Salt City Crafter

Cutting My Teeth

2010-12-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hello from the radio silence! I've been posting more on my other blog than here, and this post is a little over-due but I hope you'll forgive me. For those that dont know I'm not only a crafter but I have a shop on Etsy for my chainmaille jewelry. In November I did my first "in person" sale, at a Christmas Bazaar my mom's work has every year. I've been to plenty of shows as a shopper, but this is the first time I've done one myself. I'm glad it was a relatively small show to get my feet wet. I've done one more since then and my first realization is that I really need to start working on a display set up. Its one thing to make great product, but to sell effectively it has to be merchandised well. Here's my table layout -

Necklaces, bracelets, cuffs

My mom had an old screen door that I used to hang my earrings from -

I also had a basket of my origami boxes to sell as gift wrap -

I considered my first show to be a pretty good success - Being that it was at my moms work, I had a lot of her coworkers coming up to me because they have always admired the pieces my mom "borrows" and wears. I was able to make a pretty good donation to their Residents' Council for letting me set up shop there, too, so that made me happy all around.

Right now I'm just getting ready for the holiday. As I mentioned, I did another show since this one - The Indie Garage Sale, which was actually just this past weekend. I've given myself 2 weeks off from making anything - after prepping for the show and making gifts, my hands are pretty sore! I'm sure after the first of the year I'll have the pliers flying again with a fervor.

Hope all of your holidays are happy and bright. See you in 2011!

All The Best

Paper Passion

2010-10-13T10:14:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I've shared a couple of my Origami projects here previously, and I hope you enjoyed them!

If you're interested in trying them yourself, or to try more projects, I wanted to recommend the site Everything In Paper Crafting. They have tutorials, supplies, and are even currently offering a promotion for a free paper kit to get started!

Happy Folding!

I Hear She Has A Glowing Reputation

2010-09-29T20:42:00.000-04:00

Seems like Im doing nothing but making new stuff, eh?

Here's something really fun - GLOW IN THE DARK BRACELETS

Now if only my camera was any good at taking a picture of them glowing.

I promise they do-

You'll just have to take my word for it.

More Stuff I've Been Working On

2010-09-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

Some of my latest shiny projects:

Now Available in The Shop

The Process, In Photos

2010-09-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

This is just a short pictoral discription of my jewelry making process-

What I've Been Working On

2010-08-18T09:22:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd share some quick photos of jewelry I've been making lately:

Gridlock Bracelet in alumium

and in black anodize

Purple, Black & aluminum Celtic Visions unit (for a pendant)

Elfin weave bracelet

This is a weave called Honey Bee (By Redcrow)

I turned a little piece of Full Persian around on itself because these are all the rings I had

Going to use this as a pendant or focal piece for a necklace

Full Persian necklace with Howlite pendant

Jens Pind bracelet

Jens Pind detail

These are going to turn into earrings.

What have you been working on lately?

Tutorial: Origami Cherry Blossom

2010-07-28T10:54:00.002-04:00

Ok, here's part 2! How to make an Origami Cherry Blossom, I hope my photos help explain it enough-

Start with a square piece of paper, I used 3" x 3" -

Fold it in half

Then fold the bottom right corner so the right edge meets the top like so:

Repeat with the top right corner - fold so the side meets the bottom edge:

Next fold the left bottom corner to meet the "x" created by the creases

Then fold the point back so the edges meet like so:

Take the bottom right corner and fold the paper so the bottom edge meets the edge you just created:

Fold the 2 halves backwards on each other along this line:

So they look like this:

Next, get out your scissor & a pencil - you can mark out the leaf shape or just cut

So you get this:

Clip off the points -

If you open it all up, the flower will look like this:

Now fold the petals together until they're "sandwiched" between 2 others -

Like this:

Then fold the bottom edge up

Flip and repeat

Then C-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y pull the leaves apart and flatten out the flower

Heres the back side:

And heres the front!

Tada!

Tutorial: Origami Gift Box

2010-07-26T20:22:00.001-04:00

Here's the tutorial I promised to share with you last time - a simple origami gift box!

I started with a 12 x 12 piece of scrapbook paper, you can start with any size that has equal sides

Fold it in half both ways

Then bring the points in to meet the "x" created by the folds

unfold 2 of the flaps like so:

Then fold the flat sides to meet in the center:

Then take the pointed side and fold it to meet the edge like this:

do that in both directions, on both ends:

Open it back up and fold the point down to match the creases you just made on the opposite side:

do that on both ends, your paper should look like this:

The creases and folds should pretty much do the work for you from this point -

fold the sides in to meet

Then fold the pointed "flap" over the sides to hold everything together-

Repeat on the opposite side. Ta Da!

To make the bottom of the box, cut your sheet of paper roughly 1/2" smaller than the size you just used.

You can use just about any type of paper for this - scrapbook paper, plain white paper, I've even used paper bags in a pinch! This little box is a great way to add an extra special handmade touch to a gift. I've also taken to using them as the packaging for my jewelry, or when I'm working on chainmaille or beadwork and need an extra container. These also work great just making one half and using it as a catch all on your desk, to hold coins, paper clips, or even candy! The uses are endless. What would you use it for?

Next time around I'll see if I can't get a tutorial up to show you how to make the flower on top!

Next time around I'll share how to make the flower on top!

**addendum - My origami box was also featured on One Pretty Thing in the Flickr Friends Roundup!**
Thanks so much, that totally made my week!

Origami Gift Box & Cherry Blossom

2010-07-20T14:11:00.003-04:00

Ever in a bind and dont have any gift bags or boxes for small items? Got some scrapbook paper handy? All you need are 2 pieces of paper and a scrap for the flower and you're all set.

This origami box is a simple yet elegant way to wrap presents or just to whip up and store tiny things around the house. The Cherry blossom adds a sweet touch if you're giving it as a gift.

I'll share a quick tutorial with you on how to make these, stay tuned!

Yay or Nay Wednesday

2010-06-23T11:28:00.000-04:00

Art Nouveau Bedroom by 1HotReel on Polyvore.com

Here, There Be Dragons

2010-06-02T12:21:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd do a little show and tell of some new things I made recently -

Remember this?

Dragonscale Bracelet

Some new color combos for Byzantine:

Rubber Rondos!

New pendant designs

and a work in progress

Yay or Nay Wednesday

2010-05-26T12:09:00.000-04:00

Red White & Black

Whats Your Vote?

Yay or Nay Wednesday

2010-05-19T13:23:00.000-04:00

Second edition of the new weekly feature! The weather has been all around blah around here and I'm always craving summer, so I thought I'd style up a backyard beach-side getaway. So, tell me what you think - Yay or Nay?

Beach House Backyard Getaway by 1HotReel on Polyvore.com

Finally Friday!! Finally Finished!!!!

2010-05-14T10:00:00.002-04:00

Hey kids!!! Remember this -

Well......

GUESS WHAT??

I FINISHED IT!

**happy dance, happy dance**

Go make pretty music guitar, to make up for this paint job.

I am happy with how the 2 biggest squiggles look,

but the rest I didn't have the best raw materials to work with.

The best part is,thought - it's finished, and can stop taking up room in my house :)

Happy Friday!

