pinkypeach.white

a couple necklaces i just finished for my show coming up in austin next weekend, handmade austin women. the yummy pinkypeach one is made of a plastic "screw in" puppy nose that i bought at a michael's craft store. the soft curved triangular shape is obviously the nose and the secondary ribbed piece is the part of the nose that is used to screw into the wood or armature to create a lovable huggable stuffed toy.......but instead i had to use both parts for the double pendant :-)

the white necklace is made of a found shell and a vintage tile.

go to www.handmadeaustinwomen.com to get the scoop on my show next weekend.

tippy tap

some new "tippy tap" earrings for rebecca made out of tiger eye to go with her tiger eye single pendant.  the little pieces of carefully squished tubing remind me of little dancing feet....or fast happy toes.....like in the flinstones when fred & barney get the car a-movin'      :O)

shell.shell.shell.

YIPPY!! i have finally finished the commission necklace for vel. i am really happy with this piece and it's given me a bunch of other ideas to pursue.....i would love to make a necklace in a similar style in a sage green and pale icy lime........or an orangey pinky one. we'll see if i can make some time to create those for my next show at the beginning of may.....www.handmadeaustinwomen.com :O)

this piece is made with shells & coral.

bubble.gum.ball bracelet

here is my new "bubble gum ball" bracelet that i finished this weekend. it is a commission piece for a woman in new jersey. this could be my favorite bracelet that i have ever made....it has all my favorite (and right) colors in it......typically, i have a difficult time putting unlike colors together....but, this bracelet combo could change my tune. thanks for that carrie :O)

bubble gum ball is made with sterling silver, reflector, cabbage patch kid shoe plastic, plastic from a lego piece, a vintage ceramic tile, and a plastic vintage button.

tofu fries

these are super easy to make.

1 block of firm tofu, drain, and squeezed dry...without crumbling it. when i say squeeze dry i mean take a clean kitchen towel (not the fuzzy kind more like a linen) and put tofu in the center. press the towel firmly on each side of the tofu and some moisture will wick from the tofu into the towel. then, cut into about .75" x .75" x 2 " pieces

for seasoning crunchy bit: a pinch of cayenne, and some paprika, salt and pepper and some breadcrumbs. mix well

when you cut the tofu into pieces the cut edges will be damp from the moisture of the tofu which makes it perfect for rolling in the crumbly seasoning.....

spray thin layer of olive in the pan and sear the tofu fries on each side. let each side sit for several minutes without disturbing otherwise your crumbly seasoning might stick to the pan instead of the tofu.

let cool a good 10 minutes or so before eating them. it let's the tofu stiffen up a bit. they are really good with horseradish ketchup.

we like to make these with whole wheat apple pancakes for dinner. these make a really good companion for the pancakes because they are spicy, salty, savory goodness, but also because they will give ya some protein to balance out the meal.

WARNING: if your expecting these to taste like potatoes you will be sad when you bite into one of these, but if your open to something new give 'em a whirl.

pink bubble gum

this new single pendant is made of plastic from a cabbage patch kid shoe.....remember those days. i can't tell if this piece reminds me of my childhood so much because the pink candy color makes me think of bubble gum...hubba bubba style, or if it's because the plastic is actually from the shoe of a cabbage patch kid doll. for the life of me, i can not remember my cabbage patch doll's name, but, oh yeah, i definitely remember my sisters....."byron chuck". that's because i wanted pretty much everything she had....i'm the little sister & yes, i had the shirt to prove it. BYRON CHUCK, hahahhaaa, the name just makes me laugh and bubbles up memories off the little house tanya & i grew up in...painting our toe nails & our egg face mask parties, along with the makeup mirror and light set up we had that would become jammed up with a 1/4 " of aqua net in a matter of days. ah, those were the days....good times :O)

shhhhhh!!

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard....refreshing, emotional and potentially creepy...in a good way!! check it out.

www.postsecret.blogspot.com

"the ring show"

here is the card for the show i was in during the SNAG conference. my new pillow "cake ring" was in this show......i mentioned it awhile back. i just received these postcards in the mail yesterday. a proposal has been submitted to see if the georgia museum of art would like to host the show. if it works out, it will be in late summer/early fall. maybe chris and i will take a road trip if we have any open time for such an adventure.

limpet shell earrings

a new pair of earrings made with limpet shells...i just finished these to go with vel's necklace

