Cold on the outside, warm and toasty on the inside

FOODIE FRIDAY...
So I'm planning what I'm going to cook this weekend.
It's really cold here in the midwest so I'm looking for something that cooks for a real long time. I think I'll try this!

It cooks for 3.5 hours! That should keep the house warm!
Then I also though I'd cook up a pot of this awesome Bolognese. I've made it before and it's really, really good. This picture does not do it justice, it has great depth of flavor. And you can freeze it to heat it up later for a quick weeknight supper.

And to go with the roast I thought I'd try this recipe.


So looks like I'm going to be warm and toasty and full this weekend!

Cabin Fever

When I don't have anything to talk about here I usually surf the world wide web for inspiration.
Today at desire to inspire
I found these photo's from the Firmdale hotels with 6 London locations and a new one to open in SoHo in October.
I can't even believe these are hotel rooms! All of them are just amazing! I wouldn't be seeing much of London if I was staying in one of these rooms.





Marcia also blogged about an inn she stayed at in Ojai, California called The Blue Iguana Inn. Which is a pretty cool place, and so is it's sister inn The Emerald Iguana Inn.






Two completely different feels, both great places to spend a long weekend, at the very least!
I can't choose, which one is your favorite?

While the Husbands away...

So this doesn't happen too often, but the DH had to go out of town for work, so I was left to my own devices for the night. Happy Dance!
Let me just for the record state that I am crazy about my DH, but I love my alone time too. The house to myself, quite, (DH loves his HD) make what ever I want for supper. That means cheese and crackers, with a glass of wine, of course. If it's summertime it will most likely be popcorn and beer! Is this making me sound like a booze hag, I'm not, I'm celebrating having the house to myself ,-)
Then I got to work on a necklace that's just for me! That's right Nina was saying in her blog to make something for yourself at least once a month, so I took her up on it! (go to her blog and watch the amazing video from yesterday)
I have some lamp work beads that I bought for myself at Bead and Button a few years ago. I chatted with the women I bought them from at Scorpio Beads and she told me to show her what I make with them. Like I said it's been a few years so I best get crack'n. This a picture of one of the beads she makes


pretty nice huh!
I'm having a great time making this for two reasons, 1. I'm designing it as I go along. 2. I don't have to keep track of my time like I do when I'm going to sell it. (3. it's pink and green, I know! I know, but you'll see why when I show you the picture) I started with a design I drew up, then once that was beaded I decide what to do next, draw a picture of that and started beading!
Yeah I know I'm a real fire cracker, DH gone, house to my self and I spend the nite making jewelry!
p.s for all you blogger's click on the logo in the upper left corner-MORE free backgrounds!

Picture not always so perfect

Soooo since I didn't get a chance to do my Foodie Friday on, a, Friday, I'll do it today!
I'm finding out that Tastespotting is a great place to SEE great looking food but the recipes don't always stack up to the picture. I'd say it's 50/50 though.
First Sunday morning I made these.



They were good but with some tweaking they could be REALLY good. I used 1C. white flour, 1 C. whole wheat. I only added half the sugar and I added 1 T. lemon juice. Next time I would add 4 T. lemon juice. I thought the strawberries might overpower the lemon in the pancakes so I used lemon curd instead. The lemon curd was too much lemon and with just syrup it wasn't lemony enough. We lightly spread lemon curd on the pancakes and then put some syrup on top and then they were pretty darn good.
On Sunday night I made this for supper



And it was Fantastic! My eggs didn't look as nice as the picture but they sure tasted good! And DH went nuts for the crouton's and he normally doesn't like crouton's! Can't wait to make this again!
Of course the lemon drops I made ( hate to waste all that juice from the pancakes!) paired nicely with it!

Guess I'm on a lemon kick.

I'm a love hater

I'm seeing stuff for Valentine's Day EVERYWHERE! I hate that. I, we don't celebrate it in our house. It's just commercialization at it's best. I would rather my DH bring me flowers any other day, and NOT red roses. Really just out of the blue, flowers, wouldn't you be shocked/thrilled. No one telling him/her to show their love, they do it just because!
Wear red because you like it, and you look damn good in it. And for crying out loud buy it handmade!