Yay or Nay Wednesday

2010-05-12T15:56:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd get back into the swing of things posting here as well as flexing my dormant designing muscles. I'm a big fan of Polyvore, but have mostly used it for creating outfit collages. While its fairly rudimentary compared to other design programs I've used, it's a lot quicker than sketching ideas out by hand. I've had a lot of fun playing around with it today so maybe I'll make this a weekly feature. So without further ado, my first room insporation board - using a combo of Teal, Red & Creme:

Teal Red & Creme by 1HotReel on Polyvore.com

Now, as I mentioned before its not perfectly what I had in mind - my main focus here was the color scheme. Teal/Turquoise is the IT color this year, and of course red is a natural complement to that. All in all its primary colors, but using different tones & shades for the blue and yellow, and then pulling in lighter beige tones to even it out. In theory I like all the pieces, but there's something about the stripes that doesn't seem to be jiving with the red & oriental accessories.....

So what's your vote - Yay or Nay?

Agate and Rhodonite

2010-04-15T14:38:00.001-04:00

Agate and Rhodonite
Originally uploaded by OneHotReel

I got these pretties the other day because they were on sale and I've been wanting to add some "big" "focal" "flashy" bits to my chainmaille. With grand ideas of intricate wire wraps like I've seen and thinking how great it would be.

Then I got home and remembered I haven't done wire wrapping. Well, I can do very, very basic wire stuff, but not like what I had imagined.

Anybody know a good source for beginner tutorials? I'd be much obliged.

Who Wants Cake? Time To Bake!

2010-03-21T21:24:00.000-04:00

I made a really kick ass cake on Friday night so I thought I'd share the steps in how to make it. It is one of the simplest cakes I've made, but its incredibly rich and decadent. What is it you ask? Why the perfect St. Patricks Day treat:

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE

Recipe (by order of incorporation):

1 Cup Guinness

1 stick + 1 TB unsalted butter

2 Cups Sugar (Original Recipe calls for superfine, I used regular and I've also seen brown sugar used)

3/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa *(I used Hersheys Special Dark)

3/4 Cup Sour Cream

2 Eggs

1 TBS Vanilla

2 Cups Flour

2 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

First steps - Gather your ingredients and pre-measure! This is a stovetop mixed cake, so you need a large-ish saucepan, plus one bowl, and a 9" springform pan.

Line your pan with parchment or waxed paper, and butter it up:

It helps to have your stuff nearby the stove while you're mixing it all up. Preheat your oven to 350:

On a sidenote when I was looking at the recipe in my notebook I was thinking "no butter? thats weird but ok"...then read in the directions about adding butter, so I had to go online and figure out just how much to use.

Ok, ready? Get your saucepan out and put it over medium low heat - then add in your Guinness

Add in your butter and let it melt

Then you add in your sugar

and then the cocoa

Mix mix

Beat together the sour cream, eggs and vanilla:

Add it to the party

Next add in the flour

With the flour its a good idea to sift it first or be careful to incorporate it in batches and mix well so you dont end up with "flour bombs" in the finished cake. Once the flour is all mixed in, pour it into the pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Check the cake for done-ness by testing the top (it'll be firm, but not hard) and stick a toothpick near the center - if it comes out clean or nearly clean, youre good to go.

But wait, theres more!

What would a cake be without frosting?

Just a simple cream cheese frosting:

8 oz softened cream cheese (or neufchatel)

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla

Whip the cream cheese then add in sugar and vanilly, all done.

I kept my frosting on the side for simplicity's sake - I know not everyone likes it, so why waste cake and frosting by putting it on just for people to cut that portion off?

Dont go away yet, there's Still more!

In the spirit of being festive I dressed my cake up (I took it to the St. Patrick's Day dinner at my boyfriends moms house yesterday)

I just found an image of a 4 leaf clover and cut it out of paper - lay it on the cake, dust with powdered sugar and then carefully lift it off. Voila! Prettier than an Irish lassie.

So there you have it - if you can't drink it, eat it!

Try not to make too much of a mess -

Ok so since I'm sure you're sad about putting the Guinness into your cake you should make yourself a drink now (I wouldve had the leftover Guinness, but I thought my boyfriend would enjoy it) -

If youre interested in more Guinness based recipes, try out this Guinness Chocolate Pudding, Guinness Stew, or even Welsh Rearbit with Guinness.

Mmm foods.

A Project Dear To My "Heart"

2010-02-25T18:50:00.000-05:00

I hadn't blogged about this here yet, so I thought I'd share it with you. I'm sure many of you are aware that February 5th was "Go Red Day" to bring awareness to heart disease and stroke - the #1 and #3 killer of women. This cause is close to my heart as many women (and men) in my family have been touched by one of the two in some way.

Central NY has a fundraiser event called America's Greatest Heart Run & Walk (one of the biggest events of this type in the country) that my family participates in every year in honor of one of my moms cousins who passed away from a cardiovascular disorder. Her name was Marla, and in honor of her I designed this bracelet as a memorial and also to offer for fundraising -

The red and black color scheme is both for "Go Red" day and our "team colors" last year were black and red. The heart charms I use on this bracelet vary, which is significant to the many different hearts that are affected by Cardiovascular Disease in some way. I'm making the bracelets for my team as well as to offer up in my shop - $20 with 30% being donated to the American Heart Association to aid in research and awareness programs.

Team bracelets in progress

The Heart Run/Walk is set to take place on March 6th. I also have a page where you can sponsor me here -Click Here to Donate I will note that it is a flat donation, not per mile - If you are able to do so, your donation and support are greatly appreciated!

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this with you.

What's Your Color?

2010-02-12T12:56:00.000-05:00

True Value Paint has a Color Quiz you can take to determine what "color" your personality is. My result was Red:

I don't think it was too far off for me.

What color are you? Do you think the quiz is right?

Twing Twang, A Tiny Update

2010-02-08T23:36:00.000-05:00

Hey kids! Remember that guitar project I posted last about here ?

Well I finally got around to doing more work on it. Now it looks like this:

Its only taken me, what 4 months to get this far? Sheesh....I'm glad I wasn't on a deadline. Only 3 more squiggly things to do and then make sure everything is cleaned up. So Maybe I'll have it done by summer.

For cryin out loud..

W.I.P. Wednesday

2010-02-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd share something I'm working on -

New necklace and earring set - trying to figure out whether I want it to be choker length or a little longer. The hanging chains lend it more to a choker style, but I need to wrangle a friend into modelling it for me so I can modify how they lay properly. Then I have to figure out what style of earrings to make (wether I use a post or a hook style finding)

What do you guys think?

Looking Back On - ADK Adventure, 2008

2010-02-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

(Brace yourseves, this looks to be a long one! Dont worry, there will be pictures to mitigate all the wordiness.)

In 2008 I had a bit of time on my hands as I was unemployed from April to August. I spent a lot of time worrying about paying bills, looking for work, and generally feeling down on myself. Then I realized I should try and do at least one fun thing. Mostly because I wasn't sure when I'd have another chance once I did find a job, and I knew if I had a good time it would re-energize me. So just before Memorial Day, my brother and I decided to take a little trip around the "Blue Line" of the Adirondack Park, or as close to it as we wanted to get. The Blue Line is so called because the border of the Park is often outlined on maps in blue. (My maps, for some reason, have it outlined in green..go figure.

