new color of float earrings made from the shiny pale pale blue blow up floatee that i bought at "this and that" in coconut grove. my friend and instructor rebecca at the yoga studio bought these little babies. she loved that i called them shiny pale pale blue. she said that it reminded her of teaching yoga in singapore. they don't have superlatives in their language so if you wanted to say that something had "more" or "to a greater degree" then you would say it twice. i thought this was really funny since chris always teases me for saying the phrase "pale pale" when talking about a color....but in my mind one pale is not enough to describe a really soft color...hence, shiny pale pale blue.
"no felt" earrings
special order"no felt' earrings that i made for a couple gal pals that always come and see me at the coconut grove show. thanks alisa and judy!! :O)
opal ring
okay, enough bananas.....here is a ring i made with an opal my aunt gave me to make into something for her. i have a few other special orders i will be making for several customers in coconut grove. i'll post 'em as they are finished :O)
to many bananas in the freezer nut bread
ingredients:
2 cups wheat flour or semolina flour...or combination of the two
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup of apple sauce
1/2 cup of honey
4 T ground flax seed
2 cups of overripe bananas
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup of carob chips
1 cup of raisins...if ya like em
1 1/2 cup of pecans
1 T cinnamin
1/2 tsp. stevia plus
....................................
preheat oven to 350 degrees.
mix wet ingredients together. mix dry ingredients together and combine the two, mix thoroughly. spray loaf pan and fill with batter. bake for one hour & 10 minutes. check after an hour to see if the inside is done. if not, bake another 15 minutes or so. the top will get really brown. actually the loaf in the picture looks done on the outside and the sides but when i sliced a few pieces the inside was still a little doughy.....so i will be cooking this a bit longer.
-the tray is one of chris' pieces and the cup is one of our friends' pots....rick dunn. he will be participating in the art of the pot tour this year in austin. i am so excited to see a bunch of his work. yippy!!
edamame mash
ingredients:
1 bag of shelled edamame
3-4 T fresh lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1/8 tsp. of cayenne pepper
your favorite sliced bread
vegannaise---optional
...............................................
cook edamame according to directions on the bag...drain water off.
once cooked and cool enough to handle take 3/4 of the cooked edamame (putting the other 1/4 aside), and lemon juice and put into blender. blend until fairly smooth.....if you have lumps don't worry this will just enhance the texture. remove mixture from blender and put into a large bowl.
chop remaining 1/4 of cooked edamame into small pieces (this will create some texture in the recipe...so chop to your liking, the larger the pieces the more texture and vice versa).
add chopped edamame, olive oil, salt and pepper to blended edamame and stir til incorporated.
use your favorite sliced or homemade bread......i really like it on a seedy/grainy bread with vegannaise and sprinkle of salt on it. i also make the sandwich with about 3/4" of the mash piled on my bread. yummer!!! i think that is on the menu for the weekend.
enjoy!!!
FYI: the proportions of the condiments in this recipe can be adjusted to your liking.......amounts listed are just a guess-stimate. if the flavor is to subtle add a little more lemon juice and salt, and maybe a splash more olive oil. i just created this recipe after i had it at a restaurant here in austin. it's super easy to make and very delish.
the bowl is by our great friend charity davis-woodard. www.lanesendstudios.com
frostee
my nieces olivia and meagan are artists too....they opted for the snowman!!!
i loved making a snowman when i was younger, but i always cried when the snow would get between my coat and gloves. makes me cringe just thinking about it. i think many would agree that in the grand scheme of things snow up the sleeve is no big deal nor is something like a paper cut, but apparently as told by my mom and dad i thought a paper cut was the end all be all when i was just a tyke. i would cry and cry and eventually forget about it. until of course i looked at it again, yep, more tears!! i would like to think that i have grown out of my fear of paper cuts...but i still wouldn't like the snow up my sleeve. i love the sun and warmth and not so much on loving the cold or freezing weather. anyway, my favorite part of the snowman was using the carrot for the nose. i guess i loved orange even back in the day.
