Green Treasury

This year, one of my goals is to create one treasury per month. I did last month's in pink, but this month I was feeling the green:

Using Those Boca Grande Shells

I mentioned shelling at Boca Grande last month. I've gone and used a couple of them in this new butterfly necklace:

I just love making butterflies out of coquina shells! I used 20 gauge wire to make the antennae. The cockle shell backing of the pendant is the same square shape that I found on the beach, but I did drill two holes in it to attach it to the chain.

Visiting Richardson's Rock Ranch (again...)

This week, my husband and I were in Oregon visiting family so I was able to stop by one of my favorite places for stones - Richardson's Rock Ranch. They're known for their thundereggs: but I really prefer all the things I can find the in the Rock Shop - like these polished amethyst pieces, crystal points,
the large stone hearts,
small jars of stone chips,
stone starfish,
and pieces of argonite.
I can't wait to begin playing with these!

Guilt-free Mini Cheesecakes

I pull recipes out of magazines all the time, but rarely get to try all the ones that I want. I already love the traditional version of this covered in cherry pie filling, but decided I'd try these "White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes" recipe printed in the February 2011 copy of Fitness Magazine.

I found these mini cheesecakes to be delicious and you could definitely taste the white chocolate. Since I live in the middle of nowhere, some of the ingredients were unavailable. My local grocery store does not carry reduced fat vanilla wafers and the fat-free cream cheese was completely out of stock (and has been for more than 2 weeks). I only garnished mine with strawberries and chocolate flakes because the kiwis were hard as rocks, too.

Ingredients
12 reduced-fat vanilla wafers
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
4 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened
3 ounces white chocolate baking squares, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Chocolate curls (optional)
Sliced strawberries (optional)
Sliced kiwifruit (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin pan with baking cups. Place one vanilla wafer on the bottom of each. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheeses with an electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds. Beat in white chocolate, sugar, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in egg white. Spoon mixture into muffin cups until each is about three-quarters full.

3. Bake about 20 minutes or until set, then set pan on a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Remove cheesecakes from pan; cool on wire rack 1 hour. Cover and chill 3 to 24 hours.

4. Before serving, remove baking cups. If desired, garnish with chocolate curls, strawberries, and/or kiwifruit.

A new print for my home

I get the greatest gifts. My sister/brother-in-law bought me this print from Green Girl Canvas on etsy. I love the print and it has been lanquishing in my favorites for while I tried to figure out if I had room for even more artwork in my house... I'm glad that decision was taken away from me or else I might have wavered until it was no longer available. Now I just need to figure out how I want it framed and put it up on my wall!

Thrift Store Finds

Are you someone who likes to rumage around in thrift stores and come out with amazing items? I definitely am. And my favorite stores are those in Naples, Florida. My grandmother and I spent the day hitting all of our favorites, including St. Vincents De Paul Thrift Store where I found this wonderful soup bowl:This fits in my house perfectly! The bottom is a basketweave design and shells/sea life decorate the sides.When I turned it over, I even found it has the artist's name: Karin Villaroman. Now, hopefully the artist isn't too offended that I paid only $1 for this bowl, but it is definitely going to the home of someone who will love it, cherish it, and use it regularly for the beautiful piece that it is.

First Craft Show of 2012

I had a booth at the Placida Art Market this past Saturday. For those of you who don't know, Placida is in South West Florida (near Port Charlotte), and yes, that is me standing there wrapped up in a blanket with a large scarf and fleece jacket. I belive it was 10 degrees colder there at the time this picture was taken than it is right now at my house in North Carolina.I had lots of fun and met tons of great people. This art market occurs every other week during season, so if you're in that area, I recommend stopping by. I went shopping on the New Year's Eve market and picked up some great pottery and notecards for myself. You won't know what treasures you will find! If you can't make it for a Saturday Art Market, there are a couple of stores (art gallery, gifts, and orchids) with a Key West vibe and the Fishery Restaurant that are worth visiting.

