a few new things......

I told you a few posts ago that I am feverishly working towards an art show which is in less than two weeks now!!  The show is called "Art for the Parks", and takes place January 28th, 29th and 30th.

Over the next week I want to show you a sampling of the finished products that I will be selling at that show.

I am still mad about owls and now that has grown into other birdy designs as well.

Couple this with my love of pillows and this is what happens......

And the ideas are overflowing from my head!  There are some mermaids pillows in the mix as well......I could never forget about my mermaids!

At this show there will be a silent auction called "Take a Seat for Conservation".  Each artist entered in the show is asked to paint a chair or a bar stool and these will be auctioned off during the weekend of the show.

Along with sewing and making jewelry I have been trying to finish my bar stool, which I hope to show you very, very soon.

So keep checking with me for more sneak peeks of jewelry, bar stools, chairs, and what ever other creative items are born :)

I GOT IN!!!!!

Sign ups for Doll Quilt Swap 10 were a few weeks ago.  Many, many flickr members sign up for this swap but not so many get in.  Members are chosen by a lottery and I found out yesterday that I made it!!!  I was over the moon!

I am so excited about who I got for a partner!  It is a secret, but I am going to have a blast making her quilt!  Our *likes* are very similar. 

The deadline is March 31st, so after my art show in 2 weeks I will start designing this new quilt.  Go ahead and follow along in the fun by clicking on the Doll Quilt Swap tab on the right sidebar.  You will see some fantastic quilts made!

For Doll Quilt Swap 9 I made this quilt for my partner:

And I received this beauty from my secret partner:

As some of you know, along with my dogs and cats I also rescue fresh water turtles, so this little quilt was perfect for me.

It has been pretty cold here and my turtles are not liking it.  Here are four of them all piled up trying to soak up some sunshine.

Have a great week!

Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie

The breakfast of champions!!!  Most people I know love sweet potatoes (yams), in fact I don't think I have met anyone that does not like these little gems.  I am not a breakfast person at all.  A few years ago if I did a long run, then I might have been hungry when I got back, but that doesn't happen anymore.

So one day my friend Amy, from Lubbers Landing, told me about this smoothie that she makes sometimes and I tried it and now have been drinking these almost every morning ever since!

Amy has tried it with pumpkin as well and that is also yummy!  I started out making about 2 cups of this but now I drink 4 cups and that keeps me full until lunch time.

You will need a juicer and a blender for this recipe.

1 large sweet potato (yam)

2 apples ( i use red delicious)

1/2" - 1" piece of fresh ginger (depends on how much you like ginger)

3 carrots

1-2 frozen bananas

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

a large handful of fresh spinach (optional)

Juice the sweet potato, apples, ginger and carrots.  This should make about 1 1/2 cups of juice.  Add this juice to the blender with the frozen bananas, spinach and the pumpkin pie spice.  Blend until smooth.  ENJOY!!!

I suggest starting out drinking just 2 cups of this and work up to more.  The recipe above should make about that.  I add more sweet potato and more carrots to increase the size of mine.

I have been crazy busy getting ready for an art show in 2 weeks and finishing up the last of my orders.

I just finished this ring for a customer with a beautiful piece of amber sea glass.

In a few days I will start to post some pictures of items I am making for the art show.  Nothing is completely finished yet, but I am working hard!

Have a great weekend :)

Off to a Good Start!

In just the first week of the year I have gotten some projects finished!!  One of my UFO's is finished, one is on its way but may take a while, and I wouldnt be a creative soul if I didnt start two new ones......which I have finished!!

This is a place mat I made out of one of those house blocks.

I am calling this one "bird and bug house".  I love the scarppy-ness of this!

I am acquiring quite a collection of place mats which go along with my mismatched collection of plates.  For those of you that do not know, I collect odd dinner plates.  It looks so cool when we have a big dinner party and everyone has a different plate.  I'll start working on some pictures of my plate collection and blog about that one day soon.

One of the new projects I started last Monday is a crocheted tissue box cover.  I have had this pattern saved in my favorites forever and finally got to it.

