Thought Processing

I have had, like most people, an extremely busy last few days, but in the midst of it, I have had a lot to process.  Nothing major or even affecting our family, but some issues that I have been involved in and needed to help with the resolution process.  Just got my brain working.  This has been keeping me up at night and driving me crazy :-)  So, I decided to do something worthwhile during the whole processing time -- and sure enough - it worked.  Here are the results of my processing!!

I was asked to make an angel watch and once it was done, I went ahead and made these angel earrings -- don't know why I like making earrings so much, I don't even have my ears pierced :-)

 

 



 

I love cloisonne beads and these butterflies are so bright -- I just love how the combination of the peachy tan, green and blue beads work together with just a pop of red.

 

 

Lately, I've noticed that I don't have a neutral watch, so decided to put together this black and white one - plus I was finally able to find the white shell beads.  I just love how the black streaks through them.

 



I love snow!!  We have had nothing but clear weather -- when it's cold, it's not wet, when it's wet, it's not cold.  I made this watch while seeing the rain come down, wishing it were snow.

 



 This Christmas lights watch is totally different and I'm not sure I like it.  The watch band is clear and green and the lights hang off, sort of like a charm bracelet.

 

 I have had these pink and black foil beads for a while and finally took the chance to put them together - I love the black face with them.  A little chunkier than what I normally make, but cool all the same.  I'm also thrilled with the little round black metal beads -- they almost look like they have rhinestones on them.

 

 

 I love the color combo of this watch and almost wish it wasn't on a Santa face, although that's what makes the present charms work.  It's fun and quirky - I call it "Naughty or Nice?"

 

 

 Pastel Angels is a custom order -- if you look closely you can see the angel on either side of the face, starting with a blue swarovski crystal head and ending with a blue foil bead.  There's also a delicate angel charm on the side.

 

 

I picked up two of these pink and purple beads and thought the silver tulip beads were perfect with them. 

New Things I Love

I don't normally endorse products -- there are lots of different ones out there and I feel it's totally a matter of taste -- but this time there are three things that I have discovered this holiday season that I absolutely LOVE!!

The first one I discovered at my mom's over Thanksgiving and hunted high and low for it when I came home, with NO LUCK!!  So, I called her and asked if she would bring me a couple of packages (which I managed to make last from Thanksgiving day until today)  Now, I'm sad because they are all gone and I can't find them in any local grocery store!!

Luckily there is still some of this left in the freezer and I did find it local.

And finally the one treat I indulge in when I just need a little something -- these are so rich and decadent -- Oh, I'm totally in love with this sweet treat.

These are so AWESOME!!!  I hope I can find them year round :-)

More Creations

It's been crazy busy around here -- all sorts of Christmas prep going on, but I thought I'd share a few pictures of what I've been doing.

A friend saw these on pinterest and fell in love -- I offered to make them for her and subsequently have ended up making 4 more pair :-)

My mom was making these over Thanksgiving and I thought I'd give them a try -- a fun sassy scarf!

And last, but certainly not least -- I was asked to make a butterfly watch and put together these two for the customer to choose from.  Amazing how the same theme can end up with two totally different looks.

That's all folks -- enjoy your day!!

Not for the Picky Eater

I don't know about you, but I get so tired of catering to the picky eaters in my house.  They won't eat this and they won't eat that, and for sure if you mix these two together, absolutely not.  It's too cheesy, it's too spicy, it's too whatever..... the list goes on and on.

So tonight, I decided to do something different.  I found a copy-cat recipe for Olive Garden's chicken and gnocchi soup and decided to try it.  Looked at the recipe and then went out on my own - what else is new??

Here's an approximation of what I used

glop of oil
2 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, finely diced
1 stalk of celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp flour

1 can evaporated milk
1 c water

1 c shredded carrots
1 package of gnocchi
3 pieces of fri-chik

sprinkle of thyme, nutmeg and cayenne

1 tsp. powdered chicken seasoning

Couple handfuls of baby spinach

I put the onions, celery, and garlic in a pan to saute and soften -- while they were cooking I put on a pot of water for the gnocchi.

Once the veggies were soft, I added the flour and cooked it out for a couple of minutes, added the milk and water and whisked until smooth.

Meanwhile the gnocchi is cooking away -- when it was done I roughly drained it and added it along with the carrot and the fri-chik to the pot. 

Tasted and add the seasonings -- tasted again and added the chicken seasoning.  The gnocchi thickened it up nicely, so I added a bit of water and turned up so it was almost boiling -- not quite, didn't want to curdle the milk :-)  While it was getting warm, I roughly chopped the spinach and added it to the pot, left it in just enough to wilt it -- it was still a pretty green color and not stringy and nasty!!  (Before I added the spinach I took some out for the girls)

 (not my picture, but there wasn't any left and I forgot to take picture before it was gone)

 

 

It turned out pretty good -- next time I won't add the chicken and would probably not finely shred the carrots -- they turned the soup into "cream of carrot" which wasn't bad, just turned it a little orange.  Anyway, next time, I would largely shred them and put them in just before I put in the flour, just enough to soften them, but leave whole strips.

 

All in all -- for a throw together, it turned out pretty good!!  The girls tasted it -- Hannah liked it, especially the gnocchi -- Rachel ate it.