Like my navigation center?

Did you know the Adirondack Park is bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined? It's also the largest state park in the continental US, and the largest National Historical Landmark. (Disclaimer: I knew most of this already, but for the rest I'm referencing Wikipedia. My hometown is only about fifteen minutes from the southern border of the park, so my family and I spent a lot of time camping, hiking and vacationing around various spots as I was growing up. I dont know anybody who's a 46er, but my brother and one of my uncles often talk about making the trek, and if I can I'd love to climb some myself. I'm currently reading a book on the ADKs called High Peaks by Tim Rowland that has helped me learn even more facts and interesting trivia on the area. Like the Tahawus Club (a forerunner of todays 46ers, Tahawus means "cloud spitter"), which was climbing the mountains before hiking was even a recognized "hobby". The book mentions a lady climber from the early 1900s whose father told her the only reason to climb the peaks was for logging or to measure it for science.

I mapped out a rough itinerary for us, as we were only going to be gone two days, but it was plenty enough for us, and a lot of things we would've liked to do didn't open until Memorial Day, and we were taking the drive earlier in the week.

We started out heading North on Route 28 - for us the most familiar part of the drive, as our grandparents lived on that route, and numourous trips to Old Forge, which was our first stop.

I have "fond" memories of Old Forge - the Rec. Center in my town used to do a yearly trip there to visit the Enchanted Forest amusement/water park. I was never one for the waterslides, but I've always gone to enjoy the town itself and the Old Forge Hardware Store. The hardware store is one of those places that if you've been to the town once and visited, you will want to go back. It was the first/only place we went, mostly because it was the only thing open, and we walked around for a good hour or so

The hardware store has a LOT of stuff - an actual hardware section, an area with general touristy souvenirs, knick knacks, a big section of cookware - cast iron, pyrex, etc, an area with clothing and accessories

Cornbread, anyone?

I wanted to take ALL of those home - I love celestial themed stuff.

Check out the funky hats I tried on-

Indy?

Little did I know I should've bought this one.

There is a bookstore, a craft section, and upstairs there are a few depts where they sell furniture like adirondack chairs (shocker), twig/lumber furniture, hammocks, boats, baskets, and more. It's truly based on the old general store concept - one stop shopping!

Moosen!

If you stay on 28 going north out of Old Forge you'll pass by the Adirondack Museum and the chain of numbered lakes (4th, 5th, etc, I believe there's 9 in total), we stopped a few times to check out scenery and take pictures of weird stuff and stretch our legs.

One of the stops we found some animal bones that were interesting

This sort of looks like a cow face, or maybe a piggy

My brother did this, I just took the picture

Then we hopped onto Rte 30 and going through Blue Mountain Lake, Long Lake, and Tupper Lake (lots of towns named after lakes!). We stopped in Saranac Lake for dinner, but it was less than impressive. It took a bit to find a local spot that was open for dinner, and when we did it was over-priced italian style fare. I wouldve been happier just going to Pizza Hut instead of where we did go.

Paul Smith's Admin Building

We traveled back north to Paul Smith's. The plan was to find a campsite with lean-tos or something similar, since we didn't take a tent. We had got past Saranac Lake and weren't having much luck, and then my brother suggested we go back to Paul Smith's and get a lean-to in their alumni campground (since he went to school there, it was only a nominal deposit which we got back in the morning).

The campground is really nice - I took a really quick video of the lake (Lower St. Regis), just to show how quiet, and peaceful it was.

We set up our sleeping bags (well..my sleeping bag. Brother couldn't find one for some reason, so he got blankets), started a fire, and hunkered in for the evening. Don't our accomodations look cozy?

Yes, thats TP and a flashlight in the middle

The lean-tos actually are really nice - we picked a decent one with a finished floor (there were some that had dirt floors), and recently they'd all had metal roofs put on. There was a fire pit and picnic table at each site, and outhouses were situated intermittently. We didn't pick a spot right on the lake, but it was only about 20 yards away. It's a good thing we were able to find a lot of firewood to use since we didnt really want to cut any down, not that we had an axe or saw to do that anyways. It got COOOOLD. May 20 , the temp easily went below freezing. I know this because the water froze slightly in my water bottle. I was glad I had lots of layers I could bundle up in! I had brought supplies to make s'mores, too, so that helped to keep my spirits up and keep me a little toastier from the inside out :).

The next morning we got up early - I think I only slept about 4 hours in total (I kept waking up shivering and DESPERATELY NEEDING to P! -hah- and then had to ruffle up the blankets and re-warm myself). We got some clean clothes on (or at least I did, I dont know what brother was up to while I got dressed in the warm car) and headed to Saranac Lake again to find some grub. We found a really sweet place called Blue Moon Cafe that was open, so we popped in and grabbed a table. Let me tell you - The food totally made up for the frigid night before. Check out this spread -

Awesome Food

I was sad once again that we weren't taking this trip later in the week - across the road was a bar with a poster that Enter the Haggis was going to be playing there 2 days later. Enter the Haggis is my FAVORITE non-mainstream band (although at this point, they do have a "cult" following, and they are getting more and more recognition - which they deserve!). If you're into bands like Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphy, or any Celtic/Fusion/World etc style, then I urge you to check them out - http://www.enterthehaggis.com/.

After leaving Saranac Lake we had to once again go back to Paul Smiths to return the gate key to security, and then we started heading southeast, to Lake Placid. We parked in one of the many public lots along the main drag so we could walk around and do some shopping. Not much was going on being that it was a wednesday, but its not as if we were looking for too much excitement. There were lots of souvenir stores, but my favorite place we went to was the Adirondack Chocolate Co. I got Amaretto truffles :) mmmm....and I was a good daughter and got mom a present (yay glitter points!). I really wanted to stop at Ben & Jerry's to get ice cream, but I was still full from the massive breakfast earlier.

View from the public park

Classic Adirondack chairs in the public park

We spent an hour or two shopping, got a photo of the Olympic Center,

and a really neat scrapbooking store right next to it

Heading out of Placid going south, we got to drive by the giant skijumps - it almost gave me an anxiety attack just thinking about being a skiier at the top. I wish I couldve gotten a photo of those, but there was no place to safely stop and park. After that it was a lot of windy, downhill roads,

like this

and this

and a lot of views of cliffs.

Much higher than the photos serve them justice (the road was halfway up the opposite cliff from this)

Basically leaving here, we were just driving and taking in the views. We stopped a couple times to stretch our legs and I took some photos, but that was about it until we reached Lake George around dinner time. We went through quite a few....quiet towns....I mean quiet as in the main road was populated by deserted motels and houses surrounded by so much sh*! that it looked more like a dump than a house....seriously creepy. And also quite a few bible camps/retreats...and a ranch!!! Not really things I was expecting.