"naked"

these little babies will become the "links" for a long link necklace made of limpet shells and other misc. white shells for a customer in miami. i wanted to photgraph them before i put the necklace together so i can reference the images for further experimentation. somewhere in the middle of making this piece i realized that i was really excited to see the stones "naked". they have all the fun little soldered swirls, bubbles, dots, and spots that is continuous in my work but without a visible functional detail.......none of the fussy stuff, like bails, links, or earwires that my pendants earrings and bracelets require. i was thinking it might be fun to make some pieces like this that have a pin on the back so they can function as a brooch. these little brooches can be individual or be collaged into a family. to be continued.....

oh, also, my green smoothie this morning (day 12) was really good and i omitted all other fruit except the pineapple....i am learning that the banana is a thickener, stevia plus works just as good as agave nectar, and my body is waking up in the morning looking forward to my new green breakfast smoothie. that in itself is yummy.

green smoothie

green smoothie....sound crazy, it's actually really good. try this recipe and see what ya think :O) this is adapted from a smoothie recipe from my friend cherie. i just made this recipe for the first time this morning.....yummie!! i started making green smoothies last summer after i read the book "green for life" by victoria boutenko about putting more greens in your daily diet. i flunked out quickly when my ancient blender produced a very chunky version of what you see in the picture. yikes is right....that lasted 3 days. the right blender will make this smoothie a delight to have. read on....

ingredients:

3 - 4 cups of fresh spinach...somewhat compact in the cup

1 frozen banana or a ripe one will do....if ripe, use 4 ice cubes also

1/2 cup of fresh pineapple

2 T of honey or agave nectar.....agave nectar is sweet like honey but it doesn't have an aftertaste, just straight up sweetness

15 raw almonds....small handful-the amount that can easily fit in the palm of your hand

1 slice from a piece of fresh ginger, 1/8" thick....it's good without it, i didn't have any today so i skipped it

2 T ground flax seed

1/16 tsp. of cayenne pepper

1 cup of water

in a high power blender....i use a vitamix vitaprep 3 and have found the best results with that blender, it's an investment....but i use mine typically twice a day. it does way more that just function as a blender. with the high power of this blender i can make almond butter, chickpea flour & flax seed meal all out of the raw ingredients, you know the ingredients are much cheaper at the store then the premade product..............okay, enough with the vitamix infomercial........blend all of the ingredients until everything is completely pulverized. this smoothie is so refreshing, slightly sweet and with a bit of zing from the cayenne.

i am doing the 30 day green smoothie challenge. i vow to have a green smoothie of some sort for the next 30 days and see if i have any positive changes. today is day 6....i'll keep ya posted. go green!!

perma.smile

i have been fascinated with polymer clay since i was a youngin. i would take my craft bag everywhere i went...either it was filled with cross stitch materials or polymer clay creations and the materials to make things. on occasion, i selectively use polymer clay in my jewelry for "stones" when i can't find just the right color or texture. recently, i found a site called www.corporatepig.com about an artist, meredith dittmar who creates amazing things out of polymer clay. this site is super fun.

need to find your perma.smile.....................watch these shorts. http://www.fashionbuddha.com/Reel/umpqua_frolic.html

http://www.fashionbuddha.com/Reel/gadfly_preview.html

trish, jade & margaret these made me think of you. :O)

it's that time of year gopher plant

drum roll please...............................................the gopher plant.

this is one of my favorite plants we have in our garden.  i am a bit of a nerd and so love this time of year.  i am bubbling over with excitement about planting time.  we just put in a bunch of veggies yesterday.

some faves....of course the tomatoes, which every year i always buy more tomato plants than we actually can fit in our garden.  one day maybe i will have an edible estate for a yard.  oh, and then,  cucumber, jalapeno, red bell pepper, sorrel, nasturtium, basil and thyme; the sorrel and the nasturtium are new finds for me.  they are both really great in salads.  we call the nasturtium pepper circles for there lovely round shape and peppery bite.  i'm still waiting on the purslane which is also an edible green.  i put them in my salad and green smoothies sometimes......it looks really beautiful in a salad with their multi colored blooms and succulent lobie leaves.

i can't wait to dive into the landscape design for the backyard.....we worked on the front yard last spring and it has exploded with babies.  so, we will be able to use a bunch of starts from the front yard in the back.  superdoo!!!

we just painted the back of our fence slate gray.  it will be a beautiful backdrop for some grasses and agave.

spring.fruit salad.gopher plant

this was a special order piece for a woman in coconut grove as well. i just finished up the beadwork on the clasp. i really love the green with the orange in this piece...two of my favorite colors. it reminds me of spring, fruit salad (yummy) and our gopher plant. thanks linda :O)

we have a gopher plant that bloomed in our front yard for the first time last weekend. it reminds me of the green and orange in this necklace.....those two colors happily dancing next to each other.

this piece is made with rubber grapes, vintage glass and chrysocolla with the oxidized sterling silver.