Shore Debris Website is Live!

Yipee!! My new website is up and running: www.shoredebris.com

Off to go make new business cards :)

Holiday Baking - 1 - Pumpkin Bread

My holiday baking has begun... and the Thanksgiving ritual since I left my parent's house - start with the pumpkin bread. (Yes, that is my diet pepsi in the background... only #2 for the day.)In my new gigantic mixing bowl - Thanks, Susan! - I mixed up the double batch for 6 loaves of bread. (1 for Thanksgiving, 1 for my parents, 1 for the in-laws and 3 for those impromptu hostess gifts I seem to always need).

Here's my family recipe:

3 eggs

1 c. oil

3 c. sugar

2 1/2 c. pumpkin (can or fresh)

5 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3 tsp soda

2 c. walnuts

1 c. raisins

Blend eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin. Sift in flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and soda. Add chopped nuts and raisins. Bake at 350 for 1 1/4 hours for loaves or 45 min for muffins.

Ahhhh... and I've sniffed the nutmeg, so now I'm in the spririt!

Durham Art Walk Holiday Market

This past weekend was the Durham Artwalk Holiday Market. I was in the Durham Armory where we had live entertainment both days. My favorite group was the Durham Divas - they were great - all between 50 and 85 and cheering everyone into the holiday spirit.Here was my booth - an 8' x 8' space. I've finally spray painted all of my display items black... last year I still had some unfinished wood in the display.And here's a closer view of my new favorite necklace:
center - paua shell and cultured freshwater pearl double strand necklace. I finished it last week just in time for the show. Now only one more show to finish out my year!

Holiday Shopping...

I love it when the stores get ready for the holiday season... The things that appear like peppermint mochas (really, now why can't these be made year round?), fresh peppermint bark, apple cider,

This week my grocery store had a "Naughty and Nice" bottle from my favorite winery - the Duplin Winery. I thought it was cute and needed it for my kitchen counter. What seasonal favorites are you rediscovering?

Getting ready for tomorrow!

Shopping in Fayetteville

This summer, I discovered the "Arts Alive at 4th Friday's" events in Fayetteville and decided they are lots of fun. I did lots of shopping down there and have just gotten out a pile of stuff that is making me drool all over again :)

This first piece is an agate I got from the Cape Fear Mineral and Gem Society Showing in August. I have dreams of wrapping him in gold and making him my centerpiece at the Durham Artwalk.These beads I got from my new favorite store downtown... The Twisted Jeweler. If I had no job and if they also had a coffee bar in the shop... I'd probably live there!

I love scouring the antique shops for pretty pins, too. They make such an addition to a beaded necklace!

And finally, the other bead store - Strung Out on Beads. Who could believe that 13 months ago there wasn't a single bead store in Fayetteville, and now there are two!

School, School, School...

This past August, I decided it might be a nice idea to go back to school. Researching local schools, I discovered I needed a GRE score to qualify for financial aid. I thought, it's been a long time since I've been in school, I ought to take the prep course. I, being my normal self, signed up for both the GRE Prep I and II courses at the same time, and noticed that there were grant writing and web design classes that also looked interesting. So here I've been taking 4 classes at one time for the past 2 months.

I really like the beginning web design class - I'm using it to work on my business website. One of my goals this year was to get a site up an running, but I'd never seemed to find the time. The class lets us develop pages on any topic as long as we include all of the required elements for those assignments.

So last night's work was some colored stacking tables with images and links... and now one of the pages from my website is complete!

I'm very excited because, I will actually have my website up and running by the end of the year... It won't be the best website ever created, but I'll finally be able to say, "I did it!"

When you really should measure first...

There are some things in my life that my dad always mentioned I should do... one of them was measure first. From the amount of scrap wood shoved in the loft of my garage, you'd notice that I've never listened well... and here is good photographic proof: In 2008, I bought the epoxy floor covering for my garage. I have a 2-car garage and the box read something like... covers some number of square feet approximately equal to a 1-car garage...

Buying 2 boxes and planning on painting right away - 2 years later, I've given time for that epoxy manufacturer to no longer be carried in my local home improvement store.

I scrubbed all of the oil spots off of the floors, get the right temperature, dry it out... and begin my epoxying. Oops, I never measured and the home improvement store says there's no way to match my old color.

So I tried something totally different and made my own mini-masterpiece:

Now it looks like I'm just a slightly eccentric homeowner who has a flair for the creative. You should have seen the eyes of the guy at Lowe's - he thought I was nuts when I told him what I was doing :)

The only thing I wonder in retrospection is why I prefer to have people think I am eccentric than that I make mistakes?

My favorite end of summer flowers...

I love my impatiens at the end of summer. When everything else seems so done with blooming, my impatiens are going strong and I can see them from the road.