We stopped in Lake George at a restaurant by the Outlet mall called the Olde Post Mill. I had their signature sandwich, The "Old Post Grille" and it turned out to be surprisingly excellent. I mean one of the Best sandwiches I've ever had. Surprising because it was turkey and havarti cheese on apple danish bread. It was a toasted sandwich too. I wasn't sure about how the sweet bread was going to taste with the meat and cheese, but the flavors really complemented each other. I know that might not sound so appetizing just reading it, but trust me. It was delicious. I was really starving before we got there, but I'm so glad I picked what I did despite my trepidations. If you're ever in the area, I definitely recommend you stop and eat at the Olde Post Mill. All their food & desserts are made in house, the bar is well stocked and there are a lot of decent beers on tap. The decor is very country/ lodgehouse like - lots of wood, old-timey prints, ephemera, I think there was even an ox yoke on the wall somewhere.

There were a lot of spots that we stopped at and would have loved to check out, but most things up that way dont open until Memorial Day, so we missed out. If you want to get the scenery and avoid the tourists its better to go off season, but for more activities check to see when things open.

After the late lunch, the trip from there was basically us making our way home. It involved annoying rush hour traffic, getting backed into in a parking lot (& having to deal with subsequent police/insurance issues), and barely making it across a parade route and avoiding an hours long delay or a stupid detour. After 2 days and nearly 450 miles, we finally made it home safe, though, and all in all it was definitely a memorable trip. It showed me that I should never be afraid to just get up and DO something spur of the moment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you enjoyed my reminiscing! If you've never been to the Adirondacks region, it really is a beautiful place. I have a few more "adventure" articles to share (with photos), so those will come up from time to time.

I've been letting this blog go this month, but I've been working on things for my Etsy store and hopefully it will be fully functioning soon! Still only a few items in the shop compared to what I've actually made, but I've figured out how to post my mini-Etsy on my blog, so it'll show new things and I'll keep updating as I add them. As the season starts to turn and it stays lighter after 5 pm I'll be able to stay motivated for more projects. This year I'm planning on a major spring cleaning so I'm sure I'll offer up craft supplies and other things here, either cheap, free, or for trade. If you want to see what I've been doing/wearing day to day, check out my other blog - At Her Best

How'd I DO That??

2010-01-13T14:41:00.000-05:00

Have you ever made something and thought it was the bees knees, but when you try to replicate it all you get is utter failure? I've unfortunately run into one of those situations.

Remember This?

I was so excited when I finished this. Something innovative, different, like I hadn't seen before in anything people were doing with chainmaille. It could be one of my signature pieces! I thought....Then I went to try making it again. Guess what? No dice. I used the same.exact.rings. Simply in a different color. Nope. I tried a ring with a larger ID but similar aspect ratio. Nope. Then I tried tearing my hair out!

Every attempt I've made I simply end up with a short swatch thats so stiff I can barely add any rings into it. Meanwhile, this first one I made is becoming even more awesome- its loosening up, becoming more fluid - in short, perfect (though the orange is still a little detracting).

I want to make more so I can share with people, and its just not working. I've been wracking my brain for ideas on how to try at least once more, but theres not much to be had.

Sorry for venting, but craft fails make me so d&mn frustrated! Has anyone else had that problem lately?

I Got Chains

2010-01-12T23:19:00.000-05:00

Wrapped around my shoulders....

As I posted last time, I finally have my Etsy shop up. One of the biggest things that delayed it so long was getting *good* photos of my items. Now, I am by no means a photographer. Sure, I take photos every day for my other blog and I enjoy doing landscape photos and such, but I only know basics and other than that "point at object and shoot" is my modus operandi.

I know that lighting is important, so due to holiday impositions and crappy weather I've had to wait for a great day to make use of lots of natural light. So I brought home a big sheet of scrap paper and pinned it up out on the porch over the table out there as a backdrop. It was a sunny day but very cold. I layered up, but not as much as I needed apparently, and I had fingerless gloves on to control the camera so my hands were cooold.

I took a lot of pictures. I mean a LOT a lot. I shot until my battery died (of course I didn't start with a full charge, but I still got over a hundred pictures). By then it was getting dark and I had to stop anyway, so I picked up everything and brought it inside. I was so excited to check everything out! Then I realized, oh...wait...I have to edit all these too. So I loaded them all into my computer and began the long task of filtering out the chaff. I was a little disappointed that there was more than I'd bargained for.

Seeing the photos up close made me realize how much work a lot of pieces still needed - Rings not fully closed, finish nicked off in spots, bad focus in the photos or just poorly styled. I know I can't post pictures of poor work, even though the piece is really fixed. It makes me want to tear my hair out! So this week I've been taking the original pieces I took photos of and I've been perfecting them, so hopefully this weekend I can get some photos that reflect my jewelry's true quality.

In the meantime, here's some of the better photos I managed to snap:

Rondo a la Byzantine Cuff

Bright Aluminum - Turkish Round Detail

(my uncle actually bought this off me and I already have to make a new one)

Copper Turkish Round - This is actually the bracelet I wear every day, but I get the most comments on it so I'm definitely planning on making more for my shop!

Euro weave ring - not sure how well this would do, but it's a cute little thing

Celtic Visions Pendant - Orange Anodized and Bright Aluminum (on a thrifted snake chain)

And One more - a sample patch, I'll be actually making something once my new supplies come in this week:

Dragonscale! Rar...

I've got a couple other new pieces I'll be taking pictures of too, so when I get them all done I'll share them with you again!

Review Notice and Next Posts

2010-01-12T22:39:00.000-05:00

Hey guys!

Just wanted to do a quick bit - I posted a review on my other blog for a great Etsy seller I purchased from. If you're interested in checking it out, heres the link:

Etsy Seller Sara Thomas Designs

Also, the next couple posts will be new items I've been developing so You get a preview.

Grand Opening

2010-01-10T03:18:00.004-05:00

I now have an Etsy site! I just got done listing a few items tonight.

You can check out my chainmaille and eventually other jewelry, and maybe a few other itty bittys, at this address:

http://www.saltcitychains.etsy.com/

Coming in 2010

2009-12-30T11:50:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been a little remiss - Thought I'd do a little "planning to do" post for everyone, as this coming week will be pretty busy. (More personal resolutions will be posted on my other blog.)

I'm going to work through my art supplies - whether that means trading out what I dont use, or simply using them for projects (to give them away). I'll make a few posts here to see if any of my blogger friends can use anything that is currently taking up way too much space in my bedroom.

I will do some giveaways! Yay excitement!

I'll be opening my shop, so I'll be posting sale notices and new things here to preview.

I resolve to be more conscious of finishing projects promptly! Also, to motivate myself to start working on things even though I have a hard time doing that in current working conditions. Must. Stay. Inspired.

Hope the new year starts out great for everyone! See you in 2010!

Holiday Aftermath

2009-12-28T14:01:00.002-05:00

Well, I made it through Christmas, in one piece. Joy! I had such a nice holiday - it was great to get together with family and friends, making breakfast Christmas morning and baking cookies over the weekend.

Without too much wordi-ness, Here's a couple photos of some of the stuff I got up to:

Moms Tree

The Pile O Presents

The Front Window View

My Stocking Goodies (ps. The schnapps was for my boyfriend)

A Special Present from Mom

Special Gift From BF :)

More Special Gifts from BF - pardon my thumb

The Most Awesome Gross Looking Food Ever -

Sausage Bread!

