My only goal for 2011 was to be published, and I met that goal! Other accomplishments were being a finalist in another beading contest, I opened my new Etsy store in July, one of my necklaces made the front page of Etsy France, I have created a Facebook fan page with a wonderful following, and had sales both on and off Etsy. Another high point had been receiving an email from a fan stating one of my very personal pieces had moved her & made her cry; that she identified with the feelings I was trying to express. I was elated that someone else actually understood; that my work touched another human being.
So looking ahead, more than anything in 2012 I want to improve, while retaining integrity and find a good balance between promoting and creating. To improve can mean so many things, so to be more specific I'd like to build up my store with more items - 100 or more being ideal by year end, without compromising on quality. I'd also like to improve on photography. I am going to enter contests again this year, but they will not be my main focus.
So as this year wraps up and in looking ahead, I will continue to challenge myself to learn, to break the rules & take risks, to not compromise myself or my values, and to do what makes me happy.
I also want to thank all my friends, family, and fans who have supported me. Each and every one of you has made me a better person and artist. I could not do all this without you, so THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
May the new year bring us all health, happiness, and peace.
~Happy New Year!~
Wishing all a very Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I'm simply taking a break until after the holidays. Contest season is soon approaching and I am planning lots of new designs for those and for my store.
I've started another blog, in which I will be moving my Meatless Monday Recipes to. So if you've been following those, please also follow my other blog, The Joy in Movement for more recipes & other fitness related items.
However, tonight I wanted to share two awesome posts on copyright that I came across recently. Great reads if you create, no matter your medium...
Somer Sherwood's post and Beki Haley's post.
If you're used to green bean casserole for the holidays, but wanting to try something else, this is an easy alternative.
Broccoli Casserole
10oz pkg frozen broccoli, thawed
2 - 10 3/4oz cans cream of mushroom soup
6oz pkg herbed stuffing mix
1/2 cup melted butter
Place broccoli & soup in a casserole dish, mix well. Toss stuffing with butter in a mixing bowl, add to casserole dish. Stir gently, bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes. Makes 4-6 servings.
*Another great sub for the same old green bean dish is to use Spiced Green Beans from your favorite Chinese restaurant and mix that dish with slivered almonds and pomegranate seeds.
Right before Thanksgiving my computer of around 9 years decided to call it quits. I was devastated since nothing was backed up. I live behind my camera. I've photographed every piece of jewelry I have ever made, sold, given as gifts. On this computer were also photos of loved ones who had passed. Contracts, emails, bookmarks, photos of my wedding, all our vacations, my feather babies, etc were also lost.
However this weekend we were able to remove my old hard drive and recover everything! ***A huge THANK YOU to Fabio & SD!***
Anyway, I thought I'd share some favorite recovered photos & memories.
Charlotte Amelie, St Thomas - US Virgin Islands...
Boerner Botanic Gardens in Winter - Hales Corners, WI...
Sunrise in Fort Lauderdale, Florida...
Chacchoben Mayan Ruins Costa Maya, Mexico...
Mount Roberts Tram in Juneau, Alaska...
Charlotte Amelie, St Thomas USVI...
Johns Hopkins Glacier in Glacier Bay NP in Alaska...
Overlooking Yosemite NP in California from Glacier Point...
Cabana we rented on our anniversary in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas...
Sitka, Alaska...
The very first necklace/piece of jewelry I ever made in 2007...
My sweet feather babies...
In store soon...
Work in progress...
Recently acquired vintage Italian & German Lucite cabs...
*Cyber Monday Special... use coupon code - FREESHIPPING in my Etsy store for free domestic shipping*
Since Thanksgiving is this week, I've decied to post an easy dessert that is a favorite of ours.
