Bunnies, Slugs, and Flowers - Oh, My!

I've had an assortment of different pests in my gardents this year.  Previous years, it has been Japanese bettles.  This year, slugs have eaten about 1/3 of every strawberry in my garden.  In fact, I've never seen so many slugs in one place before.  If they didn't leave such a sticky residue all over the berries, I'd consider taking them in side and just cutting off the eaten portion, but now they just look sort of gross to me.

Out front, I have some lillies in trouble... My oriental lillies have lost most of their leaves to the bunnies, but luckily the blooms are higher than those bunnies can reach!

My asiatic lillies, on the other hand, have not been so lucky.  Mister bunny has consumed all leaves and my beautiful buds. 

 I have discovered a new plant this year - the verbena.  I love it when I am at a garden center, pick up a card, and on the back it said "water usage:  arid."  Most of my yard is sand.  Actually, I'm not really sure how I actually get grass to grow, but the soil never holds water and I'm always on the lookout for pretty flowers that will stand up to long droughts.  I've had the verbenas for about 5 weeks now and they have had beautiful bright pink flowers the entire time.

Bead Shopping!

So a week and a half ago I ventured out to the Intergalactic Bead Show.  I was so happy when my weekend plans fell through and I had a chance to make it to the show.

Not that I really have room for any more beads in my studio, I came home with lots of prizes (so many so that I had trouble carrying my canvas bag out of the place!)

Check out this super cute frog made by Nikki Thornburg-Lanigan of the Thornburg Bead Studio.  Isn't he so cute... he was just asking me to ake him home.  I love the iridescence on his body.  Makes me think he will look good with pearls or paua shells!



Frog Bead, Thornburg Bead Studio



 And I got some excellent looking cabs.  The 3 on the left are turitella shell fossils and the one on the right is ocean jasper.

Cabs from Jewerly Gems & Stones, LLC

 Oh, and Paua Shells... you can't forget those.  I'm always looking for a deal on these.

Paua Shell Strands from Blue Fire, Inc.

 And my real damage was in the freshwater pearl department.  I have a thing for these that I just cannot resist and want to buy up every color I see.



Freshwater stick pearls from Beads Bagan



Freshwater pearls from Beads Bagan

Mixed Metal Mania Project 2

I'm still improving on my metalworking skills with Kim St. Jean's Mixed Metal Mania Book.  Project number 2 in the book was for this pair of twisted paddle earrings:

 Now those paddle earrings aren't exactly my style, so I decided on a flower pendant instead.  Here's my plan:

 Like normal, I've sped ahead and am completely done texturing my flower, but still need the rest of my pieces:

 Since I was getting the saw back out, I decided to make a couple of more rings for good measure.  I cut out all 6 of these pieces in 1/2 the time I cut out the original 3 rings, so practice does make one much faster:

The flower and leaf were made of copper and I used sterling wire for the stem.  The bail is a piece of fine silver bezel wire.  All of my rivets were copper, too.  I'm quite proud of these.  I've taken riveting classes before and cannot reproduce at home (I've tried and given up a few times), but Kim St. Jean's book makes it all look easy.  Here's the flower all put together (after 1 hour with a hard boiled egg and repolished):

 The matching earrings are the copper leaves on sterling silver earwires.  I coiled a tiny bit of copper wire on the earwires just for some added interest (they looked too plain prior to that).

 And I was practicing my stamping on the rings - sayings like "I Love Shells" and "Beach Girl" - so me!

Now I just need to find time for the rest of the book!

More Crochet

I am still addicted to crochet.  Whenever I can be caught without beads or wire in my hand, I've got yarn and a hook instead.  Not sure when I'll find time to eat or sleep again :)

I bought a ring box pattern from NeedleNoodles awhile back and on the third attempt I finally got a box out of it.  Here it is: (pay no attention that the stitches go in a different direction on the top of my box than the one on the pattern picture!)




Crochet ring box using NeedleNoodles' pattern.



My future plans are to make a full sized jewelry box (expanding this pattern a bit) and placing a crochet octopus on top!  I can't wait to start that.

I also made my first pair of slippers.  Good thing it was cold for a few mornings last week and I've already been able to break them in.  I don't find them very attractive and will be looking for a cuter slipper pattern come autumn. I'm thinking tan mary janes with a bright colored flower...