The Better Looking but Not As Tasty Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Mmm tasty treats :)

Tree at the apt

Mom got me some nice clothes and things, and I got a little bit of spending cash and a gift card. It was a really nice holiday - even nicer for my mom, check out what She got for xmas -

Only took her bf 10 years to get around to it :).

She cried. I'm super happy for her.

Hope everyone else had a great Xmas holiday, too!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T10:00:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone is enjoying a Happy, Healthy, Holiday Season

Stuck

2009-12-17T09:56:00.000-05:00

I'm stuck. My motivation has been nil lately. That happens a lot in winter. I have zero inclination to work on things when its so dark all the time. I have so many ideas and projects that I am ready to jump on when I'm thinking about them at work, but by the time I get home, all I want to do is sit and be cozy and fiddle around on the intarwebs. Normally I'd get all the lights on and that would help me out immensely, but during the week I can't do that since my boyfriend kinda needs to sleep for work. It's not that easy working on things when I can't find all my supplies, or they're all put away and it takes effort to get them set up to use.

My biggest project I know needs a lot of things devoted to it, and it will benefit me if I get it going, but even that is not enough incentive.

What does everyone else do when they lose steam? What helps you get your motor going again? I could really use some input here.

It's Not Christmas Unless

2009-12-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

Christmas is next week. That's right, theres no denying it - next Friday is Christmas. The way I count it, thats 8 Days away. 8 Days to finish buying, making, wrapping and gifting. 9 days that aren't long enough. They never are. I saw this little feature on another blog, but thought I'd use the same idea - What are some traditions that don't "Make it Christmas" unless you do them? Here's a few of mine -

1. The WUTR (local newschannel at my mom's) Christmas Carol "Can you hear it, it's everywhere - it's Christmas...." I didn't get to see this last year, so technically that means XMas 2008 never happened...hah..
2. Playing "Close Enough" Scrabble on Christmas Eve - This is a family tradition where, well... we cheat. If a number is "close enough" to what we need, we take it.
3. Getting one of those big popcorn tins with 3 kinds of popcorn in it. Inevitably the caramel is left over and I forget about it and in the middle of summer the birds get a big block of sugar and popcorn to pick at in the field.
4. Getting a Stocking, with an orange and an apple and little toys and stuff in it
5. Getting a chocolate orange. Whack and eat!
6. Spiked eggnog mmm eggnog. This is a recent one, as I never used to like eggnog, and obviously when I was young I wouldn't have had it spiked to begin with.
7. Baked Goods - Used to be we'd make dozens and dozens of cookies. We don't make as many as we used to, and the past few years its been a different type of baked good, but we usually end up baking something.
8. The Big Family Christmas Party - One of the few times a year all of us still try to get together. This year I think its actually ending up the day after New Years, the way everyone's schedule is turning out. Oh well..

I'm really wracking my brain here, but thats pretty much all I'm coming up with. All of those aren't even strictly necessary - this year I might not be baking, just because I have no interest in actually eating what I make (at least at this point). I've had a terrible time coming up with gift ideas for people - so far my nephew is getting the most, but since he's 5 I think thats allowable. I never know what to get for my brother or my mom's boyfriend (or my boyfriend either for that matter). I guess its easier to buy for girls because, well, I'm a girl and I tend to buy things I would like because most of the girls I know like the things I like.

Hope everyone's holiday season is going easy for them - I'm looking forward to the new year, as I have a lot of things up my sleeve that even now I have to get my butt in gear and work on. Keep in touch, there's big things on the horizon!

Tuesday To Do

2009-12-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post my desk photo - boo. It looks so much cleaner than last time. I still have a lot of work ahead of me though, both Christmas related and other projects I've had on my mind. Some things have been put on a back burner because I know they wont get done in a week :(.

Here's my to do list for today - some things got carried over from last week.

1. Christmas shopping
2. Wrap gifts I have already bought
3. Make wrapping paper
4. Silver and Turquoise Byzantine bracelet & earrings
5. Finish Rondo a la Byzantine cuff - ordered more rings, because the first time I got the wrong size, der!
6. Lucky stars garland(s)
7. Chainmaille practice
8. Stamp books w/ nameplate
9. Filing
10. Misc. cleaning - I know this has nothing to do with crafts, but I really need to.

What are you guys up to these days?

Sunday Meanderings

2009-12-13T18:51:00.000-05:00

Plugging away at a few minor projects, but I thought I'd share some of the very few pictures I took on my NYC trip last weekend since I finally managed to get them off my camera.

This was my one and only photo taken in Times Square - see where the ball is going to drop on Dec. 31?

Thats my aunt, in front of the skate rink at Bryant Park.

She had to buy that hat because it was so cold and snowy that day.

These are the 2 rings I bought from one of the Bryant Park vendors - I love amber.

The ring on the left is honey amber, and has some leaf detailes on the sides.

The ring on the right is yellow amber, which I didnt have in my collection yet.

I really want to go back to the city again and do some better shopping - I came back with half of the money I took with me! I guess that's what I get for going without a real plan, but I definitely had a fun day spending time with my aunt.

Now's time for me to get back to cleaning and creating, though. Happy Sunday!

Oh Goodies

2009-12-12T09:10:00.000-05:00

I'm still recouperating but managed to get a lot done this week. I have most of my xmas cards written out and ready to send, I got a few things made, and today I might even be going shopping for gifts - who knows what could happen!

In any case, I thought I'd share what I got done yesterday:

18" necklace, Byzantine weave, the rings are Pink Annodized Aluminum.

I made it for a coworker who commissioned me to make it for his wife. I previously made him a bracelet for her, and he wanted a matching set for xmas :). I actually had to finish this in about an hour, but it came out very well and he was very happy with it.

Hope everyone is keeping cozy, and having a wonderful holiday season. Happy Hannukah to those who celebrate it! Best wishes. Until next time

Sick Day

2009-12-09T18:53:00.000-05:00

I'm sick. I stayed home from work today. This morning I had a fever of 102, so I figured it was best to keep in bed instead of attempting to navigate the nasty roads and going into the ditch in a delirium. I made some new friends today, I'd like to introduce them:

Honey bear is always sweet to me :)

Joy to the World!

Tuesday To Do

2009-12-08T09:10:00.004-05:00

I think I'm getting sick - this morning I got up and, well, I didn't want to get up. My head wanted to be back down- I almost fell over on the way to the bathroom. I'm a little better hydrated and medicated now, so I'm feeling a little bit better and I'm hoping the rest of the day will improve.

My chainmaille came yesterday, yay! As you can see in my post yesterday, I got two nice new packages of ringy things. So my to do list is mostly chainmaille, and christmas. I wish I could stay home a day by myself just to make some good headway on things. I dont know why it is that I work better when I'm all by myself? It's not as if when people are around I get distracted by other things, I just dont like working. Must try to fix that. Anyhoo - Here's a top ten list.