Cannoli Pie
15oz part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Creme de Cacao
Egg Beaters, equivalent of 2 eggs
2 tbs sugar
3 tbs mini chocolate chips
1/8 tsp salt
1 chocolate graham cracker pie crust
Combine first 6 ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth. Pour into pie crust and bake in a pre-heated oven at 300F for one hour. Cool at room temperature then chill. Garnish with whipped topping, chocolate chips, and cherries.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Last Art Venture of the year - Saturday, November 19th downtown Racine 6-9pm. New gallery exhibits, music & dance, artist demonstrations, culinary arts, FREE admission to the Racine Art Museum, and author, Bead & Button magazine editor, & Swarovski ambassador Anna Elizabeth Draeger will be at Funky Hannah's Beads & Art showcasing her work and book signing.
My entry, Lemon Twist, is #11 for the November Etsy Beadweavers Challenge (EBWC), Totally Twisted.
I decided to finally take on a new spiral technique to create the single twisted ribbon left of center. On the right I used one of my favorite corkscrew spirals doubled. As one may notice, I have a preference for asymmetric designs and rarely like things that are perfect, even, or common. In the center I've bead embroidered 2 cat's eyes glass cabochons. I originally designed this piece to have the bottom yellow teardrop suspended from two tiny twisted spiral ropes with a grey cat's eye glass bead centered between. I stitched it all together and it looked way to "busy" to me so last night I cut them off and re-stitched the two cabochons directly to one another for a cleaner look.
Yellow is one of my least favorite colors & I seem to mostly gravitate towards black, purple, and green, so I thought I would attempt something outside my comfort zone. I fell in love with the soft, buttery Delicas as soon as I saw them and knew they would be the shade of yellow I'd work with. You can see more pictures of this necklace in the actual listing HERE.
This piece took longer to complete than expected, the new spiral was for me very fiddly; awkward to hold and insert a needle into, but I do love the finished look and will do a smaller piece using that spiral soon. I much prefer the basic twisted spiral rope (as seen in my last necklace, Blue); I can almost do it with my eyes closed and find it very meditative to stitch.
Broccoli Manicotti
2 tsp EVOO
14 manicotti tubes
4 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
2/3 cup Vanilla Rice Milk
4 tbs EVOO (for brushing)
1 cup ricotta cheese
6 tbs grated parmesan
pinch nutmeg
salt & pepper
1 jar Prego mushroom sauce (or any marinara)
Preheat over to 375F. Lightly brush 9x13 pan with EVOO. Bring large saucepan of water to a boil, add EVOO to water, simmer manicotti uncovered 6-7 minutes. Steam broccoli for 10 minutes. Drain pasta & rinse in cold water. Drain broccoli & cool, then blend until smooth. Place breadcrumbs in a bowl, add milk & oil, stir until softened. Add ricotta, broccoli, nutmeg, & 4 tbs parmesan. Season with salt & pepper. Pour sauce in baking pan. Pipe cheese mixture into tubes, then lay in sauce. Brush tops with EVOO & sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Bake 25-30 minutes.
*Edited to add my thoughts after making/eating...
This dish was a little bland in my opinion, but very filling. It said it served four, but I think if served with soup/bread/salad it could serve 6-10. I would further tweak this recipe by adding a generous 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes, oregano, and sweet basil and maybe 1/2 cup less breadcrumbs and would switch the plain breadcrumbs to Italian ones. I would also swap out the parmesan for mozzarella.
OK so technically it is Tuesday, but only by a few minutes!
This recipe has been adapted from an old Vegetarian cookbook, although I'm not sure which one, since any recipe that is really good and used regularly gets printed out on a piece of paper and thrown into my recipe folder. This delicious pairing of beans and pasta is a complete protein.
Chickpea & Rosemary Soup
2 tbs EVOO
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tbs rosemary
2 - 14 1/2oz cans diced tomatoes
2 - 15 1/2oz cans chickpeas, rinsed, 1 can mashed
6 cups water
1 tsp salt
8oz ditalini pasta
In large pot over medium heat warm olive oil. Add garlic and rosemary, stir and cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes with liquid, chickpeas, 6 cups water, and salt, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add pasta and cook 10 minutes more.