Etsy Update!
My etsy shop is updated with a few new bobbles. I'll be adding more through out the week. Oh and look my sidebar updated with out me doing a thing! Rachel is updating too. If you love boots you best get over there ASAP!



A steal at $54! Sadly I'm not a size 5.5 :-(

Blogs and Bobbles

NOW, I can not get enough of backgrounds and headers for this blog. So here some links that I found.



http://cristiscreations.blogspot.com/
http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates
http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/free/free-backgrounds.html
http://www.shabbyblogs.com/
And for you computer savvy people, use this one to build your own!
http://www.webfetti.com/dl/index.jhtml?partner=ZKxdm011&spu=true&sub_id=94908&spu=true&nbCode=OjI6VVM6R3Azbk1OWm5uOjk0OTA4Ojg3NDM5OmctcHo
My favorite is still the one from yesterdays blog though.
Now go play, I have bobbles to add to my etsy shop. Eeeeeeeeeeeee

Holy funk-O-tron!

I just found this site and started playing around with it, but now I have a job to work on. So go to her site and play. I know I will as soon as I'm done!

Let's do the time warp again!

Over the Christmas holiday there was talk about print and how it's falling to the wayside. All agreed that they wouldn't miss all the junk mail that gets delivered to them. A few stated that they get most of their news on the internet so don't really want the newspaper delivered. And I think we were split on ebooks vs print books being a favorite. But I said I love my magazines and would really miss sitting in the "queenie chair" Saturday mornings with a cup of joe going over the 2 magazines I get delivered, TWICE before putting them down. There's just something about holding it in your hands and getting so lost in the photos and stories. To drink it all in. I absolutely love that! And would not give it up... then I found this on the world wide web. I may have spoke too soon because I just spent over an hour looking at these and forgot I WAS AT WORK!



Click on the image at your own risk and by that I mean you could get lost in a time warp!

What I will, what I won't and what I want!

I can't believe I'm typing this but I decided to NOT take a class at Bead and Button this year. It's not 12:noon yet tho, so that could change!
Most techniques I know or have no interest in. This is not to say that there no amazing artist teaching because there are (see my post from Dec.16th) But taking a class learning someone else's spin on a stitch is not what I want. What I want is to make my own jewelry with my spin on any particular stitch. Also with the classes being expensive why not put that cash towards BEADS! And to be honest I really don't need any more beads either. So maybe I spend all my money on these wonderful pieces of art!

To see more of these artist just type in the name under the picture in the search box on etsy.

Awesome Artists

Wow, and you people think my eyes are bad after beading!!
They cut AROUND the veins on these!


Speaking of amazing artists, Andrew Thorton had some Basha beads on sale. If you never heard of basha beads here's what they look like


They're made by Barbara Basha. All of her beads are one of a kind and she only makes a limited amount. So when I saw these bead for sale on Andrews site I pounced. I will definitely show you what I make with them. But I tend to hoard them so it could be awhile.
Tomorrow sign up begins for Bead and Button Classes. I still haven't decided what class I will take. The prices really went up so it's a bit tuff to pick just one class. I mean a girl does need spending money!!! OR maybe I'll just go for the shopping. I really want to spend more time on my own designs, so maybe with the time off I'll do that instead. I'll fill you in tomorrow after 12 CST. But for now I'll leave you with one of my very own!!!

Eat this, not this

Today for foodie friday I'm going to do a take on that book thats out called "Eat this, Not this", it shows you the healthier meal to eat. I try to eat healthy most of the time, but with the foodnetwork and foodgawker and such I tend to get a bit distracted. It's the beginning of a new year so I trying even harder to be better. So tonight for supper
I'm making this:


NOT this




not that I'd make cookie's for supper, but I do want to bake these, TONIGHT!