1. ~~Pink Byzantine necklace~~ yay commissions!
2. ~~Copper Turkish Round bracelet~~
3. ~~Silver and Black Byzantine bracelet~~
4. Silver and Turquoise Byzantine bracelet & earrings
5. Finish Rondo a la Byzantine cuff - ordered more rings, because the first time I got the wrong size, der!
6. ~~Christmas Cards!!!! - almost done, just need a few addresses~~
7. ~~Fix bf's bracelet~~
8. ~~Transform grandmas earrings into a pendant~~
9. Filing
10. Felt project. - nixed

Oh, extra - I also have to ~~sort through my hodge podge mix and organize them~~. Digital calipers for the win! All done with this too!

Thursday is going to be a big day - my favorite band is coming to town - Enter the Haggis! My boy is taking the night off and we're going to take in the show with two of our friends. Hooray for Bagpipes, Rock & Beer! :)

Happy Tuesday.

MDM - My Desk on Monday 12/7

2009-12-07T22:43:00.000-05:00

HO-my goodness, my desk is a mess tonight!! It'll be cleaned up by tomorrow, dont worry, but this is what it looks like now. Thats what I get for having 2 sq. ft of desk to use. My chainmaille supplies came today, so thats the bulk of it. Paper work to file, strips of paper to make some lucky stars (more on that later), baked goods from NYC that I'm saving for breakfasts (yumm!), and coupons for possible xmas shopping. A lot on my plate. Tonight I feel like I'm getting sick - very slightly feverish, a headache, a bit chillier than normal, and my throat is scratchy. Ugh! Fingers crossed that I dont feel like crap in the morning.

PS click through to the flickr page for notes :)

Friday Fill In

2009-12-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

I normally do this on my other blog, but I had another post that I scheduled there, so I moved it. I haven't posted anything else this week here, either, and thought it needed a lil somethin'.

1. Wait! Wait, don't forget today is wear brown shoes day! and I am!

2. Anarchy followed at once by chaos.

3. The trouble is I need to start saving my money.

4. Tomorrow I'll be many miles away.

5. With a faint pop the confetti shot out of the pinata.

6. The weather outside has been shadowy and ominous.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to visiting my aunt, tomorrow my plans include going to NYC!! and Sunday, I want to go to the gym - if I'm not too tired from walking the city for 7+ hours.

Rest In Peace

2009-12-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

Family pets touch our hearts in simple but resounding ways. My family dog died today. Even though I dont live at home now, Elvis was as much my pet as everyone elses. Every time I went home he'd be there, waiting - For me to play catch with him, or beg treats, and to sleep at the foot of my bed (even when I wasn't home). After a very recent illness, I did have some hope but mostly knew that at his age, he wouldn't last very long. It is still hard when it happens.

Bubba, I will miss you.

Rest In Peace

Tuesday To Dos

2009-12-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

Today has been much easier to deal with than yesterday. I've got some steam back, I'm not going to drag my @$$ and I plan on starting some xmas shopping tonight. Yes, I know I'm probably behind the ball, but I dont really have that much to buy, and I know I'll make everything work. Today I'm making out "mini to dos" and writing a few tasks on post-its labelled by day to complete through the month. Hopefully I wont have too much new to work on, I finished all my swap-bot projects and decided to take a break from that til the next year. (It sounds so funny to say "next year", when its really only a few weeks away!).

So hopefully coming up towards Xmas I'll keep up to date with my things

Here's a list of 10 to dos on my list (for this week anyway)

1. Gym 3 + days this week (I skipped yesterday because I was so tired)
2. Start addressing & sending xmas cards (non-us penpals should be sent by dec 4)
3. Order chainmaille rings
4. Finish off rose necklace
5. Sketch out plan for a felt project
6. Finish Lucky star tutorial
7. Upgrade Flickr account (I'm almost at 200 pics, will only be adding more and I want access to ALL my stuff!)
8. Start Cross-stitch gift
9. Plan out "package" gifts
10. Write out action plan for this month's to-dos

Whew! Better get to work

Happy Tuesday!

MDM - My Desk Monday

2009-11-30T19:21:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday -

How was everyones long holiday? Mine was great - but led to a terrible day today. Too much sleep on vacation means I'm dragging it now. Here's whats on my desk -

I finished more to do tasks! I have to order more rings, but I taught myself 2 new chainmaille weaves last night. Just working off of pictures. I'm proud of myself. Now if only my supplier had all the rings I need for orders in stock....

Etsy-ian Adventure

2009-11-30T14:47:00.000-05:00

I'm working on an Etsy shop. I got my name, I made a banner (still tweaking that), I typed out my shop profile and policies (for the moment). Most of it is pretty straight-forward, until I get to the part concerning exchanging money. Yikes! I've gotten a lot of great advise from an accountant I know, but actually getting things set up is another matter. I'm using Paypal in conjunction with Etsy for accepting payment. I've been trying to figure out what sort of account I need, how to set up shipping profiles, what I need to do to collect sales tax. ( Of course that is hinging on getting my sales tax COA, too)....Who else uses Etsy? Anyone willing to share some experiences? I'd really appreciate it...

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:50:00.001-05:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy holiday.

Remember, don't eat too much turkey, or you'll end up like Bubba here:

Best wishes, everyone.

Til next time

~Beck

MDM - My Desk on Monday

2009-11-24T20:14:00.000-05:00

Ta-da

Here's my desk.

Click through to the flickr page, it'll show all the notes. :)

Since I didn't get to posting this on Monday, here's another pic to make up for it:

My vanity tray! I got it at the thrift store for $2. Two dollars, two dollars......Please tell me if you get that reference.....Anyhoo...just random stuff there, a guinness bauble from the bar, some rose pins I got at the thrift store, too. The bowl I posted before with the blackbirds, it holds my jewelry. Wax tarts from Yankee Candle. I dont use them in a wax melter anymore because I was getting too much grief over the "strong perfumes", so now I use them mostly in my drawers to scent my clothes...,an old keychain, and the business card for the piercing studio I got work done at.

What does YOUR desk look like? I want to see! :)

Tuesday To Do - Halfway there!?

2009-11-24T10:00:00.009-05:00

This is turning into my own little weekly feature. Here's my nice tidy project list -

I've gotten quite a few things done or half finished - A lot of things that need to get hung up are simply waiting for that. My problem there is I need my lovely to help me, and he isn't available during the week because he's sleeping - and why I'm also not able to do it myself, because I'd wake him up (darn 3rd shift). There are things I started for Halloween and they are "done", with a desire to add more embelishments. I find that sometimes my hardest projects to get to are things that I have "finished", but I know that I need to remake them and they will be 10x better. I have to push myself, which is weird, because why do I want to half-ass something that will either end up representing me in my shop, or going to somebody as a gift?

Most other things I'm waiting on are projects that I really want to do, but don't have supplies for, and needing supplies means needing money for supplies - and sometimes other things are priority when it comes to money.

Speaking of needing supplies - I somehow lost a BRAND NEW bottle of Mod Podge. I've never used it before but I bought some to try a decoupage project, and I got a foam brush to use it with. I've looked high and low and inside and out, and I have no idea where they went. I'm glad I regularly have 1/2 off coupons for Michaels so I can get some more when I finally get to it.

