Spring Break 2012 (I get to do it twice!)

The girls have really kept me busy, but I've still got a day and a half to try to keep THEM busy. Here's just a sampling of what went down yesterday. (Via Instagram)

There was a trip to the beach in the morning

Tree climbing in the afternoon

Playing with thrifted toys in the evening

In addition, we did some shopping, baked cookies, made dinner, cleaned up, played video games, picked blackberries, and even squeezed in some crafting. I'm hoping I have more ideas for today! Eek!!

Oh, have you seen the awesome giveaway Lori is having over at Pretty Things? You really oughta go see how you can enter to win these!

Also, I re-listed this fun bracelet the other day.

Mechanical Breeze Bracelet

I've got the girls currently engaged in a little Lego Harry Potter on the Wii so I've got some time to rest while we wait for the day to warm up. If you've got any activity ideas, I'm all ears!

Menu and Suor Angelica JUNK Necklace

Let's make this a quickie okay?
Really, I guess that's completely up to me.
Ok. . .here goes.

It's Monday, so it's time for another Menu Plan Monday.

Breakfasts: Cereal/oatmeal, breakfast burritos, whole wheat waffles, hashbrown baskets, muffins

Lunches: Pizza quesidillas, tuna noodles, pizza (from freezer), lefrtovers, ham sandwiches, soup w/grilled cheese, chicken salad

Dinners: 

Gouda stovetop mac-n-cheese w/mixed veggies & salad

Taco stuffed shells w/salad

Grilled chicken w/corn on the cob & crispy smashed potatoes

Crunchy garlic chicken w/green beans & yellow rice

Head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plan Monday.


I added another JUNK necklace to the shop. This one is to benefit Melanie's Suor Angelica fundraising.

Suor Angelica JUNK Necklace

I've got lots on my plate today and the nieces will be spending their spring break with us for the last half of the week. Soooo. . .we'll see if I'm back any this week or not. If not, I hope you understand. Thanks!

Finally Friday

I'm not just saying that because I get to head out of town to go play with one of my best friends tonight (woot!), but also because Shannon over at For My Sweet Daughter is doing this thing called "Finally Friday". Basically,  she's sharing a Design Seeds palette and giving everyone a week to make something inspired by it. I've spent most of my week in front of the computer (catching up) and have been itching to create something. Shannon's 'challenge' seemed like the perfect opportunity to get out of my funk and stretch my crafty wings a bit.
Here's the palette she shared.

Boating Tones from Design Seeds

I looked over the Boating Tones palette for this week and pulled together beads that seemed as close as I could get them to the colors on-screen.

The colors looked like a dark grey, light grey, light pink, dark pink, and a violet on my iPad. Here though. . .they look like shades of blue and purple. Hmmmmm. Oh well. Here's the necklace I created in any case. I'm pretty pleased with it.

The shell beads had both of the greys as well as some of the lighter pink and violet. I just needed a pop of what I thought was the darker pink. But then I wasn't quite happy. . .I needed more color. Therefore, the purple beads got added to the mix.

I played around with design ideas for a little while before settling on the layers. I liked how the layers almost looked like the water and the boat. They keyhole is just for fun since it was laying on my desk with no other purpose. It works.

Now, jump over to For My Sweet Daughter to see what Shannon created and who else played along.

Whirlwind of a Wednesday (BTW)

It seems like every time I check in here on the ol' blog I find more and more I want to say. Let's just start with it being Bead Table Wednesday. I'm finally getting stuff unpacked from the beach trip and haven't gotten to do ANY crafting since we made it home. So, the works-in-progress department is pretty weak. Anyway, here's what IS on my craft desk currently.

These are just some of the odds and ends that have been sitting on my desk waiting for the right inspiration to strike. I've got them numbered so you'll know what I've got here. 1. Some of the pieces from the grab bag I got from CapturedMoments. 2. A pair of earrings in progress made from some copper washers. 3. My single leftover bead from Sally's Colors of Spring Blog Hop. 4. The two bead tangles I made for my tutorial. 5. A keyhole from the Tim Holtz line of products.

These went with me on vacation but didn't get used. I have a project in mind for them. It's some resin-ed paper, a decorative paper punch, and a small hole punch.

These 'homeless' beads were unpacked and are just sitting in that container on the craft desk

There's more Bead Table Wednesday in the Flickr Group.

I'm dying to get some crafting in this week. For inspiration, I'm considering using Shannon at For My Sweet Daughter's Design Seeds color palette from her "Finally Friday" prompt.