This year, I couldn't believe the deal I got on them either - they were in little 6-packs for 10 cents at Lowes. My only regret will be when the first frost gets here, they will all be gone.

Creating a Pendant

I love wire wrapping randomly shaped objects (especially those found on the beach), but do you ever wonder how I get to a finished item like this? I start with a rough sketch (outline) of the item I am going to wrap and then draw across is where I think the wires should go.

Then I slowly wrap starting with my base wires (the wires that hold the bottom of the pendant).

Then I connect my base and top wires (normally I use 20 and 26 guage wires)

and start adding embellishments:

Until I decided I need to change my pattern a bit - by taking away various swirls and adding wire where I hadn't planned to:

But eventually it turns into something I like :)

Couscous Salad

I love it when I find Real Simple in my mail box. They had an article on a speedy way to clean a bookshelf that I am just going to have to try and this delicious couscous salad. My husband was leery when I told it to him, but after making it he went back for seconds and ate the leftovers a day later. I made it with the full box of couscous and increased all ingedients appropriately, but here was the recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 cup couscous
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/2 cup crumbled Feta (2 ounces)
1/2 cup halved red seedless grapes
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
kosher salt and black pepper
pita bread, for serving
Directions
1.In a bowl, combine the couscous with ½ cup hot water; cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
2.Fluff the couscous with a fork and fold in the walnuts, Feta, grapes, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Serve with pita bread, if desired.

I couldn't tell from the recipe if it was a cold dish or a hot dish, but I served it cold and loved it!

The Rower...

I have wanted a Concept 2 rowing machine for years. I think between 2003 and 2006, I checked craigslist and ebay daily hoping one would pop up that I could afford. I tried just about every other brand,but could not find one that felt like actual rowing. I fell in love with rowing my first year of college - I'd gotten a letter in the mail saying "Your application indicates that you might be the right size to be a heavy weight rower. Are you interested in rowing, come out to...." and so on. What that letter meant was, well, you are over 5'5" and weigh more than 160 lbs so you might make a good rower.

I ended up rowing all 4 years of college (and got my letter), but was never able to keep with the sport after college. I am finally old enough for a masters rowing program, but do not live close enough to a boathouse to join.

My husband and I found this rowing machine on craigslist! Now I'm planning on getting in shape and being ready to row in D.C. when we should be moving up there in 2013.

The new look of etsy...

ICK... was all I thought when I saw the look of my new shops on etsy (of course I've been a good shop owner and failed to check in at all in both shops over the past two months.) I'm fine with the picture layouts and everything - my problem lies in the word wrap for my shop announcement... Guess I need to get off my butt and learn a new trick to fix that.

Richard Triebe - Author and Tent-mate for a day

So Monday I mentioned that I got to share my tent at the last minute with an author over the weekend. So here he is - Richard Triebe: He was showcasing his book, On a Rising Tide, historical fiction set in the Civil War and a non-fiction work on the soldiers who were captured at Fort Fisher,NC and taken to Elmira, NY that will be released this fall. Conversation with Richard made my entire day flow by very fast.
And this is a picture of my new book! Yet another addition to my library (that is running out of space). I've been reading it over breakfast in the mornings and have almost made myself late to work since I'm finding the beginning such a gripping tale - Chapter 1 opens up into the middle of a blockade run, lots of cannon balls, and some surprise...

Daydreaming...

That's my excuse.

I can't believe almost 2 months have gone by since I last openned blogger. Recently, the idea of blogging has been... oh, I should write about "that" - I'll do it next Monday. And next Monday keeps rolling by over and over again.

Well, enough of that. This past Satuday was my first of what I call my fall show schedules... (I know it is still 100 degrees outside, but when I did my big yearly planner, I divided my shows by spring and fall for the year.) And look at this view:

taken about 25 feet from my booth. I was at Fort Fisher, NC for the North Carolina Historic Sites 2nd Saturdays event. I could have stayed all week (but I guess they have laws about vagrants down there).

They put the artists up in this lovely grove of live oaks:

and I had tons of fun. I'll definitely be looking for whatever the NC Historic Sites program puts out next year.

And here was my little display - the big change from my shows last year is that I spray-painted all of my display things black (the ones that weren't already black).

At the last second, I was privileged enough to share my tent with an author, but I'll tell you about him another day.

More garden surprises

Don't you love when unexpected stuff happens in the garden. (Well, not the surprises when the neighbor's cat uses it as a toilet... the good surprises!) Since I do a rather pitiful job at weeding (it takes me forever to get the "spring" weeds down) - there was a section near my lilac bush that I had never touched... and look, my very own black-eyed susan is just growing - no seeds required :)

Going small...

I love large jewelry so my wire wrapped sea shells end up being the bigger sort, but recently, I've begun listening to friends a little more when they say they'd like smaller pendants...

so I've been trying it out. My favorite I think is with 26 guage wire: And I used square wire here in the same method I would use to wrap a marble:
And this on is 20 guage round wire in a rather simple design:

New Toys!

