Holiday Cheer

Yep, the holidays are fast approaching. And while I know some of you out there think it's a bit early to start shopping or even seeing Christmas items anywhere, now that I'm selling things,  I realize why retailers need a long lead time.  Especially those of us that sell hand made holiday  items.

So this year, I started early and here are a few of my holiday items.

This Lapel pin is made from felt and polymer clay button.  His eyes are French knots and his face and "coal" buttons are hand painted.  I love the tree with its French knot "ornaments!
Snowman With Christmas Tree Pin

I've been toying with the idea of making polymer clay fairy cottages since I saw a neighbors fairy garden.   This one is only 2" tall and has a loop at the top for hanging on your tree.
Fairy Cottage Miniature Ornament

Button Snowman Pin
Here's another Button Snowman pin, minus the tree.  He has his little felt arms raised in joy for the coming winter season!

Penguin Ornament
This little gal is made from a recycled light bulb and is hand painted.   When I was through painting her, I thought she needed something else, so I crocheted an elf cap out of fuzzy white yarn, complete with jingle bell.

 This ornament is also a hand painted light bulb.  He exudes the essence of Christmas, from his "snow" covered top hat, to the bright red ribbon hat band.
 Snowman Ornament

 Happy Snowman Felted Pin
Another felt snowman lapel pin.  I seem obsessed with felt and snowmen this year!
This one is  hand felted on a purple wool backdrop.  He has a jaunty top hat and jute twine arms.

 So I want to wish you all a Merry, albeit, early Christmas.  Although, I'm sure I'll be writing about this holiday again before it's all over.

The Color Black

The color black is a fashion essential from the little black dress to a touch of jet or ebony at your ears or wrist.  Black seems to set other colors off, giving them a pop that they would not possess on their own.  Here are a few items from around the web that I found and loved.  Hope you love them, as well.

Snowman Earrings by Shadow Dog Designs

Focal Bead by Blue Morning Expressions

 

Pin/Pendant by Andrus Gardens 

 Fingerless Gloves by Giese Deseigns

Modern Abstract Pendant by Valeries Stuff 

Shaving/Drinking Mug by Pottery Heaven

Black Bat Necklace by Fantasy Clay Store

Baby Beanie by TL Yarn Crafts

Yellow Jacket Alert!

Today is a cool rainy Wednesday in Massachusetts and I decided it was time to update my blog.  The past month has been unseasonably dry, actually the whole summer since July has featured very little rain here in central Massachusetts.  While that's wonderful for vacationer's, it puts stress on the vegetation. 

I live on the edge of a patch of woods.  The dry weather has killed off a lot of the usual weeds and low growing foliage.  The usually verdant ferns that grow with great abandon around my house have been turning yellow and brown much earlier this year.  Even the trees are stressed by the dry weather.  Maple leaves are turning brown and falling off early and litter my yard with their debris.  So it's not surprising that I didn't notice that a colony of yellow jackets had burrowed under a tree root at the edge of my yard.

Every day, weather permitting, I take my Lab mix, Finn out to run around in the yard.  He loves being unrestrained by a lease and he loves playing fetch and chasing an old basketball around the yard.

 One day last week I took him out as usual.  We had been outside for about 20 minutes and he had just gone to the edge of the yard to retrieve his toy, when all of a sudden, he jumped about 4 feet straight up in the air.   When he landed he started shaking his head and pawing at his ears.  I saw something moving on his head and assumed it was a nasty horsefly that are a major nuisance during the summer months.  He ran over to me and I saw more insects on him.  He was jumping and shaking and pawing at his head.  That's when I realized that the bugs weren't horseflies but yellow jackets! 

I, immediately, ripped my sweatshirt off and swished it over him to dislodge the stinging insects.  I dragged him up on the deck and ran my hands over his belly to get any yellow jackets hiding on his underside, but even after doing that, a few still made it into the house. 

Of course, I immediately went on the internet to see what treatment was appropriate for venomous insect stings in dogs.  Icing the stings was recommended but as he had 10 to 20 bumps where the wasps had stung him, that wasn't feasible.  Benadryl was also mentioned but as I don't as a rule keep that in the house, he was out of luck.

The only thing to do was call the vet.  Luckily, I've been taking my animals to him for a long time and even though he had been planning to leave, he stuck around until I could bring Finn in.    A shot of cortisone an $70.00  later, Finn was back to normal.

Even though I don't usually use any pesticides in my yard, I went out and sprayed the hell out of that nest!  I'm just lucky it wasn't my grandson out there playing when the yellow jackets decided to attack.

So this is a cautionary tale.  In the Fall, all manner of creatures are looking for somewhere to spend the cold winter months.  Make sure you check your yard for these insects that like to burrow in the ground and take appropriate action when you do.

Here's a picture of Finn with his best human bud.

Have A Hand Made Holiday!

The holidays are fast approaching and my mind is trending towards decorating.  I was searching Art Fire and Etsy for holiday items and came across these wonderful hand made items.  Hand made is always better than mass produced and I encourage everyone to get at least one handmade item this holiday season.

Here are my choices for the holidays.

