Xmas gift

My friend Suzanne is a graphic designer who is incredibly talented. She's actually pretty terrific all around and definitely knows what I like. I got back to my desk from lunch and I had a bag of goodies including this amazing stamp she designed for me. I love it! It came with the perfect pink stamp pad.



In addition to the stamp, she also included this lovely that I can't wait to have some studio time to play.

All about the food and housekeeping

I think I'm doing a mid-winter spring cleaning now that the holidays have officially moved on in our house. For me, this includes kitchen clean out and stocking up; although my fridge does still need a good scrubbing. I've been stocking up on the baked goods, using up products that are starting to think about going belly up and restocking the soups and casseroles in the freezer. I think some of the homekeeping inspiration has come from finishing the Julia Child biography I've been working on since last spring. It took me forever to really get into it but I did then have become a little obsessed. I finished Judith Jones' book and am now onto Julie Powell's latest, most likely you've all read or seen this one, but Cleaving is a huge departure (so far) from her earlier book and I'm not quite sure whether I like it or not. So far, she's incredibly unlikeable although I do truly appreciate her honesty I'm not so sure I really wanted to know about it. I'm planning to move to Mimi Sheraton's book next.

This manic craze is also propelling me forward on the mini-living room makeover we're contemplating. I wanted to do a little bit larger re-do but this year of fiscal responsibility just doesn't justify such an expense when a couple of gallons of paint and a few smart furniture adjustments could do the trick. We're still in negations over color. Originally I found a blue I liked but then started thinking maybe more brown (husband is confused since my brown did take a turn towards golden yellow which has been thoroughly vetoed!). I'll give you an update once a final decision has been made along with a before/after.

Hope everyone's staying warm and toasty during this cold snap which by the way, I'm totally loving!

Productive and still meatless

So we were pretty successful again for meatless Monday but got stuck super late at work and made do with bean burritos from Taco Bueno for dinner. We did make it home in time for me to make my first homemade bread based on this book . It was pretty successful and super tasty. I made smoked gouda & ale soup (which if I substitue chicken stock with water or vegetable broth would also be meatless) for lunches tomorrow. Perfect for the cold snap we're having here in Big D.



I took the caramel cake I made this weekend in to work. It was also super tasty and I'm thinking this will make a perfect menu for when my parents come down in Feb. Add in a little salad/fruit/cheese plate. Yum.

Tomorrow, will need to be focused on a little studio clean up & general house organization since it's kind of a disaster as we clean out Christmas.

Happy Monday!

This and That

One of our favorite Sunday activities is the 1/2 price drinks from sonic and then browsing at houses. We found this one in a new planned community in Frisco. The house itself isn't great but this kitchen is awesome. I think I would want to add a couple of super fantastic chandeliers and switch out to subway tile with black chem lab countertops. One sink that's really deep so mostly my dream kitchen. :)


I could've used this kitchen this weekend while baking up a storm. I've been really depressed about how the holiday got away from me and I did little in the way of anything festive so I've already started getting a jump on new habits. No, I'm not baking now for next Christmas but I am testing out recipes and spending more time in the kitchen in general. I want us to try and focus more on eating right (moderation is the key) and getting in some exercise. This means everyone at our offices can benefit from the baked goods I like to make without us having to actually eat them (well, eat most of it). This weekend I've got pumpkin bread, dark chocolate pound cake and bread dough in the freezer/refrigerator. I did throw Rolland a bone and make oatmeal raisin cookies. Tomorrow I'm bringing in a caramel pound cake... will try to remember to take pics.

During the break last week I did manage to get some studio time in and make a few fun things. This one was more light assembly then anything. Rolland got me an incredibly cute flash drive that we both thought would be awesome as a necklace (my friend Jen got me a book from the Spy Museum so I'm really set).



This one I remade from pieces I put together at the art nest but was never happy with the outcome. Inspired by Jane Dean I added crystals to the skull and added them as the focal along with one of the charms from a 10 commandments bracelet. This one is thou shalt not steal. Seemed appropriate with the skulls.

Happy New Year

2010 is all about the love and sparklies!

Vegetarians Don't Look!

We made a bigger Sunday dinner than we usually do at our house. It's been cold and we don't typically do any kind of holiday meal so we decided to go for it with Sunday supper. I made hashbrown casserole (a la Cracker Barrel) and baked beans (Mother-in-law has tastiest recipe... super easy but you'll have to ask her for it :) ).



Rolland made a smoked turkey in the smoker that ended up being super easy and incredibly tasty. He did his home work though and brined it (Alton Brown) prior to smoking and it made all the difference. Most moist turkey ever. I'm already thinking about the yummy turkey sandwiches to come.



And it's no wonder we got this tastiness made with help like this attached to us at the hip.



Next week, Beef bourguignon via the Barefoot Contessa which I've made before and is heaven. I think this Sunday supper thing might take hold for the new year.

Merry Christmas!

With this year's white Christmas, I got everything I wanted and more. I hope your holiday has been filled with beauty and joy.

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Awesome vacation ...

means finally getting some fun stuff done in the studio. I'm trying to create pieces with all the goodies I've been collecting and resist buying new stuff until I've made some space. This one is made from milk glass beads I got at Michaels with a few left over quartz crystal coins. I've linked with them all together with annealed steel wire that is on a huge spool that is greatness. I'm scared I'll never find such a large amount again but I don't let it stop me from being my go to wire. The length is actually fairly long and close to a flapper style necklace that I plan to pair with a piece I made over the summer for some yummy jadeite style goodness.


