper (my new favorite) is for my Mom. They have been such a support system for me in so many aspects of my life that this is just an infinitesimal token of the appreciation & love I feel for them. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have been given to these people as my family.

This is a little sneak peak of the filming going on in Durham. The movie "Main St" is being filmed a few blocks from my house & I snapped this while I was walking to my local watering hole. I haven't been able to get a pic of Orlando Bloom, but he's in the warehouse, I promise. It was getting ready to storm, so I wasn't going to wait (stalk) for him to run out..(that could have taken hours, or even days). It's amazing how long it takes to shoot a movie. I also don't have a pic of Colin Firth, Ellen Bernstyn or Patricia Clarkson, I do have a few of the crew, as they've adopted my little tavern & seafood restaurant as their "winding down" place. I'll thought I'd be able to get a couple more pics because they were supposed to film right in front of my favorite tavern, but the weather was not conducive to successful filming.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Midnight Garden

2009-04-13T10:28:00.007-04:00

This is my Midnight Garden. Not exactly a garden & not exactly Midnight, but it's the best I could do. Only during the Spring am I able to walk out on my screened back porch (also known as The Treehouse) and see my back yard glowing from the multitude of Dogwood blossoms. Soon the blossoms will be replaced by lovely leaves which will shade my back yard. The pic is blurry, but the wind was blowing such that it reminded me of being on the beach & watching the waves coming onto the shoreline.

These are the stones that my friend, Araceli picked out to for her wonderful family. She's told me a little of the personality of each one, so maybe I can incorporate a little of their personality into each piece. The stones are turquoise & crazy lace agate. I also started a sea glass pendant for my Grandma. She's such a great lady & has been so interested & supportive in my quest to take a piece of metal and make something pretty out of it. I'll post a pic when I get that completed.

Hope you all have a great Monday!!

It's Springtime!!

2009-04-11T11:59:00.002-04:00

Aahh!! Springtime in Carolina. It's time to put out the hummingbird feeders & stick your fingers into the dirt to wake everything up after our curiously inconsistent Winter. The ball park has opened & the Durham Bulls played their first home game on Thursday. I'm not a baseball fan, but I live close enough to hear the fireworks. Dakota, my precious dog, isn't so crazy about the "thunderous" noises heard on most game nights.
I had planned on walking to the Farmers Market to get some fresh veggies straight from the earth, but the morning got away from me. They close at noon, but they're also open a few hours on Weds afternoons...I'm really wanting a fresh salad.
I wasn't able to deliver the necklace to her new owner, but I did get another order for 7, yes seven, more pendants. A friend of mine, Araceli, is going to see her Tias and Abuela in Mexico in Sept. I have plenty of time, but want to get a jump in case I actually find a job between now & then.
I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday. Dakota is patiently waiting for me to take her out so she can explore & discover what creatures invaded her turf while she was sleeping.