You can find the pattern for this here on the Royal Sisters blog.  Scroll down and you will find the button for the tutorial on the right side.
Everyone needs a pretty cover for those hideous tissue boxes!

I just adore crocheted flowers and found this pattern the other day and, of course, just had to try it out especially since I have a few unfinished scarfs that will need some type of embellishment.

I wish I could provide the link to this pattern, but I saved the PDF pattern to my hard drive and did not save the website to my favorites. 

Remember that blue and green granny square that I was crocheting into a pillow cover?  I got the granny square done for the front and started doing a panel for the back.  I decided to do a single crochet panel with stripes for the back and it is taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R.!!!
I will be pleased with it when it is finished, but it may have been quicker to make another granny square for the back.

So there is my update on my resolution to get some projects FINISHED!
Have a great weekend!!

Christmas Dinner 2010

Happy New Year!!!!

One of the biggest changes I made last year was that I became a vegan.  It is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.  I am happier, lighter, a faster runner and eating the most delicious food ever!

I do quite a bit of research online and through cookbooks for recipes.  Some I do not change, but a lot of times I take several different recipes, make my own changes and come up with my own.

My husband has not fully converted, but we still had a vegan Christmas dinner!! I was so happy!!

So throughout this year I would like to share some of my recipes with you from time to time.  I will still be blogging about my jewelry and quilts, but wanted to share this side of my life with you also.

Here was Christmas dinner:

I did a lentil-nut loaf that was wrapped in pastry (a take on wellington), mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes & green bean casserole....all vegan :)

Below is the loaf before I sliced and served it.

I am going to share the lentil-nut loaf recipe with you below.

My cousin, Tara, did a vegan banana cream pie with was OVER THE TOP!!!

I hope I can inspire you to try some of these recipes.

Lentil-Nut Loaf

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 cup cooked lentils (i have also substituted 1 can of  black eyed peas, rinsed and drained)

1 cup uncooked instant oats

2-3 cloves of garlic minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, grated

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 cup walnuts (or other nuts you have on hand) finely chopped

1/2 cup tomato puree

1/4 cup black olives, finely chopped

3 tablespoons tamari sauce (or soy sauce)

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons of mustard

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

salt and pepper to taste

In a large mixing bowl mix all the ingredients together until mixed well.

If you are going to roll it in pastry, form into a log and wrap in pastry.  Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper.

If you want to make a traditional loaf, then lightly oil a loaf pan.  Press mixture into loaf pan pressing out any air pockets.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, covered for the loaf.  Then uncover and bake for another 20 minutes.

For the wellington style loaf bake until the pastry is a nice golden brown. This was about 80 minutes, but check it after 45 minutes.

Allow both to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes and then carefully slice.

ENJOY!

a peek into 2011

I think most people feel like I do....*where did 2010 go?*

I have spent the last 3 days cleaning and straightening my studio.  Did I ever make a mess in 2010!!! WOW!!!  I am still not finished and want to get to my sewing machine but can't see it right now.  Plus, I don't dare start working while there still a mess in that room or I will become too comfortable with that and the cleaning process will never be completed.

I found quite a few (okay far too many to admit to) UFO's while rearranging and sorting, and decided this is my main goal for 2011......to finish, finish, finish!!!

Thought you would be interested to see a few.....and throughout the year you can *encourage* me to post pictures of finished pieces!!

Well first there was the huge rubbermaid container of quilt tops (made by me) that need to be quilted.  Below are just 6 that I spread out on top of the quilting machine.

A few of my favorites were hanging up.  I must have thought I was going to get to them soon!! HAHA!!

I am so in love with this red pineapple one.....I MUST MUST finish that one first!

There is this one that I started right after I got married......over a decade ago!!! EEEKKK!

It is a king size so that took some time......like a decade!!  I have another one, that will be a king size one day also,  that I started around the same time and the blocks still need to be sewn together.

And I also found tons of little projects that need to be *finished*.