This week I also have to REALLY get started on xmas gifts. I have lots of random bits and bubbles and miscellanae, but nothing cohesive yet, and I need to get a solid idea of what I'm going to give people so I dont blow my budget (in money or time).

What sort of things are you working on these days?

What do you "lose steam" on and why?

& What are you looking forward to for the Holidays?

Mandala

2009-11-23T11:43:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos of a recent coloring swap I participated in for some Mandalas.

I like how this came out

Here is the second

The swap was for one colored mandala and one un-colored. I'm sending more than one, just because I have the extras I didn't color and I dont plan an doing them anytime soon. It's holiday crafting season! :)

Let the Tradewinds Blow

2009-11-23T10:47:00.000-05:00

So, I have this idea that maybe I can get around to implementing -

I have an inordinate pile of, well, STUFF. Art & craft supplies I never use/ can't use/ dont know why I bought. My idea is to take photos of it all (in lots), and offer it up for trade/sale/gift here. Anyone interested in doing a craft trade? I'd suggest it for a swap-bot swap, but I think this would be more controllable for me, and I dont want the added stress of another deadline on my list.

Until I get to taking pictures, heres a short list of the general supplies I'd have to offer:

Art supplies -

Acrylic Paints (some of these are older, all are used, so this would be a giveaway to interested parties)
Unfinished wood plaques & novelties
Misc paper and paper scraps

Misc-

Notecards
letter sets
Thank you cards

Jewelry supplies-

Hemp & floss
elastic cord
misc tubes of seed beads (some full/never used, some sorted)
plastic beads
kits I bought for one particular item and didn't use the rest.

Remember, this is a short list and I dont know just how much I have, but once I get pictures I will post them. I just wanted to see if any of YOU would have need for anything I have :)

Simple Bound Notebooks

2009-11-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

This is a trick I learned when I was in college and we had to hand in a multi-page collection of floor plans and drawings. I did it here to make a covered notepad to give to my nephew.

Supplies:

Cardstock / Paper for cover
Inner pages / stuff you want to cover
Stapler

Gather your pages you want to cover. You'll need to cut the card stock to the same size or just slightly larger. Then take another piece of card stock, 1 - 1 1/2" wide, and cut the length to match whichever edge of the paper you are binding.

Fold this strip in half, then fold one half of that under. Insert your pages in between your cover, then add the folded edge, and staple.

Folded edge = front, flat edge = back

You can also do this just using the edge/binding piece if you don't need a cover for your project.

Quick and Easy Autumn Bookmark

2009-11-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

This is one of the quickest crafts I've done - but fun and easily personalized.

I started with a scrap of cardstock, roughly bookmark shaped - say 1 1/2 " x 5" or something akin to that - You can completely eyeball it if you like.

Take another piece of scrap paper, and overlay it on the cardstock. This is basically your mask. Then you get your markers out. Make lots of random stripes in various colors as you prefer. Once you're satisfied, take off the top piece of scrap, grab a ruler, and make another marker line to edge all the colors and unify them.

Once that's done, get some stickers and embelishments and have fun.

Warm Soup on a Cold Day

2009-11-18T20:52:00.001-05:00

I recently participated in the "Warm Soup on a Cold Day" swap on Swap-bot. As its also getting to the colder part of the year (at least for me) I thought I'd share the recipes here to add to everyone's winter comfort food arsenal. One of my partners was a vegetarian, so there are 2 here that are veggie friendly (not vegan friendly though - unless substitutions are made). I've made all but the Squash and Pepper soup specifically, though I have made a similar recipe that was very good.

Yellow Squash & Bell Pepper Soup

1/4 C chopped onion                                                                 1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 TBS unsalted butter                                                                1 C low salt chicken broth
1 large yellow bell pepper, thin sliced (about 1 1/2 C)                 2 TBS chopped fresh coriander
3/4 lb yellow summer squash, sliced thin crosswise (about 3 C)

In a large skillet cook onion in butter over moderate heat, stirring, until softened. Add bell pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until pepper is softened, about 5 min. Stir in squash and garlic and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender, about 10 min. Stir in broth and bring mixture to a simmer. In a blender puree soup until smooth and transfer to a saucepan. Cook soup over moderate heat until just heated through, stirring in enough water to thin to desired consistency, and season with salt and pepper.
Serve soup sprinkled with coriander.

Corn Chowder

1 Potato, peeled & cubed                 2 C Milk
1 Onion, chopped                                    2 TBS Butter
1 C water                                         1 - 16 oz can Cream Corn
Salt & Pepper                                  1 Egg
4-8 slices Bacon                                         Cubed Cooked Ham (optional)

Cook bacon til crisp. Cool & crumble, set aside. Simmer potato & onion in water til potato is tender. Stir in corn, milk, butter, ham, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. Beat egg in a small dish. Add some of the hot chowder to temper, stir well & return to pot. Re-heat the chowder for a minute or two, but dont let it boil. Ladle into bowls & garnish with bacon

Recipe can (and should!) be doubled, and meat can be omitted if desired.

French Onion Soup

One of my favorite and easiest soups to make - and very satisfying

4 C Beef broth
5 - 6 large Sweet Onions (Like Vidalias)
Fresh Thyme
Gruyere/ Fontina/ Some kind of melty cheese
Crusty bread

Chop the onions & a few sprigs of fresh thyme & saute in a pan. Add Beef broth and simmer (15-20 min?).
Ladle into crocks & top with slices or cubes of crusty bread and slices of Fontina cheese. Pop them in the broiler for about 5 min or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

You could sub the beef broth with vegetable stock, but I haven't tried it.

Apple Cheddar Soup

Bad photograph, but I think it's delicious soup.

1/2 C fine chopped onion 2 C apple cider

1 TBS butter 1/2 C milk

2 med baking potatoes, peeled & diced 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp snipped fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried & crushed) 1 med cooking apple, peeled & coarse chopped

Dash cayenne 4 oz grated sharp cheddar

2 TBS flour Green Peppercorns (optional)

fresh apple slices

In a large saucepan cook onion in butter over medium heat until tender. Stir in potatoes, cider, thyme, salt and cayenne. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add the chopped apple & simmer, covered, for 5 minutes or until potatoes are tender. In a small bowl combine milk and flour, then stir into soup. Cook and stir until bubbly. Slowly add in cheese, whisking until cheese is melted. Divide among 4-6 bowls, top with apple slice & pepper corns (if using)

And as a bonus, I'm going to put in one more, from an older swap that was for Fall themed recipes -

Pumpkin Soup with Chili-Cran-Apple Relish

This is a Rachael Ray recipe from her magazine. I made it the first time because my boyfriend had made a squash and sausage soup and I wanted to find a recipe to make myself. This came out really well (in my opinion - if you dont like squash you might not like it), and I think the relish for the top is a great finisher. You could always leave out the relish and the sausage and kick up the spice in the soup if you didn't want to go all out.