winterwonderland
we woke up on sunday morning out at my parents place to a beautiful white blanket of snow. i think that same day it was 85 here in austin. i don't really miss the snow and ice living in austin but this was a real treat. not only was the snow beautiful, but it was also great packing snow for a snow ball fight or building a snowman.
st. louis here we come!!
here is our super cute stuffie toy.........we got this on our way up to st. louis over the summer. we stopped off at my favorite thrift store off highway 30 in arkansas. chris typically takes a power nap and i run in to see what the local goodwill has to offer. i found this great little stuffie for brinkley since i forgot to bring him some toys. brinkley is our baby.....puppy. well, he's not a puppy anymore, but he's still my baby-guy. the funny thing about this toy is it pretty much looks like him. you can't always see his eyes and it is pretty much an off white/tan color by now which is the same color of brinkley's fur. we call him neaner, beanie, bubba, zanzle, bean-bean, boobbie, bobbie-o-shanskie, that's just to name a few. chris and i have this "thing" where we have nicknames for each other and brinkley that always evolve and change as the days pass. i know, don't ask!! anywho, this stuffie made me think of our last trip to st. louis since we are heading there tomorrow.
we are going to see my family, my show at the xen gallery, and apparently some ice and snow. i hope it's not to bad i am hoping to go to some of my favorite places while i'm there. first up, FOOD, india rasio in the central west end (my absolute favorite indian restaurant in st. louis) followed up by mezzanine to see anna and her fabulous collection of clothing, body care goodies, and assortment of handmade jewelry. we have plans to see the "body worlds" show at the science center, then hopefully hit a few thrift stores, the contemporary art museum, a belated christmas celebration with the family and special time with both my grandma's. hope we can squeeze it all in.
st. louis OR bust!!
collection of float earrings
a few more "float earrings". i had the metal elements finished before i left for coconut grove. so i sewed up a few pillows during the show and on the plane. yep, i have a hard time sitting still. unless i am curled up with a good book or magazine and on the couch with my "couch woobie" i have a difficult time just being still without doing something with my hands. that's why i love bikram yoga because it makes me stop and be still and quiet for a significant period of time. :O) oh yay, the earrings.......
the strawberry and orange earrings are from two different rain ponchos.
the sage green pair is from a shower curtain.
and the white pair is from the child's crib sheet.
i will be posting these on my site for sale in the near future when i figure out where to put them.
pale blue doll floatee
this was my score at "this and that". a thrift shop that was across the street from the hotel in coconut grove. i'm not certain that it is for a doll but i can't imagine that it could be for anything else. whatever the original function, i will be using it to make pillows. the pale pale shiny blue will make some yummy lil' softees. Yippity!!!
orange felt box
here is my new box......yep, i know that i said i was going to make a sage green one. BUT, when i saw the orange felt i new that i wanted to make an orange box. it is made of sterling, copper, orange felt, orange plastic from a rain poncho, thread. i am just now...finally uploading the picture because it wasn't finished when i left for the show in miami. i ran out of beads with about 8 rows left to go, grrrr!!! thanks to express mail i just ordered more and had them sent to the hotel. i new i would have time to finish it on thursday while we were hanging out in the hotel that evening. i didn't have to set up until friday so i had plenty of time. all and all the show was a huge success and a rockin' time. if you would like to see other shots of the orange box just go to the website and click on the box page.
thank you trish for being my partner in crime for the week and hanging out and helping me at the show. many thanks and warm wishes to all who came out to support me & my work and offer kind words, a hug, or a smile. it's all of you that make the coconut grove show worth leaving my nest :O)
beet, fennel orechiette salad
chris made this for us on saturday night. it is surely one of our top five favorite meals. we originally had it at our friends noah and margaret's when they were living in austin last summer.