If you're an artist in this area - try on this market for size. It has friendly artists and is an artist-promoted event. The entire atmosphere is fun, and who could complain with a waterfront view all day?

My First Treasury for 2012!

Bangle Giveaway at Scarborough Seashells

I ordered shells from Scarborough Seashells years ago (on eBay, even, I think) and have just recently come back across her store.

Lucky me, she's giving away this beautiful sterling bangle on her blog:

You have until Friday the 13th to enter by visiting and commenting on her blog post !

Shelling at Boca Grande

Visiting my parents in South West, Florida has been quite fruitful. My mother and I drove out to Gasparilla Island and found piles of shells in only an hour on the beach at Boca Grande. There were you're ever present cockles, coquinas, and scallops, but I also picked up some good ones including the apple murex, fig, immature fighting conch, and olive. And someone knew I'd be making some Valentine's Day themed items, so made sure I found a heart shaped beach stone and heart shapped coral.

Can't wait to get my wire on these babies!

2011 has passed too fast...

2011 has come and gone for me, and it all seems to have gone so fast. My business has progressed so much that I ran out of time to make posts on my blog... I'd have pictures taken and stories in my head, but never get the chance to get them out there.

What I'm most proud of from last year was perfecting my handmade clasps. I think it adds so much to a handmade jewelry design by having my own clasps. Here's a picture of one of my 3-strand clasps (a technique I'll be teaching in the upcoming months at BD Unique): This coming year, I have so many goals I need to pare down my list to a manageable list, but that will be something I'll have figured out before the end of the week!

I'm not ready for Christmas!

Of course I wasn't ready for Thanksgiving either. This year is ending way too fast for me... I feel like I've barely begun to create my Christmas jewelry. I've incorporated some red and green glass pearls this year,
ordered new preciosa glass beads,

and played with some cute Christmas-themed buttons.

Once I get my camera downloaded again, I'll share the aluminum wire ornaments I've also been creating.

Halloween Jewelry

This year, I decided to have some fun with some jewelry. I tried a few spiders, but even silver foil glass can't make a spider look attractive. When I tried to make a pair of earrings,
I decided those would be the last spiders I ever make :) I even found some cute skull beads

to make a few pais of earrings, but my absolute favorite

had to be my button rings :)

Fall Cameron Antiques Fair 2011

Earlier this month, I made sure my Saturday was free for touring around Cameron, North Carolina for its semi-annual street craft fair. I was so disappointed when my normal button guy wasn't to be found :( Good thing I bought way too many buttons in the last two years anyway! I did find tons of shutter doors... bought way more than I really needed, but that's something my husband would say is normal. I have this neat spinning thing (a friend and I rescued it from a trash heap) that I thought if I could find a way to attach these doors, I'd have a wonderful new spinning earring display for craft shows.

And no trip to Cameron would ever be complete without adding to my extensive collection of vintage bottles :)

Perfect Set-ups

This past weekend was the International Folk Festival in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Not only were all of my joints creaking, but my tent and display items were covered in a layer of dust. (It's been a while since my last show). At some fairs, your booth arrangement is better than others... I don't mean my items in my booth; I mean the vendors around me.

Once the rain finally stopped on Saturday, it was so neat to see that my booth stood in the perfect spot. The vendor to my left had PVC sculptures. (Yes, those birds and frogs are made out of PVC pipes). What screams beach more than tropical birds, especially those pink flamingoes? This couple will be at the same show I'm doing in Concord, NC next month and I can't wait to show my mom the birds. I think she needs one on her lanai ;)

To the right side of me was the Island Breeze Soap company. They had a plumeria bar I just had to buy. I thought the grass skirts were a wonderful idea for the booth - made it looked like we were purposely put right near each other. And then there was my booth. I got a new banner that is the beach scene that I feel is more fitting to my style. (And I still steal the DVD shelf out of my living room before every show... one of these days, I'll have to get something new.)

I was so tired after this weekend that I am glad I have 3 1/2 weeks until the next one!