Snowman Christmas Holiday Sign by WoodTicks

Counted Cross Stitch Pattern Peppermint Penguin by BlueMorningExpressions

Spooktacular Halloween Wreath by SolHeritage

 Christmas Candy Dish by GlassSculptureOrg

Santa Ornament by Fantasy Clay Store

Acorn Ornaments by Wyvern Designs

Pumpkin Art by SteelGoddess

Large Turkey Pumpkin Pokes by WoodnDoodads

Hand Made Give Thanks Polymer Clay Pumpkins by SkyArt

Thanksgiving Turkey Puzzle and Decor by BershireBowls

Frankenstein Halloween Canning Jar Light by UniqueShells

Primitive Halloween Witch Stovetop Covers by SleepyHollowPrims

Quick Italian or French Bread Pizza

I'm off to do my yoga practice but I thought I'd write a quick post.  Since it's Wednesday and the deadline for the Blogging Again blog post, I decided to include my recipe for a fast and easy summer time pizza.

 I hate cooking during the summer but unfortunately unless I wish to starve, I have to.  I don't have a gas grill and charcoal is just too time consuming and messy so I'm stuck with cooking inside.

I live in New England, and this summer has been reasonably mild, with low dew points and mild temperatures, but yesterday was a killer.  Temps in the 90's and dew points close to 70.  It was just a yucky, sticky day.  So I went looking in my frig for something quick to make.

If you read my Chicken Sausage and Quinoa Rice recipe post, you know how things in my frig tend to crawl to the back and sprout legs and teeth and molder into a sloppy mess.  Yesterday, I found some spaghetti sauce that hadn't quite gotten to that stage, so I pulled it out.  I had a French bread in the freezer, so out that came.

Peppers, onions and garlic, lurking in the veggie drawer were next.  There was some leftover chicken in the cold cut drawer that didn't fight too hard when I tried to retrieve it, so I figured it was still edible.  My garden supplied me with fresh basil, so I was off to the races!

Here's my recipe for French or Italian Bread Pizza.  I'm sure there's a million of them out there but here's mine.


French or Italian Bread Pizza

 French or Italian bread
Canned or home made spaghetti sauce
Peppers, onions, mushroom or whatever you like on your pizza, thinly sliced
Garlic, chopped.  (We like fresh chopped garlic on our pizza, but you can omit it if you don't.)
Fresh or dried basil
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Leftover chicken, sausage, meatball, or pepperoni, or whatever you have in the frig

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Warm the sauce up a bit to make spreading easier.

Cut bread in half lengthwise.  Spread sauce and cheese over bread.  Add thinly sliced veggies and meat.  Top with chopped garlic and basil.

Bake for 10-15 minutes and there you go!  Serve with the salad of your choice.

 This is great left over, as well.  My husband takes it for lunch and he has his co-workers drooling over his desk.  Quite messy but a hazard when you bring something home made and tasty to work!  I suggest you supply extra napkins.

Red Is For....

Red is such a vibrant color and comes in many shade and hues, from a deep blood red, to scarlet, to rose.  Red is the color of passion and it's closely related emotion, anger, because remember the line from the song, "there's a thin line between love and hate."

Red is for Valentine's and the predominant color that symbolizes Christmas.  But however you look at it, red is a wonderful color for clothing, jewelry and home decor.  Here are some fabulous reds that I found from some of my favorite shops around the web.

Catnip Pillow Set of Four by SmokyMountainAccessories

 

Scarlet Impression Jasper Bead Wire Wrap Ring by CrystalBazaar

Southwest Native American Style Hatband by AJWhatBands

Two Red Felted Bangle Bracelets by ValeriesStuff

Set of Two Firebrick Red Beverage Mugs by PotteryHeaven

Polymer Clay Red Bird Hanging Ornament by FantasyClayStore

Black and Red Stretch Flower Bracelet by WyvernDesigns

Truly Handmade

It's getting harder and harder to find truly hand made items.  Okay, I know technically, anything you put together by hand qualifies as handmade but, maybe I'm a hand made snob, because I think that at least some of the material included in a hand made piece should be, well, hand made.   I know I'll probably get some hate mail for saying that , but, so be it!

I'm not saying that those jewelry designers who use their eye for design and color and string together purchased beads and/or stones are not artists.  But I always like to see something that was actually formed by their own hands included, as well.  I'm in awe of those who can wire wrap a bead or stone and not have it look like a three year old did it. (My wire wrapping skills are on par with said three year old).

I like hand drawn, hand painted, hand sculpted.  Most likely, that's why I like to work with polymer clay.   I've chosen a few truly hand made items from the Art Fire Bloggers Guild for this post.


Polymer Clay Bracelet byCraftsOfThePast Polly Creamica Designer

Corduroy Fedora by Hat-A-Tude

  

Dolphins by KanweieneaKreations

Terracotta Lampwork Earrings by ShadowdogDesigns

3-D Daffodill Wall Hanging by CouchBeeCreations

Blue/Pink Cotton Summer Shawl by AndreaDsigns

And I'm not above adding one of my own pieces to the mix!
Bohemian Beaded Batick Bracelet by WyvernDesigns