Blue Treasury

Well, I dropped my camera last week, so I can't show you pictures of project number 2 from my new jewelry book. Hopefully I get that fixed soon :)

So I decided it was time to make my April Treasury featuring Blue items from the NCTriangle Team:

Stuff I need *ahem* want in my kitchen

Now I have a love for coastal themed decor.  (Most of my friends would roll their eyes and say, "duh."  - We're real mature 30- and 40-something year olds...)

I recently saw all of these plate sets on another coastal blog and boy do I think I want all of them....

I could use these plates on a daily basis:

 

Fused Glass Sand Dollar Plates.



This one would match some of the Polish Pottery I have already aquired: 



Vietri Blu Mare Octopus Round Platter



And these remind me of items my grandmother has: 



Del Mar Dinnerware



Have you come across anything recently that your kitchen needs [*or wants*]?

New Jewelry Book

I bought this book: Mixed Metal Mainia: Solder, rivet, hammer, and wire exceptional jewelry by Kim St. Jean. I love it! It is by far the best investment in jewelry books I have ever purchased. It has gotten me over my hump in moving from just wire work and into metalsmithing. It was more than a year ago that I took a metalsmithing boot camp class at Ornamentea, and I went out and bought all of the tools and materials necessary to begin metalsmithing in my own home. But they just sat there... I would look at everything from time to time, and was truthfully unsure of where I should start and unsure of myself and my skills.

Kim's book is written at my level - I've already read it cover to cover three times and have completed project 1, a rather simple, but stylish cigar band ring.

Lucky for me, I have my own jewelry collection that always needs more pieces and friends/family that love an experimental piece as a gift. I decided to do three rings (just for extra practice) - one for me, one for a sister, and one for a friend :

I taped them down to my scrap piece of nickel silver (the left over piece from my class at Ornamentea).

After a couple of hours, I had them all sawed out. Mine was complete - I stamped "V"s on one side and "C"s on the other with "&"s going down the middle. The part that wasn't stamped, I used my ball peen hammer to add texture. My husband thought having out initials on the ring was a cute idea. I still had lots of work to do on Lauren's and Betsy's.

I decided that I did not like the "&"s down the middle, so I did Lauren's without those. Betsy and her husband have the same first initial, so I just stamped the "B"s all over the center of hers which ended up being my favorite one.

I'm ready for the next project!

Oh, how does your garden grow?

Oh, quite well, I'd say... :)

My garden is beginning to look like spring although these morning temperatures sure don't feel like spring!

My Irises are already in bloom: And my white dogwood:
And my absolute favorite, the pink dogwood!
As far as my fruits and vegetables, I have not made it very far this year. But I have weeded out the bed that carries my blueberries and strawberries! Can't wait until those are ripe!

My Latest Treasury

Crazy for Crochet

I learned to crochet at the end of last summer and now have made so many potholders and washclothes for my family I've been told to stop :)

On Tuesday, I finished my first "big" crochet project - this purple shrug (I had only started it last October):Of course, I was able to wear it on Tuesday because it was still in the 60s, but by Wednesday, it felt like 90 outside. I guess it will go into winter storage, but I'll have something cool to wear when autumn comes!

I was reading Kim's post at Snug Harbor on learning to crochet, and through her found a fabulous crochet blog: Aesthetic Nest. Anneliese is doing a new Learn to Crochet series and I found this awesome tutorial on her site for a baby cloche: Granted, that was attempt number 4 above, but I finally got it! Numbers 1 and 2 had mistakes and looked like they were made for cone heads... my gauge on number 3 was totally messed up and almost fits my head... But it's all a learning process :)

The bane of my existence...

for the last couple of weeks has been my new sewing table. I had lusted after this table for quite some time and finally broke down and bought it.

Now, I consider myself an expert in modular furniture construction. In my office alone, there are eight pieces from Ikea. My power rack in the garage took me a total of 45 minutes to put together although there were all kinds of reviews about it being too hard and not having good directions.