These house blocks were meant for a give away quilt but I couldn't get the finished size right, so I think I will make them into placemats.

This is another unfinished placemat, just needs quilting, that I made up with a variety of sampler blocks.

Oh and let's not forget the crochet!!!  Two years ago I FINALLY figured out how to crochet and do not have one finished project that I own to show for it!  I have given away lots of things!

The granny square below will be a pillow.  I am working on it right now, so perhaps this will be the first UFO that is completed.

Then there are a few crocheted scarves that are so close to being finished.  It has been REALLY cold here also....so I could really get some use out of these!

This was my first big crochet project....and it only needs like two more rows of hexes to be a throw.

Here is a scarf I finished for a swap:

Speaking of swaps.....I have blocks from a Bee Liberated Group I am in on Flickr, that need to be sewn together and added to that pile to be quilted.

I have been fortunate enough to have some great swap partners this year and below is just a sample of some of the pieces I have received. 

I almost forgot about my Baker's Dozen Group on Raverly.  I have received all my blocks and now need to stitch them all together.

One more item that is long over due is my bathroom vanity counter.  I have been in my house for 8 years this February and I have painted this poor cabinet three different colors, at three different times.  Then I had it ready to do an aged technique on it.......since then I re-primed it and have mermaids drawn on it, but they are too light to see in this picture.....I would really like to finish this project!

So this list of things should keep me busy until about July 2011!!!

And I didn't mention art shows I am signed up for in January and February, orders I need to fill, dogs to train for agility, that knitting hobby I need to conquer, and new jewelry ideas in my head that need to come out!

Please keep me accountable on these projects :)  I am grateful for all of you that miss my long, crazy posts when I disappear from the world of blogging!  Thanks for asking where I am!

Incase you don't hear from me before....have the best 2011 ever!!!

Hooray December!

This is my favorite time of the year!  I love the weather, Christmas, the decorations......everything!

What I love most of all is my busyness is over for about a month!  In the last month, or so, I have travelled to Nassau to do two art shows where I got to sell my quilts and jewelry and I ran into friends that I have not seen in years!

It was really windy and I could not use all my jewelry displays, so please excuse the horrible table display.  It didnt stop people from buying and that is what counts!  The joy of outdoor shows!

In between the two art shows we had dog agility trials here.....

My potcake, Trixi, got her Novice Standard Agility title and two legs towards her Novice Jumpers with Weaves.

Above are most of us with our ribbons!!! YAY!!!

It was a week of training, trials, great friends and food!

Speaking of food.......back in August I went *VEGAN*!  I've been a vegetarian on and off for the last 17 years and swore I could never give up cheese.  Now I can't believe I didn't do this before.  I feel like a million bucks, my running is better, and I have lost most of the weight I had put on over the last two years.  So in the midst of my busy life I have been trying new recipes and enjoying every step of this new lifestyle.  I will have to do a post on the whole story another time.

After the two art shows I organized a dessert auction in aid of the humane society I work for, Friends of Abaco Animals.  It is called "Designer Desserts".  We auctioned off some amazing desserts (and some were vegan!) and sold some vegan cupcakes.

The auction started off pretty slow but in the end we did better than 2009!  The money from this fundraiser will help spay and neuter more Abaco animals.

The day after the auction my friend, Amy, and I had a display of vegan food and environmentally friendly cleaning products at an environmental film festival put on by Friends of the Environment.

People were pretty impressed with our food.  We had raw energy cookies, black eyed pea hummus, no-egg nog (made from walnuts), vegan cupcakes.  I hope more people can realize the impact of slaughter houses on our environment, not to mention the impact on the animals and our bodies!

When all of this was over, last Sunday, we were finally able to get together with family and friends for a thanksgiving dinner.

When January comes (and it is coming very quickly) I will be preparing for an art show, Art for the Parks, which is the last weekend of January, and possibly another art show before that (which is a bit of a secret for now).

So I am going to throughly enjoy December.....family, friends, food and holiday gatherings......cannot wait!