Design Seeds

Those colors are pretty yummy!



Oh, I was featured in a treasury today!



There's a new item and a re-listed one in the shop (at long last)!!

Wet Grass Bracelet

Live What You Love Necklace

Lastly, I made these Pesto Chicken Paninis for lunch today and they were so very good and EASY. I just used my foreman grill on them, nothing special required.

Via Instagram

That about sums up my Wednesday. How's yours going?

March Goal Review

Since March has some to a close, it's about that time that I quickly review my goals for the year. Again, I'm using some of my instagram photos from the month throughout this post. If you're interested in my January or February goal reviews, just click over to those links.

PERSONAL

1. Exercise We really did do quite a bit this month, lots of walks with some bike rides. And, while I was on vacation last week I kayaked and/or rode a bike EVERY DAY. Now, to keep the momentum going.
2. Eat right/better This was okay. We ate out or with friends more than I had planned. And, I had some moments of weakness with Easter candy (thank goodness it's on Sunday and all that stuff will be disappearing!) 
3. Read more books/watch less TV I did pretty good on this goal. As far as books, I finished reading ALL of the Walking Dead Stuff including The Rise of the Governor and am still working on Inheritance. My tv watching has been limited as well. Yay.
4. Make a real effort to keep the house clean Ehhhh, it was clean enough. We didn't live in filth, but there were days that I just wasn't feeling it. I will try not to make a habit of this!
5. Discover new music Thanks to Erin's Challenge of Music blog hop this month, I was exposed to some music I've never heard before. Unfortunately, my speakers weren't completely cooperative during this hop. As such, the only real new music that I explored this month was Erin's pick of Sara Bareilles. I'll keep chugging away on this one though.
6. Grow some plants inside and out You would think that with it being Spring, we would have taken some action on this one by now. However, the most we've done for getting some plants is TALK about what veggies/herbs we want. Le sigh.
7. Make my visions of my dream house and this house co-exist Like above, we've TALKED about the changes we want to make around the house, but not much more than that. However, as I'm writing this Pat is measuring the floors in the house to figure out how much new flooring would cost!! Maybe we'll make a move in that direction soon.  
   
8. Declutter/organize at least one drawer/cabinet/area a week I did get two drawers in my desk de-cluttered, but that's not really much to boast about.
9. Have a yard sale Again, we've done nothing but discussed this goal.
10. Take better care of my face and skin I promised last month that I would do better on this. Yet, I only slightly improved. I think I only had one break-out, but still that's more than any person my age should be having. Will strive harder.
11. Go to the doctor/dentist NOPE

 

BUSINESS/CRAFT

1. Make a real effort with my blog I think I did pretty good with this, I even got a couple of blog posts out while I was on vacation (as crazy as they were).
2. Include more tutorials on the blog One tutorial would be MORE! My Hunger Games Necklace tutorial was short and sweet, but a tutorial in any case. Yet, I didn't let myself count one as more last month, so I guess I can't do it this month either (darn).
3. Keep the craft room more organized  I did do SOME organizing in the craft room over the month, but I'm not feeling good about it yet.
4. Discover my passion I recognize that I enjoy re-purposing items, using found items, and working with wire but I don't think I've found my PASSION yet.  
   
5. Get published Geez. . .this is bad. I did nothing for this goal this month. Nothing.
6. Create something everyday While I haven't gotten something made EVERY day, I have made more of an effort to keep supplies with me that would help me work on something. Better, for sure.
7. Explore other venue options for selling my jewelry This is a tough one for me. I have begun thinking about craft fairs and what I would like my display to look like, but that's all conceptual and no steps have really been taken yet.
8. Find a way to use what I have instead of buying more. I need less more in my life!  This goal was a total balancing act all month. While I did find ways to re-use what I have, I did splurge a bit getting items for the Suor Angelica fundraising. As well, I bought some items online when the sales were good!

 

GENERAL

1. Figure out where my time is wasted and put an end to it  I recognize I waste quite a bit of time playing games on my phone or iPad. Draw Something has become my latest obsession and I spend entirely TOO MUCH time on it. However, since I recognize this, it is a first step to squashing that wasted time.
2. Find some confidence and exert it I did okay with this. I'm pretty proud of myself for submitting my Hunger Games Necklace tutorial to a few sites, but that's not exactly what I had in mind. Needs work.
3. Think outside of the box  I think I did pretty good on this, mind you. . not great. I used some leftover craft supplies to make some earrings and made the Hunger Games necklace (yes, that again) on the spur of the moment. These are definitely a move in the right direction.
4. Be Grateful I recognized my need to be grateful all month, but really just forgot to express it. Sometimes it's hard to put that much emotion into words.