This table on the other hand was horrible. It arrived with 2 packages of one type of screw and none of another. The little wooden dowels - there were 2 fewer in the box than tha directions called. The screws that were supposed to be used with the hinges had heads smaller than the holes on the hinges. The screws for the handles were not long enough to go through the wood and into the handles. Needless to say, after six trips to the hardware store, it is finally done. Yes, I did try calling customer service, but it was of no use.

If this had been my first piece of furniture that I had to put together, I would have never ever tried these other pieces in my house. I'm so glad it is done and will begin working on some sewing projects this week!*************************************************************************
On a more exciting note, I was plaing with my wire weaving all week long!

On Thursday, I made this bow pendant/necklace for my sister-in-law's birthday. She loves bows and pink, so I figured rose quartz and a sterling bow would be perfect. I finished it off with a toggle clasp adorned with rose quartz chips.

On Friday, I was playing with my brand new lampwork beads and made an asymmetrical pendant set.
I've been so productive this week I want to jump and scream at the top of my lungs! I hope you've had an excellent week, too!

Creamy Goodness and My Finished Pendant...

I eat Dannon's All Natural Plain Non-Fat Yogurt every day. I'd been looking at the foil top where it advertised "Creamy Sweet Potato Soup" and decided to try.

Boy was it wonderfully creamy! I'm going to have to try adding this yogurt to my favorite butternut squash soup recipe as it has almost the same flavor and could use some creaminess.

The recipe was really simple and my husband thought it was great:

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 large sweet onion, sliced
2 tsp. ground cumin
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1-1/2 qt. chicken broth
1-3/4 cup Dannon® Plain Yogurt
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley or cilantro
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
Directions
1.In a soup pot heat oil. Add onions and cumin and sauté 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer soup 20-25 minutes.
2.Puree soup with 1-1/2 cups Dannon® Plain Yogurt and parsley or cilantro. Serve each portion of soup with a dollop of remaining yogurt and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.
Yields
12 Servings (8 oz. per serving)
***********************************************************************

And here are a few views of the pendant I started and finished last week. This was a fun one and I plan on more woven wire pendants in the future!

Shopping!!

I was in need of new shoes. Shoes to work in the garden, mow the yard, and otherwise get covered in dirt. Normally I have a rotation... new shoes to walking shoes to work shoes, but somehow I've messed up my routine.

We have a relatively new store in my little town - Burke's Outlet. (Trust me, everyone gets excited when anything comes to town, even large chain stores... It beats the 1+ hour drive to anywhere else.) Boy did I get a deal in the shoe department. These Reebok's were marked $29.99 with the right color sticker to be 90% Off... On top of that, at the register, I was asked if I wanted to join their frequent shopper program (free to sign up) which includes 15% off every Friday!I can't believe it, but my new "work around the house" ended up being $1.27! I haven't had a deal that good in a long time. I'll be visitng this store again on future Fridays!

Springtime and Works in Progress...

It is so nice to come home from my daily walks and see spring is here - even though I don't quite feel the temperature! These little daffodils are along the walkway from my driveway to front door. Inside my studio, I started a new pendant yesterday. Using a nutmeg shell my grandmother found on the beach in Naples, Florida, I've begun weaving a coiling a frame out of copper wire for a pendant. I can't wait to sit down and finish this today.
What are your new projects for this beautiful day?

Smoky Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

I was reading my march issue of Fitness Magazine and found a recipe that sounded good for dinner last night. I of course don't do anything spicy, so used kielbasa instead of spicy chicken sausage and omitted the chili altogether. I also put 2 times as much in the blender because I was craving a really thick soup rather than the thinner version on the pretty magazine photo. Smoky Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

1 tsp olive oil

3-oz precooked chicken sausage, thinly sliced

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups chicken broth

1 canned chipolte chili in adobo sauce, minced

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest

4 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 tsp honey

salt

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage in a single layer; cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook 1 minute more. Transfer to a plate lined with papertowels.

Add onion and bell pepper to pan; saute until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and oregano; saute 1 minute more. Stir in beans, broth, and chipolte; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sour cream, lime zest, 1 tsp lime juice, and honey in small bowl.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups soup to blender and puree. Stir puree back into soup; add sausage. Stir in remaining lime juice and season with salt to taste. Serve and top with lime sour cream.