On the etsy front I may have made a sale, we're in the middle of negotiations for matching earrings, YIPPY!
And I made a friend, Hi Amy, a fellow beader and blogger, click on her name to go to her blog it's a very nice one.

Dreaming Bigger

I am so lucky. I can "play" and make jewelry, but I also have a full-time job that allows me the freedom of "playing" when I can. I get to have fun AND pay the bills. What I'm getting at is alot of artist work full time on their art, and let's face it this is not the best time to be selling things that are not of necessity. A lot of them are struggling right now. So as I sit here this morning wondering why I get alot of views but no sales on my etsy site, I'll admit that I started to feel bad. Then I realized as much as I'd like to be like the artist I admire, stay home and make a living making my "art" all day, the reality is the job I go to everyday, that I hate, pays the bills. It's dependable. Selling your art not so much. You never know when the sales will slow or stop, your at the whim of buyers. I'm a born worrier (thanks Mom) I realize now if I was an artist who can pay the bills by selling my work, it could all dry up tomorrow. So instead of dreaming big and possibly not being able to pay the bills one day, I'll just dream bigger, that someday I'll make extra cash selling my "art". So if you've looked at my etsy shop and not bought anything I hope you bought something from a full-time artist instead. Here are just a few that I admire.



Nina Bagley


Miss Rachel Nelson-Smith



Sarah Clemens



Red Hot Pottery

Coke Head

Wow 2 weeks in a row of long weekends. That was too much fun. I beaded, ate and napped as promised! Oh how lovely life would be if I could live like that all the time. I still didn't do EVERYTHING I wanted to. I wanted to knit more and take pictures of the newest jewelry I made. If only the company I work at would have 4 day work weeks! Fa la la la la.. Actually what would be even better is if you didn't need as much sleep. I wish I could sleep for one whole week out of the month and then have the other three to get things done 24 hours a day. Think about that. Really, I wish I'd get more done everyday but sleep stops me from doing so. Ok it probably doesn't help that I get up at 4:AM to go to work, but still. And while I'm wishing it would be nice if it was sunny and warm those 3 weeks. Ok it's starting to sound like I want to be Mother Nature! No thank you, she's a real b@#%h, just ask any women over 48! Now that I think of it, it sounds like the life of a coke fiend! Don't need that either, although I would get skinner :-}

Food, Fun and Frolic!

Well I for one had a fabulous Christmas. Starting off with a holiday visit to my cousins house. It was nice to see my aunt and uncle and the kids too. The crown roast of pork was so tender and juicy, and the tarragon sauce to go with it so creamy, YUM. She said the pork was really easy to make, but I know it's expensive so I won't be making that anytime soon. Then 2 days of cleaning and cooking and wrapping presents. (Thank you DH for all your help) The inlaw's came over Christmas Eve. and can I just pat myself on the back and say they went nuts for my food! Who wouldn't with Prime Rib as the main course. It's so impressive, and trust me when I say soooo easy. Read the recipe you'll see what I'm talking about. Christmas Day I did spend the whole day at my sister's house. We may of gotten there a little too early. They were finishing breakfast and running around straitening up and doing the dishes. Sorry sis! But I needed to get cooking on the slow cooked pulled pork for the sandwiches I was making. It was worth the worry cause those were some yummy sandwiches. Of course the soup they made was good too. My sister makes the best red pepper soup, and my niece made spicy sausage with cheese tortellini soup that was fantastic, I'm making myself hungry cause I brought some for lunch today, yum! I also made 3 dips that were good but nothing to blog about. But this was, Panettone Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Syrup you had to get some quick cause it was gone FAST. What's not to love eggs, cream, bread! Did I mention I'll be starting a diet in the new year!? And by diet I mean eating right and exercising more.
Well I can't let this be just about food, it's isn't even friday for crying out loud. So here are some pictures I promised to post of the bracelet I made for DH's name for Christmas. Now I can tell you he had my nephew's wife's name. Like I said I was dying to make this bracelet from Rachel Nelson-Smiths new book, and here is how it turned out




I would of loved to have seen her face when she opened it. I did talk to her on Christmas, she said she loves it and can't wait to wear it.
She's due to have her baby boy any day now and as she's said the sooner the better. She can't fit into any of her clothes, but can't wait to wear it when she can. I used a little black vintage button that I had for the clasp then made 3 loops so it's adjustable, knowing that she be losing weight once she has the baby. Good luck sweet O and may my Mom be right when she said "once you have that baby in your arms you forget about the pain you went through! (and my I all so say, better you than me!)