Again, I'm seeing an improvement. I'm not sure if I'm just too lenient on myself or if it's really there. I know that I'm trying to be more conscious of these goals daily. In fact, I'm trying to keep up with them so much that I created a spreadsheet. It's definitely helping me remember some of the details as well as all of the goals.

I know this was boring, I apologize. I just need to keep myself accountable and these monthly goal reviews really are helping. Thank you for your patience!

Breaking out the Bullet Post and a Meal Plan

I'm sure y'all are plenty tired of pictures from my vacation. Here's just one more (for now) of what my view was most days there.

Ahhhhhh!

After a week of Spring Breaking it, I've got tons to catch back up on online, business-related, and around the house. There's all kinds of tidbits to share so this will be a bit of a scattered post. (Caution, lots of exclamation points ahead.)

~ First a funny. Pat put the location of the house we rented for the week in the GPS as "Spring Break 2012." So when we arrived there she said, "Now arriving at your destination; Spring Break 2012." It was awesome! (I'm easily amused.)
~ Before leaving for the week, I submitted my Hunger Games Necklace post to a few sites and the kind jewelry editor over at Craft Gossip actually featured it as Jewelry Inspired by The Hunger Games!! Woot!

~ While at the beach, I had some time to catch up on my blog reading (somewhat) and discovered that I had won the Art Bead Scene weekly giveaway of some Gaea beads. Hurray!
~ Jenna over at Honey Bijou named me as one of her March 2012 Hive Five. I'm on the list with some pretty impressive individuals and am blown away by this honor! Thanks so much Jenna!!

~ The Button Swap partner list has been announced and my partner is none other than the amazing Brenda Salzano of the Salzanos blog and Salzanos Etsy shop. Now to figure out what to send an awesome artist that she doesn't already have! Any ideas?
~ GIVEAWAY ALERT!! Davinia at Deez News is giving away some of the beads she picked up on her recent trip to Bali. Entering is as simple as leaving a comment on her blog!

~ Even though we're all still recovering from Sally's Colors of Spring Blog Hop, she's already announced another one; The One Color Crayon Challenge. She's only accepting 60 participants in this blog hop and sign ups are open until the 5th. Hop on board!

~ To top it all off, today's Menu Plan Monday! Here's my plan.

Breakfasts: Cereal/oatmeal, breakfast burritos, whole wheat waffles, peanut butter toast, potato bacon casserole

Lunches: ham sandwiches, pizza (from freezer), pesto chicken panini, pizza quesidillas, leftovers, soup w/grilled cheese

Dinners: 

Chicken Marsala w/broccoli & pasta

Turkey cutlets w/mushroom rice & mashed sweet potatoes

Shrimp and rice pea bowl

Gouda stovetop mac-n-cheese w/mixed veggies

As always, there's more Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

~Before leaving on vacation, I failed to mention these new earrings in the shop.

Beach Weather Earrings

~ I recognize another month has come and gone. I'm hoping to organize a monthly goals roundup post in the next little while (that could be hours or days, we'll see!) so stay tuned for that excitement! ;)

Sorry to be all bullets, but I've got a ton of unpacking to do and you should smell these dirty clothes after being damp all week (the beach will ensure you stay damp all week, we're not nasty or anything.) So, I'm off for now. Here's hoping you are enjoying your Monday!

Colors of Spring Blog Hop - Driftwood

Almost two months ago Sally at The Studio Sublime offered up a bit of a challenge. Using Pantone's colors for Spring, she made several sets of her ceramic beads to match the Spring palette. I believe there were two of each of the ten colors and then an extra two of the Tangerine Tango, since it's the color for the year. She offered up the lentil beads in her shop and included four other beads in a surprise color of her choice. She called it the Colors of Spring Blog Hop.

By the time I heard about the challenge, the colors left were few. I opted for Driftwood. It's a grey with a touch of brown to it. However, I had no idea what color Sally would pair with it.

Here are the beautiful beads I received.

From the beginning, Sally said that it wasn't necessary to use the additional beads just as long as the lentil bead in the Spring color was included. I, however, was determined to use both colors. I pondered the yummy green with the driftwood for a while trying to decide what other shades would go with them. I ended up pulling out bead after bead and comparing them to the ones Sally sent me. I finally settled on a bright red and black.

