vacationnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

on my way to sunny South Carolina...mom & I are spending a few days a the new house...and I am on spring break from class! hooray for vacations :)

Saturday's Photo

with the assistance of Jack, getting prepared for next Saturday's Trunk Show!!

Friday Finds...on Saturday :p

I've been so busy finishing up my two classes- they end today! spring 'break' here I come!!- and packing for a little mother-daughter getaway that starts tomorrow, I didn't have time to do Friday finds, on Friday :P oops!

so today, I bring you, Golf finds on Etsy! Brought to you by my impending vaca to Hilton Head, SC :)

Golfer Girl ball marker by Autumn Leaves Jewelry























Scrabble Golf Charm by Life is but a Charm























Tee it Up notecard by Lindentreephotograph
















Old Golfer's sign by Cottage Signs

tales from the Metal Studio

my metalsmithing class is over :(

the last thing I made - start to finish in one day actually- was a silver ring with a cushion cut whiskey quartz stone


very hard to photograph...but I tried :p

What I'm Working on...Wednesday :)

getting ready for next Saturday's trunk show at Magnolia Designs...some pretty CZ earrings...

sights around town

I happened to be driving around the city today, taking some photos for my photography class, and I thought I'd start to take some pics for my newest 'art for the house' project...some cool shots around Baltimore, to hang up in the upstairs hallway, or in the living room...

something you don't see every day...

cirque du soleil in Baltimore...in pigtown no less...its so odd to drive down the street and see these huge tents set up! I'm not sure how much longer they'll be around...but it's a nice change of scenery from empty parking lots :)

BEST Trunk Show at Magolia Designs!

coming up on April 4th, from 11am- 3pm some of the super talented girls of BEST will be showing off their jewelry creations at Magnolia Designs!

Magnolia Designs is located at:
246 S Conkling Street
Baltimore, MD 21224



























mark your calendars! we hope to see you there!

Mondays Item of the Week!

this week, get free shipping in the shop on your entire order...if one of your purchases is....

blue raspberry earrings!

Sunday's shop of the week!

this week's shop of the week...ColleenBaran!


I was thinking of what shop to feature this week, when it hit me...go to my actual list of favorites, and this was the first seller I marked down, back two years ago.

I love love love the bubbly, organic feel of her jewelry, and I am shocked that I don't own a piece yet!

I suggest you all get over to her shop quickly and check it out!

Featured Etsy Blogger- March

This month our featured Etsy Bloggers team mate is Design by Nora!!

I am so in love with these cute little earrings Nora designs from polymer clay! Flowers and stars, in every color you can imagine! Of course, I'm partial to the purple ones ;) She also sells beautiful handmade leather bags!

The best part is they fit right into your budget, so you can stock up on as many as you want! And since she reached a milestone of 100 posts on her blog, you can get $1.00 off your order! So hurry over to her blog and get shopping!!

Blog Carnival - March 27th Edition

Topic: Spring is here (or almost here depending on where you live). What spring-y things have you been noticing lately? (Bulbs coming in, birds returning, Easter bunnies in stores...etc. )

I have a most favorite spring/Easter treat...it only shows up this time of year...so I stock up and stock up again after I've eaten the whole first stash...
















Russell Stover's strawberry creme filled chocolate eggs...they are my all time favorite. Only a few stores carry them for some reason, so if you live in the Baltimore area, and see someone digging through bins of candy...it's probably me :p

you can buy them here :)

besides that...I have been gradually breaking in the flip flops for the warmer days...I can not wait for spring!

Saturday's Photo

just a random photo of downtown, taken while Kelley and I were out to lunch and doing a little shopping :)

Friday Finds on Etsy!

another week come and gone! so that means.....time for some Friday Finds on Etsy!!

and in honor of March Madness...Basketball themed finds!

NCAA TEAMS - MARCH MADNESS-FREE SHIPPING from ChipmunkHollow

my hokies didn't make it in...but if your team did, you can get a customized pendant!

March Madness NCAA Special - The UNC Carolina Tarheels Dog Collar from Three Pooches

Kansas Jayhawks Armwarmers by BombshellSports

















and seriously, how cute is this?

Streetball by Barneston

new ideas

I'm doing a few shows coming up, and for me the biggest struggle thus far has been...how do I set up my displays? How do I make it simple, yet effective?

I'm stealing a good idea from Kelley...and using business cards to hold up my earrings :) I think its such a cute idea...and its extra advertising ;) hah!

so this was my test subject, a sale from yesterday that I thought I'd try out the new design with...what do you think??

100 <3's and a sale

I made it! for a while now I was hoping to hit the milestone of 100 hearts on Etsy...and yesterday I did :)






















thanks to all those who've 'hearted' me out there!! even in these slow days it makes me feel like its all worth it!

What I'm Working on...Wednesday :)

today I'm off to my second to last metalsmithing class (very sad, by the way) with my new stuff from Rio Grande, and I am ready to make some magic :)


....and now I'm back! haha I'm so speedy :)

here are the two projects I accomplished today:

a copper bangle, held together with a rivet- will be a set of three :)

and three sterling silver skinny stackable rings :)


we wont talk about the other one that I started, and then proceeded to melt when I held the torch a little too close...we'll re-try that one next week :)

Happy St Pattys Day

to all those Irish, and Irish at heart (and I guess in their livers)...

HAPPY ST PATTYS DAY!























*Photo from lepiaf.geo's photostream on Flickr*

now go eat some corned beef and cabbage :)

Tuesday's Recipe of the Week!

Easy Chicken Bake

This is one of our new favorites...I made this last week when it was still pretty chilly out, and it was the perfect warm meal for a cold evening!