It's friday for me!

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with this blog so good. We have been busier at work, which is a good thing, but it's the holiday season and I have menu's to plan damn it!
Speaking of menu's DH and I are going to my cousins house tonight for a holiday get together with his mom and step dad.
His wife is making, dumb tiddy dum, Crown of Roast Pork. I have never had this, but it sure looks impressive. See:



I'm bringing dessert. What do you bring (key word here since we're driving there) to go with such a fabulous meal? How about
Lemon Angel Food Cake (they love lemon desserts) with...wait for it Roasted Berries!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course that includes a dollop of Mascarpone whipped cream! Speaking of roasted berries, you should REALLY try this recipe. You know how when you buy berries and the taste is less than stellar, roasted them! It really intensifies the flavor. So good, I made these this past summer when they were all on sale, and just froze them to have all winter long. Talk about a little bit on summer in your mouth :-}
After today I'm off of work until Monday, yeah! Really looking forward to going to my sisters house for ALL of Christmas day.
We basically just sit around and chat, play games, open present, and CHOWDOWN! All 20 of us. I won't go into everything I'm making. I'll blog about my favorites after the fact. Reading that last sentence, I never in a million years thought I'd be typing THAT. Me blogging, ha.
Speaking of blogs, I checked my stats this morning and someone from San Francisco has checked out my blog TWICE! How exciting is that. From one of my favorite cities ever! Hello San Fran thanks for stopping by :-x.
Saturday is all about beading. I'm staying in my PJ's and beading, napping, eating, over and over again. Which hopefully means I'll have a few new things in the shop next week. Until then have a safe and magical holiday everyone!

Who knew...well you probably did

It's Christmas time the time of year that special holiday recipes come out.
Today's recipe is for this.



Honestly I have never had Peppermint Bark before. I know, I know, it's been offered I just always declined. I mean it just sounded like too much peppermint going on. They the other girl at work brought in Dove's Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark. OMG they are so good! With just a hint of peppermint. So now I want more and guess what it's "Limited Edition" and I can't find it ANYWHERE! Luckily I found this recipe on Epicurious. With 156 reviews it must be good! Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!

WooHoo!!!

Bead and Button class schedule is out! I wear that catalog OUT! Usually there's at least one class that I keep my fingers crossed that I'll get in. This year, not so much. Now I know I'm an advanced beader so it's pretty hard to wow me, there are some wonderful classes, the thing is I already know how to make it or it's really expensive. I remember the first year I went to B & B (5 yrs ago) the average class costed around $75, today it around $280!. As much as I like metal clay and lampwork beads, I've decided to stay with beadweaving because that's my absolute favorite. To be fair there are some amazing artist teaching this year that are also affordable. Of course my fav is Marcia. But Thomas Mann is teaching, wow! And Robert Dancik is there too. Of course the shopping is awesome. I do most of my bead buying then. You know a girl just has to see and touch before she buys :-}
Now if money was no object... or better yet, if you could pay with BEADS!!! I'd be all over these!








Go here to see all there is to offer!

Gawker!

I've always loved foodgawker and now I just found out there's a craftgawker!
How cool is that! I will be checking it out daily and hopefully some of my jewelry will be accepted. Here's just a few of my favorites.


from Kittyvet


from eleanors


from glitterpants (in case you didn't notice my banner, I have a "thing" for druzy's)

Foodie Friday!

This is the most moist, tender, easy, delicious pork loin I have ever made!


And I HAVE made alot of pork loin!