beet, fennel, almond & orechiette salad:
3 medium golden or red beets, washed
4 T olive oil
salt
black pepper
1 cup of almonds
2 cups dry orecchiette pasta
1 cup thin slice radicchio
3/4 cup thin slice fennel bulb
1/4 cup chopped fennel fronds
1/2 cup diced scallions
1/4 cup chopped fresh italian parsley
1/3 cup lemon vinaigrette
preheat oven to 350
make pouch out of foil, place beets in foil pouch. drizzle with oil and salt and pepper. seal pouch. bake for an hour on center rack in oven. make sure you can pierce with fork easily or bake a bit longer. when tender allow to cool, peel skin off and but in cubes... i have also just boiled these and it is just as yummy.
toast almonds in a dry skillet for 10-15 minutes til brown and you can smell em.
boil orecchiette pasta for 10-12 minutes with salted water. when tender drain off water and toss with a splash of olive oil. put pasta in a large bowl. add beets, toasted almonds, radicchio, fennel bulbs and fronds, scallions and parsley. set aside to make lemon vinaigrette.
lemon vinaigrette: makes 1 1/4 cups
1 T dijon mustard
2 t red wine vinegar
1/3 cup squeezed lemon juice
1 t honey
1 T freshly grated lemon zest
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
combine all ingredients except the olive oil and wisk together. then wisk in olive oil adding in as a stream to prevent separation. add dressing (1/3 cup is what the recipe calls for but i use a little more) to salad along with salt and pepper and toss.
this recipe is an adapted version from the macrina cafe favorites cookbook.
the bowl is one of chris' pieces.
enjoy :O)
"float" pillow earrings
here's my new earrings that i finished last night. the sage green "float" earrings are made of plastic from a shower curtain, polyfil, thread and sterling . i am hoping to make several more pair for my show in miami. it's getting down to the wire though....we leave (me and my girlfriend trish) on thursday, february 14th. i really need to get started on my box. i want to make one of my beaded boxes to house a tiered pillow ring in sage green.
for the last five years before the coconut grove festival in miami i have made one of my beaded sculptural boxes. all in all, the larger ones take about 50-60-ish hours between the metal work and the bead work. so, this year i decided i didn't have enough time to make one...but then, on saturday all of a sudden i had an image of a box pop in my head. YIKES or YIPPY....i'm not sure which!!! i can still make it happen but i need to hustle. for the next week and a half i will "put it in granny and GO" (a little joke between me and my late grandpa fisher...which means "DO IT...now")!!!! i still have a lot of little finishing stuff like beading tails, pricing, waxing and hopefully a few more "float" earrings. i am good at working under "show pressure" but it will be a crash course week and a half. coconut grove or bust!! yeeehah!!!
cake pillow ring
pictured is a ring i just finished and submitted for one of the SNAG (Society for North American Goldsmiths) conference exhibitions. the show is entitled: The Ring Show: Putting the Band Back Together. this show is in recognition of the "1ST National Ring Show" which began in Athens, Georgia (where the SNAG conference is this year) 30 years ago. The original participants of the National Ring Show are making a new ring to be shown with their original ring.
i would so love to see this show. rings are always my first pick when it comes to jewelry. i'll keep my fingers crossed that my piece is accepted. my instinct was to submit my bunny box ring but that piece is currently at the xen gallery show in st. louis, mo. we'll see what happens!!!
cake pillow ring is made of sterling, plastic from a poncho, polyfil, thread. the title comes from its resemblance to a wedding cake. before i started making jewelry full time i decorated birthday and wedding cakes at a bakery in st. louis. i really miss working in that edible and yummy medium. cupcake anyone??
UPDATE: cupcake for everyone....it's a celebration. i just heard back that my cake pillow ring was accepted in "The Ring Show, Putting the Band Back Together" for the SNAG conference. i was awarded third place as well, Yippy!!!! they are trying to find another venue for the show that way after the show comes down it will go to another location. i hope that works out. thanks for your cupcake wishes ;O)