Don't you love those days when you get a new toy!

Mine came in the mail in the form of these two books: Woven Wire Jewelry and Silver Wire Jewelry. (Plus the necessary clamp I bought at Lowe's.) My goal is to make some woven wire necklaces (like the one on the cover of Woven Wire Jewelry), but instead of a PMC pendant, I put in one of my huge wire wrapped pieces. I cannot wait to start experimenting!

I want to have 2 or 3 of these statement pieces done before my holiday craft show season.

The needed vacation...

I got to visit my parent's home for the weekend and was so glad we had time to run out to Boca Grande (on Gasparilla Island). Not only did I come home with a whole bunch of venus clams but just smelling the salt air, if even for only a couple of hours, really improved my outlook on life. Of course I did find my next home for sale... now just where to get the $1.2 million to buy it!

I want it!

This evening I was fiddling around with my artfire account when my eye got caught by an ad...

The Sew Essentials Quilter's Design Table:

I was drooling before my mouse even clicked on the picture.

Open dimensions: 56-1/4''x29-3/4''; Closed 47''x15-7/8''x29-3/4''

Designed for quilters, this Quilter's Design table has a fold out table with 1'' grids for extra work space as well as a roll-out serger storage shelf. Locking casters for added security.

Yes, I know, I just bought all of that furniture from Ikea - but this table even matches... once I finish the last 7 boxes, I'll be measuring to see if I can fit this in there, too.

eBay

Much to some of my etsy friend's dismay, I've been an active user of eBay for awhile (since 2005 actually) but today something happened that almost made me cancel my account.

I've thought eBay is a good place to sell supplies I do not want, sell scratch and dent pieces, and sell my stale items at material cost just to turn over inventory.

But today, I came home to an e-mail that had me waiting on the line for customer service at eBay. (I hung up before I got anyone and then attempted to use the "contact us" link - a totally worthless circular loop that takes you to the options of "chat with us" or "call us" - click the chat link and it says they are too busy, close the window, and click the e-mail us link found under "contact us.")

So what was this problem you wonder... here's the e-mail but my screen shot is way too small.... I couldn't believe it. Someone who just joins eBay, bids on an item about 1/2 hour before this e-mail and eBay sends them my personal cell phone number? I couldn't believe my eyes. No contact via the eBay messaging system? Straight to my personal cell phone number?

I'm going to sleep on it, but I might be ending my long standing account with eBay tomorrow.

The bane of my existance

Has been this little door... taking up hours and days just to get hung, but at least now I can say my husband's desk is built. (minus 1 drawer because I have extras of every other piece besides the one I need to finish).

I never realized how slow a process this would be to get these two rooms set up.

The Gardenia...

Getting out of the car and walking up my sidewalk, a wonderful aroma drifted up...

Looking down, I couldn't believe it, my gardenia bush is blooming like crazy. I was so excited I had to run in and grab the camera. I bought this gardenia bush from a little landscape place down the road from me in 2007 and was disappointed with no blooms at all in 2007 or 2008. Last year, the bush had a total of 9 flowers. I had seen all of the little green buds earlier in the week and assumed it was sprouting leaves... no idea that this plant was getting hundreds of flowers all over it.

I hope everyone else is getting to see beautiful spring and summer flowers, too!

The Garden

I had to take a break from working on the studio space and get my garden in order - can't have all of my seedlings keeling over on me! Especially after I cheated and spent so much money on them. Normally I grow my own seedlings in the kitchen, but this year I just ran out of time. So, my little, bitty garden plot has tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelon, zucchini, okra, basil and sweet potatoes. The only thing I still have left to plant is the butternut squash. I'm going to have to try the seeds because I couldn't find a single store carrying those seedlings.

I can't wait until about 40 days from now when I'll start getting the first of the produce!

Paint!

Ah, now the painting is done (finally...). Not sure I will be painting anything again in the near future. The color I chose was Benjamin Moore's Gargoyle. I did the entire walls in my husband's office and a stripe in my new studio area. I'm hoping that with the new white furniture I ordered, the stripe will help it stand out.

Creating the New Workspace - Day 1

So Day 1 is done...

For those of you who don't know, my husband and I have a bonus area over the garage. There is a long skinny room that will be my studio and a small office off to the side that is my husband's office. (His office makeover is actually a surprise for him... and good thing my family finds my blog too boring to read.) So here's his office, sans furniture, everything pulled off the walls and all edges taped.
And here's my big long room with my wide stripe taped up.

Before taping, I also put together my first piece of Ikea furniture. It is this small set of drawers here. I really like the set and am so surprised at how well it rolls around on the carpet. I can't wait until it is all done!