For this one, I had a bag of leftover charms that I've collected in the last year with a vintage charm bracelet I bought last Christmas and thought I'd go ahead and start adding the charms since everything was just sitting here; half hour later I've got a full travel charm bracelet that even hubby thought was cool. I really love it and feel it's especially festive now as I jingle every time I move! I'm contemplating starting to collect shield charms like these but I need another collectible like a hole in the head. Please note this is not necessarily a strong no. :)


My final accomplishment for the day was finishing the mammoth biography of Julia Child I started in May. The author really covers all the details which kept making it hard to stick with the story but the last month I buckled down and got it finished. Strangely, now that it's done I kind of loved it but it's definitely an investment in time. It's amazing to read exactly how dedicated she was to changing the way Americans cooked and felt about food. Her commitment to her profession, her husband and her causes is incredibly inspiring.

Cloverleaf

We went on a miniroad trip today to Ardmore, Oklahoma to check out The Cloverleaf Boutique. I've had the article about it on my inspiration board since May of 2008 so yesterday hubby volunteered to head north to check it out. It was awesome! Completely girly heaven where I wanted one of everything but managed to show great restraint. There were even a couple of sections to keep Rolland occupied so he didn't mind my looky-looing. I forgot my camera but the trusty iPhone was put to good use snapping some outside pics.

Vacation Necklace 1

Rolland took this a while ago but it definitely captures the last few days. It's amazing how much time I can spend in the studio when I don't have to worry about getting everything done in a weekend before I have to go back to work on Monday. I made this one yesterday and another one is await


I made this one yesterday and another one is almost finished except for some pesky wire wrapping. Tomorrow, some collage and backgrounds for some soldered pieces I want to get started on for this week as well.


We've also got more movie plans. Did you hear about the Morgans? was great and very sweet. Invictus (also my husband's favorite poem) in the next couple of days with Sherlock Holmes and tamales on Christmas. Yes, I know those two are not especially related.

Vacation is starting off right

I'm playing catch up now that I've had some time in the studio. This is a necklace that I made for my friend Molly and I'm thrilled that she liked it. Hubby and I collaborated on making the bezel based on somethings I learned in Terri Brush's clash but I took a shortcut with copper tubing to make the perfect circle. I'm hoping to get a lot of these made next week. We bought the big torch and everything... mostly because hubby does the torching. :)


This is the packing and ornament I made for my 12 Days exchange with the Charmsters group. I love how untraditionally Christmas my lady dancing is and hope everyone else did too. I think these colors are just yummy and would use them more in the house if the boy didn't protest so much. I suppose that is a lot to ask.



I've had a great day in the studio and been super productive. I will have lots more photos over the next few days.

Hope everyone's having an awesome weekend.

Vacation in sight!

I can't believe how close to Christmas it is. I've got almost nothing done that I wanted to but am incredibly excited that tomorrow is Friday and I get an entire week off. I have huge, huge plans to play in the studio and the kitchen. We're also planning a date night for Did you Hear About the Morgans Cowboy Chow and Christmas lights. I've also ordered some urban fantasy that looks awesome so when I'm not playing I can do some fun mindless reading. Seriously, there's no way this vacation live up to these huge expectations but I'm going to risk.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend planned.

Christmas

So today I know how an elf must feel working overtime at the North Pole. In fact, that elf would be totally wiped out and have extremely dry hands from paper, glue and ribbon. I finished wrapping all the presents and Rolland got them boxed up and ready to ship out tomorrow.


These are the packages headed north and hopefully will arrive in the next two weeks. I dread waiting in line while Rolland brings more in from the car and everyone gives us incredibly dirty looks.

Luckily, the 60 Christmas cards I finished up tonight can be dropped in the mail without any seeing the huge stack. I have no idea what possessed me this year. This week, baked goods. Normally I've been working on cookies since October and just have to slice and bake with the thawed rolls from the freezer but this year Christmas got away from me and I've done no pre-baking. OY! Do you think a group pan of brownies is horrible?

Now, I'm going to bed and am hell bent on regrouping for a new attitude of merriment. I've got some awesome plans involving spray painted plastic dinosaurs and a Lego Rockband Keychain. This minor lapse in holiday cheer will soon be forced into submission.

Weekend

So far, this weekend has been awesome. Tiring, but awesome. Last night was a girls night and we had dinner at The Porch then saw the Santaland Diaries which totally rocked. I love David Sedaris and the show at The Contemporary rocked it.
Today has been a lot of shopping, wrapping, repeat. Tomorrow I need to start stock piling the cookies for delivery on Friday. I'm taking the week of Christmas off so all office goodies need to be done by the 18th so I've got butter thawing as we speak. Pics of cookie goodness should be forthcoming.

Speaking of pics, this one is the tree at the Galleria and was taken with my iPhone using the Toy Camera application. Now, my new favorite thing about my iPhone since I took it with my phone, uploaded it to twitpic, saved it from there and posted it here... no finding the camera, downloading pic, photoshop, save, upload, etc. Although I apologize for twitter followers and blog readers on the shared photos but it's festive!

Mid-week Progress

Not much to share in pics but I've got several projects in progress. I had to take a round 2 with filling a bezel with resin. First round, not great, so I added a pic to the top and a thin coat of diamond glaze so I hope that salvages the piece since I really like it. I have big plans for the chain.

The kitchen has been more successful. I made a super tasty quiche on Monday, while watching the Patriots get pounded by the Saints (so sad), and tonight a spicy tomato soup found here. Yummy goodness. This weekend I'm thinking we might use the smoker for some barbecue experiments. It's finally gotten cold enough for more tasty comfort food. Maybe turkey?

Note: no turkey was consumed on Thanksgiving so we're not completely out of our minds with turkey overload.