In store soon...
I'm currently finishing a pair of Christmas earrings, pictures up later in the week.
3 gorgeous stones acquired over the weekend, will be working with soon...
In store soon...
I'm currently finishing a bead embroidered brooch and a beadwoven ring.
And my latest treasury...
This recipe was created by yours truly.
Vegetable Pizza
1 Boboli whole wheat pizza crust
1 5.5oz can tomato paste (I only use about half)
6-8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 lrg red onion, chopped
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1-2 cups shredded monterey jack/colby cheese blend
1 tsp of the following:
oregano
sweet basil
Italian seasoning
Brush the tomato paste on the pizza crust, leaving 1/2" around the crust without. Sprinkle half of the seasonings over the sauce then layer garlic, onion, and broccoli on top of the tomato paste. Sprinkle enough cheese to cover the pizza and sprinkle the remaining seasonings on top. Bake as directed on Boboli package.
I am addicted. I can't stop listening to music & creating playlists and adding songs to them. I like every type of music except for rap and hip hop, so this is such a gift. I am not affiliated with them in anyway, so if this sounds like a commercial, it is just because I am very impressed with the selection of free music available.
If you sign up, you do have to sign up with your Facebook account, but once signed up, go to edit, then preferences and unclick "show what I listen to on Facebook" and "automatically publish new playlists" - unless you want others to see what you're listening to.
You used to need an invitation from a member to use this service but it is now available to all. Check it out if you listen to music while online!
I'm not sure where this recipe has been adapted from. I scribbled it down on a piece of notebook paper and stuffed it in my recipe folder. We always eat it as is the night it is made and then use it for burrito filling the next few days.
Mexican Lentil Casserole
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded & chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 cups water
1 cup dried green or brown lentils, rinsed
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 5.5oz can tomato paste
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 tsp chili powder
1 small bag Doritos or taco chips
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
In large saucepan saute onions, green peppers, & celery in oil on medium heat 5 minutes. Add water and bring to a boil. Stir in lentils. Cover, reduce heat, simmer 40 minutes. In lightly oiled casserole dish combine all ingredients except chips & cheese. Bake uncovered 20 minutes @ 350F. Sprinkle chips and cheese on top and bake 5 minutes more.
I decided to finally take on a new spiral technique to create the single twisted ribbon left of center. On the right I used one of my favorite corkscrew spirals doubled. As one may notice, I have a preference for asymmetric designs and rarely like things that are perfect, even, or common. In the center I've bead embroidered 2 cat's eyes glass cabochons. I originally designed this piece to have the bottom yellow teardrop suspended from two tiny twisted spiral ropes with a grey cat's eye glass bead centered between. I stitched it all together and it looked way to "busy" to me so last night I cut them off and re-stitched the two cabochons directly to one another for a cleaner look.
Yellow is one of my least favorite colors & I seem to mostly gravitate towards black, purple, and green, so I thought I would attempt something outside my comfort zone. I fell in love with the soft, buttery Delicas as soon as I saw them and knew they would be the shade of yellow I'd work with. You can see more pictures of this necklace in the actual listing HERE.
This piece took longer to complete than expected, the new spiral was for me very fiddly; awkward to hold and insert a needle into, but I do love the finished look and will do a smaller piece using that spiral soon. I much prefer the basic twisted spiral rope (as seen in my last necklace, Blue); I can almost do it with my eyes closed and find it very meditative to stitch.
Please visit our team blog
between the 9th and the 15th to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and vote for your favorite entry!
I've been working hard on a beadwoven and bead embroidered necklace, in hopes of finishing by this Monday. I tried a new-to-me stitch for part of the necklace and it has been quite fiddly and taking much longer than I thought it would. I'm hoping to have more time to blog once I finish this beast.
Here are a few beautiful treasuries from the past week...