Let me say that I really worked to make sure those shades didn't look too Christmas-y together.

I had decided that I wanted to frame the lentil bead in some way and the more I pondered this the more I knew that I wanted that lentil to SPIN also. In fact, I believe I dreamed that part of the design. I'm a rather fidgety person and often play with the jewelry I'm wearing, so a necklace that I can spin sounded like a lot of fun. After going through my wire I decided to use some galvanized steel that would almost reflect the gray of the bead while still highlighting the unique shade of it. I started by building the frame and arranging beads on a length of wire with the lentil that would help ensure that the lentil spun smoothly. This was much harder than I thought. I finally found that silver discs at either end worked perfectly.

After that, it was a matter of making the chain with the rest of the beads and decorating the frame with similar-colored seed beads. I also made a toggle clasp with the steel wire. Here are my final results.

 

It's really long so I can lift the focal to spin it!

And here's a quick video of it spinning!

I'll admit that it spins much better when I can use both hands and don't have to hold the camera in one of them.

Thanks to Sally for coming up with this challenge. It was a lot of fun. Now, I'm anxious to check out everyone else's colors and what they made. You should do the same! Here's the list of the other participants and their colors!

 Host: Sally Russick
Margarita
Therese Frank
Kim Bender

Cabaret
JLynn Jewels
Christine Altmiller
Sweet Lilac
Cherrie Fick
Jenny Vidberg
Driftwood
Sabine Dittrich
Hope Smitherman
Solar Power
Nicole Rennell
Erin Fickert-Rowland 
Bell Flower
Patti Vanderbloemen
Kristi Bowman
Starfish
Shannon Chomanczuk
Elisabeth Auld
Cockatoo
Alice Peterson
Donna Bradley
Sodalite Blue
Kristi Harrison
Cilla Watkins
Tangerine Tango
Lesley Watt
Maryanne Gross
Susan Kennedy
Courtney White Breul

Thanks for hopping by!

Spreading the Love

Just want to check in with some images I've captured the last several days. I've even gotten some jewelry made!

Oh, and the Colors of Spring Blog Hop is tomorrow. My post is written and scheduled to be up around 12:30 am Central time. Come back by and check it out!

Working Vacation

This week is Spring Break for the kids in my area so we are celebrating it as well. Some friends of ours (and their kids) have gotten a place down the road in Orange Beach on the water. Since Pat didn't have time to take off and the place has a wireless connection, we decided to take a working vacation. So we had this view last night.

And this view this morning.

After breakfast and a quick paddle in my kayack, I set up on the picnic table with the hubby. It seems working vacations aren't so bad at all.

I'll post some more later. . .maybe ;)
Oh. . .and I'm trying to do this post from my iPad, so I don't know how this will look. sorry!

Hunger Games Necklace

I'm sure you know that today is the premiere of The Hunger Games. I read the books months ago and have been anxiously awaiting seeing it. (My tickets are waiting at will call now for our viewing tonight!)

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is to show off this necklace I made in a flash the other day.  I had a teenage friend of mine ask me if I could make her a Hunger Games necklace. I responded that there was no way I was going to be able to make a MockingJay, but she retorted that it could be as simple as an arrow. Why I didn't think of that I have no idea. Time was short, but I wanted to see what I could come up with, so this was thrown together.

Here's what I used:
Tim Holtz Grungeboard arrow (pre-cut)
Gold acrylic paint
Pearl Ex powder in Brilliant Gold
Glossy Accents (sealer)
White shrink plastic
Corner rounder paper punch
Grey Sharpie
Hole punch
Heat gun
Gunmetal chain
Gold Spring Clasp
3 gold jump rings
2 black jump rings
Jewelry pliers

Directions:
Paint the grungeboard arrow with the gold paint and then cover it with gold Pearl Ex powder. While it dries, cut out a square of shrink plastic and round the corners with a paper punch. With the Sharpie, write "Team Katniss" on it, then punch two holes on either side of the top and one in the center bottom. Use a heat gun to shrink the plastic. With the Glossy Accents, seal all sides of the arrow and the front of the plastic (sharpie will rub off over time). Use a gold jump ring to attach the arrow to the bottom of the plastic and the black jump rings to attach the chain to each side of the top. Find the center of the chain and add the clasp with the other two gold jump rings. DONE!

This project took me very little time and my friend seemed to be pleased with the necklace she'll be wearing to the movie tonight! WIN!

Now to decide if I want to  make one for myself!