The recipe was one I tore out from Rachael Ray Magazine, and it was just an ad for Stovetop Stuffing mix...but it is soooooooo good!

Recipe

• 1 pkg (6 oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
• 1-1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 can (10-3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/3 cup Breakstone’s or Knudsen Sour Cream
• 1 bag (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed, drained

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package; set aside.
2. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream and vegetables in 13x9-inch baking dish; top with the stuffing.
3. Bake 30 min or until chicken is cooked through.

Mondays Item of the Week!

this week, get free shipping in the shop on your entire order...if one of your purchases is....

The Luck 'O the Irish Necklace!





















Just in time for St. Patty's day...this beautiful green hydro quartz stunner is a must have :)


so head on over to the shop...you know you want to ;)

Sunday's shop of the week!

we all know I love cats :) I wouldn't live with three, feed two others and stop to marvel at the lovely Simba- a 10 year old, FORTY pound cat we saw in PetSmart last night...it was his birthday, and he was there with his cat-mom picking out his new toy :)

so this week's shop of the week is PurrPrints!

I love the whimsical, and just all around happy prints created by the artist, and her shop is part of Cruelty Free Etsy and Etsy for Animals too!


She really has a cat for any fancy in her shop! So if you love your furry friends too, go and visit her now!

MIA blogger

yeah took a week off from the blogging...I've been busy cleaning, organizing, and getting a lovely spring cold.

But I'm back!! never fear :)

SPRING GIVEAWAY!!

Head on over to the Baltimore Etsy Street Team's (BEST) blog and enter our SPRING GIVEAWAY!! One lucky reader will win all of this great stuff:























head to the blog for more details :)

Saturday's Photo

keeping my feet warm while I work :)

Friday Finds on Etsy!

March always puts me in a Green mood :)

here are some fun finds from Etsy...in the theme of Green!

Birthday Card from BowerBoxPress



















Teeny Tiny Flower Earrings from ElisaShereJewelry



















Vintage Flower Brooch from JenMenkhaus















Mantis Napkin Rings from BakersWife


















Green Recycled Plastic Knitimal Pin from GreenStarStudio



















**all of these finds happen to be from my friends on the BaltimoreEtsyStreetTeam...to find more stuff from them - in every color just search for baltimoreetsyteam on Etsy :)

tales from the Metal Studio

it doesn't look like much just yet...but yesterday in class I made pretty good progress...

started out with a piece of Plexiglas, which I drew a design on (in my case, a four leafed clover) and cut it out with the saw

then took some 14 guage copper sheet metal and rolled it out to a size 26 guage


cut two pieces, one for the front, and one for the back, and using the hydrolic press I used the molds to create two shapes

then I cut each of those out...and soldered them together!!

next week we'll clean it up, and add a jumpring so it can be a pendant for a necklace...hooray!!

Thursdays Shoe Story

to the untrained eye, this may just look like a brand new pair of old navy flip flops. and yes, while that is true...they are so much more than that...there is a whole story behind these flip flops...

a few (eek, maybe 2?) years ago, Bonnie and I took a road trip to Bedford, VA...to attend and attempt to sell some of our crafty things at a wine festival...it was not quite as we had hoped, driving the 5 hours down there, staying in a very shady hotel, then getting up extra early, struggling to set up a tent on the most windy day of the year...only to have one thing sell between the two of us!

oh, and I got such a bad sunburn- the lines from it were still visible 6 months later! we stopped for dinner on the way home and to get Aloe for my poor arms...and on the way back we were relaxing, enjoying the cool breeze from the sun roof when I realized, there was a cigarette butt on the top of the sunroof, and I didn't want it to fall in the car, so the genius that I am, used one of my flip flops to try and knock it off. which I did, but my flip flop went out the sun roof too- 60 mph + flimsy shoe = disaster :p

Bonnie, being the wonderful friend that she is, actually turned the car around, on one of those police, 'do not turn around in' medians, and we went back for the shoe- this is on a fairly large highway I might add. As we turned around, we saw a tractor trailer coming down the road and I thought my shoe was toast...but by some miracle, it was unharmed :)

now that's not the end of the story...we cut to last summer...again Bonnie and I are on a road trip, this time with the guys in Atlantic City...its our last day there, we're just coming up the boardwalk from the beach, when I catch my foot on a plank of wood and go flying forward...only to find, my flip flop - the one that survived being run over...was ripped apart! The thong part and most of the bottom of the flop around it had been pulled away...


so this pair is my new one for the summer of 2009...I highly doubt it will have the same fun memories my old pair did...but here's hoping!!

mmmmm....fondue

I love fondue, and the Melting Pot...but since it's so expensive we usually reserve it for special occasions, and times when we have 3 hours to eat...yup, took us three hours to get through 4 courses...but it was so delicious I didn't care :)

What I'm Working on...Wednesday :)

a little sneak peek into some green, March inspired designs :)

Five Happy Years :)

man time flies :p

Tuesday's Recipe of the Week!

I have been in the baking mood lately, and just last weekend I made Banana Bread for the first time!!

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Servings: 12

Cook Time: 1 Hour 5 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar 2 eggs, beaten 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2.	In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3.	Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

**recipe & Image found at AllRecipes.com

Happy Birthday to my Bean :)

Happy 27th! Way to join the 'old' ladies club ;) hehe

and enjoy this way old photo from Christmas 2004...when we were 22...eek!

Bakin Pigs

in my daily email from Delight.com today were these adorable serving/baking dishes...and I think that by being a resident of PigTown, that I was most intrigued by them, but even if where you live doesn't have Pig in the name...they're still really cute!















The only downside, is that if you live in PigTown, you definitely don't have the room to store cute baking dishes like this...but I digress :P