Vegetable Curry & Saffron Rice
2 cups Lundberg Long Grain Brown Rice
2 tbs butter
1 tsp Penzeys Spices Maharajah Curry Powder w/ Saffron
4 cup water
5lbs potatoes, peeled & diced
3 yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lrg carrot, peeled & diced
1 red bell pepper, washed, seeded & diced
3 handfuls green beans, rinsed, trimmed, & cut
1 bag frozen peas
1 bag frozen cauliflower pieces
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup Vanilla Rice Milk
1 tbs vegetable oil
Morningstar Farms Chic Patty, baked & diced
1 - 1 1/2 tsp each:
garam masala
cinnamon
coriander
cumin
yellow curry powder
red curry powder
sweet curry powder
crushed red pepper flakes
ginger
cardamom
tumeric
aleppo pepper
Put the first 4 ingredients in a tightly lidded pot and cook as directed on rice package - bring to boil, stir, then simmer 50 mintues & fluff with a fork. Put aside.
Put potatoes in large pot of water and boil approx 10 minutes or until they start to lose firmness, but not too soft. Drain and put aside.
Heat 1 tbs of vegetable oil & ginger in a large pot, then add onions until translucent. Add garlic, carrots, red bell pepper, green beans until heated. Stir and add half of all spices. Stir again and add half of tomatoes, peas, cauliflower, and potatoes. Cook 7 minutes, stir and add remaining ingredients and spices. Stir and cook another 10 minutes. Serve over rice. Add Morningstar Farms Chic Patties for a meat substitute on top or mixed in (optional).
And, since I didn't post any last week, here is my latest treasury...
I normally post a meatless dinner recipe every Monday, but I figured it is about time for a dessert. Perfect for upcoming holidays & any chocoholic, these cookies are more like brownies, but delicious. Adapted from a 2001 magazine. Enjoy!
Death by Chocolate Cookies
16 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, divided
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 Egg Beaters
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Heat oven to 350F. Coarsely chop 8 squares of chocolate & set aside. Microwave remaining 8 squares in lrg. microwavable bowl on HIGH 1-2 minutes. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in sugar, butter, Egg Beaters, and vanilla. Stir in flour & baking powder. Stir in reserved chocolate. Drop 1/4 cupful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-13 minutes, or until cookies are puffed and feel set to the touch. Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies.
Here is a sneak peek at two new bracelets, in store soon...
A bunch of cabochons, 5 beads, and a piece of beach glass I've been glueing the past week for upcoming bead embroidery projects...
I'm currently working on next month's Etsy Beadweavers challenge, Totally Twisted, as well as another Christmas bracelet, and a bead embroidered & woven necklace.
Here is my latest treasury and one my Blue necklace has been featured in...
Here is my entry, Blue (#14 Black Grey Bead Embroidered Necklace), for the October Etsy Beadweavers Challenge (EBWC), Inspired by Picasso.
I originally chose one of Picasso’s cubist paintings for my inspiration, but I happened upon The Tragedy and it really struck something in me. When I discovered that it was created after learning of his friend’s death and began Picasso’s Blue Period (blue tones dominated his paintings from 1901-1904), I knew I had to explore this further. I completely identify with the sense of loss & darkness in The Tragedy, having lost my good friend of 25 years last Sept 22nd and watching my father suffer numerous health challenges being on hospice the past four months, soon to pass.
I incorporated a piece of blue beach glass and shell beads to represent the beach/water, three coral branches to represent the three mourning figures, while weaving in various shades of blue & gray, along with black and green seed beads to reflect the overall mood. I wanted to convey the veil of sadness that weighs heavy over your heart, the uneven sharpness, the downward spiral of emotions you can’t escape when grieving, without being too dark or ugly. You can see more pictures in the actual listing here.
I completely enjoyed this challenge; learning more about Picasso, being able to release some of my own blue feelings, and of course creating something new and original.
Please visit our team blog
between the 9th and the 15th to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and vote for your favorite entry!
Since I haven't posted any treasuries for some time, here are a few for your enjoyment!
Click on each photo to enlarge.