Soup:
1 TBS olive oil, 1 turn of the pan                                     2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 TBS butter                                                                  1 tsp hot sauce/ to taste
1 fresh bay leaf                                                               6 C chicken stock
2 ribs celery, fine chopped                                         1 - 28 oz can pumpkin puree
1 medium yellow onion, fine chopped                              2 C Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper                                                              1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

Heat a medium soup pot over med to med-high heat. Add oil and melt butter. Add bay leaf, celery, and onion. Season with salt and pepper and cook 6-7 minutes til tender. Add flour, poultry seasoning & hot sauce, then cook flour 1 min. Whisk in chicken stock and bring liquid to a bubble. Whisk in pumpkin in large spoonfuls to incorporate it into the broth. Simmer soup 10 minutes to thicken it a bit, then add cream & nutmeg.

While soup cooks, assemble the relish by combining these ingredients in a bowl:
Relish:
1/4 red onion, fine chopped                                            1 tsp chili powder
1 crisp Macintosh apple, chopped                                   2 tsp honey
2 TBS lemon juice                                                          1/2 tsp cinnamon.
1/2 C dried cranberries, chopped

Adjust seasonings in soup to tast and serve in shallow bowls with a few spoonfuls of relish.

It's Wednesday! Here's Some Words and Stuff

2009-11-18T10:41:00.000-05:00

So, I didn't post a photo of my desk the other day. I was planning on it, but by the time I was able to actually get the picture, I had forgotten. I dont really have much on it right now, which means if you checked out last weeks picture, its pretty much the same. I've been working on some posts about a few trips and things I've done in the past year or so, which are a little long (but picture heavy). I also have been working on getting things together to open an Etsy shop (this would be so much easier if the state didn't need taxes :) ). Top that off with starting holiday gifts and finishing off some scraggling items on my to do list, and it leads to a busy Beck

In the meantime, I want to thank everyone for the kind comments on my Pumpkin Roll How-to. Since it went over so well, maybe you have some suggestions for a future Photo Tutorial? Let me know if there's anything you might want to "watch" me make, bake or at least take a shot at.

Just to feel productive, here's a photo of some recent color samples I did for a chainmaille piece -

Now Let Me See Your Pumpkin Rolllll (How-To)

2009-11-15T22:34:00.005-05:00

Forgive my 90s throwback title, I couldnt resist.

So saturday morning I made one of my favorite seasonal baked goods - a pumpkin roll. If you ever use Libby's brand pumpkin puree, there is a photo of one on the can and a note to visit their website for the recipe. I've sent the recipe to people for swaps, too, so when I started making it I thought that it would maybe help to document the process in case some people dont know what I'm talking about. Pictures speak 1000 words and all.

To start, here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Roll

Cake:

3/4 C. Flour

1 Tsp Salt

3 Large Eggs

1 C. Sugar

2/3 C. Canned (cooked) Pumpkin/ pumpkin puree

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese

1 C. sifted confectioners sugar

2 TBS butter (softend)

1 Tsp vanilla

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees (F).

Then you butter and flour (well) a jelly roll pan. If you're not familiar with what a jelly roll pan is, it's about 12 x 17 and 1 inch deep. Essentially a baking sheet with sides.

Combine your cake ingredients in a bowl (dry first then add the wet), and mix until thick. Then you pour your batter into the jelly roll pan and spread it out evenly, like so:

Pop the pan in the oven for about 13-15 minutes, or until its springy (it might not take that long)

While the cake is baking, prep a clean, dry, flat weave towel by laying it flat and sprinkling it generously with powdered sugar.

Here's what mine looks like -

Dont lie, I know you think it's hot :)

When you take the cake out of the oven, make sure you dont reach around the potholder and burn your thumb like I did (ouch). Pull it out, loosen the sides, and turn it onto your prepped towel, then dust the top with more sugar. My cake usually ends up sticking to the pan, but just use a long spatula and carefully separate it if the cake needs a little help.

Next is the most difficult part - rolling the cake. You need to do this while its warm because its easiest, and as it cools the cake will keep the "memory" of being rolled, and make it easier when you put the filling on it. Starting on the LONG side, carefully roll it up in the towel, like so:

Let it cool about 15 minutes. While you're waiting is a good time to mix up your frosting. Make sure your cream cheese and butter are softened, and that you sift your confectioners sugar as this helps keep the smoothest consistency for the filling. I usually forget about the sifting, as we dont have anything to do it with at my mom's house. Add the ingredients in a bowl and mix it up.

By now your cake should be cool, so unroll the towel and get to fillin-

Then you roll the cake up again - leave the towel out this time, though.

Then wrap it up in waxed paper or parchment, and pop it in the fridge. When its ready to serve, slice it up and make it pretty on a plate.

nom nom.

TWLOHA Day

2009-11-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

TWLOHA

Blue Beaded Delight

2009-11-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

Wanted to post a few quick pictures, to ease up on all the words I've been writing lately. This is the jewelry I'm wearing today - made by me. The necklace is one of a series of similar necklaces I've been working on (it's on my list as "art glass pendants"). The bracelet also has 2 others like it - in green and pink. Okay, enough words, I promise. On with the pictures:

Pendant

Bracelet

Happy Thursday!

One day closer to the weekend! Woohoo!

Wednesday Weekend Planning

2009-11-11T11:23:00.000-05:00

Yay Wednesday! While I didn't get today off, the fact that a lot of other people did certainly made my morning commute easier. The bulk of the week is almost over, which means getting ready for the weekend - and this weekend should have a lot in store for me. Friday is my grandmother's birthday, so on Saturday I'm going to take her out for some eats at The Soda Fountain - a theme restaurant where the waitresses wear poodle skirts and they play 50's music and have lots of classic american fare on the menu - Burgers, Hot Dogs, Chicken & Biscuits, and yes, "Old-Fashioned" fountain sodas. I haven't been there yet, but my grandmother said it is good, and I'm always excited to try new "local" (close to home, but not close to where I live now) restaurants. I'm looking forward to getting a big frosty milkshake, honestly. I plan on going to the gym every night to prepare myself for the overload :)

Other than the birthday festivities I'll be doing LOTS of laundry (hey, it's free at moms, so why not?),shopping, swapping things in and out of storage, and working on a few crafty projects - I'm planning on picking up an old cabinet door my aunt has for me and turning it into a bulletin board (will post pics, dont worry), and I have a BIG picture framing project to work on (pictures coming for that, too).

Last night I stopped at Michaels craft store after the gym to pick up some frames - They have a lot on sale for 40% off right now, and the sunday paper had their normal 40% off coupon, PLUS a 1/2 off coupon for anything that wasn't on sale. I always manage to procrastinate on framing projects, but I got tired of slacking - I have 2 prints to put up from a recent craft show I went to, plus a poster to frame for my boyfriend, PLUS, I have 2 prints I got at MOMA (from.....6 years ago?!?!?....wow). I still need a frame for one of my prints, because the finished size is 12 x 16, which I only found 1 frame at the store in that size, and I certainly wasn't going to shell out what they were selling it for. I found a really nice unfinished frame to stain and that will take care of one, and I used my 1/2 off coupon to get the glass and backing for it. I just need mats for the other things I'm doing. This should be a really quick and easy project. I love quick and easy. It makes me feel so much more productive when I can actually finish something in one go.

I'm really looking forward to a weekend home in the country - even though I live on the outskirts of the city, there are days when I just get urban overload, and I need to be home, and see my dog, and my family, and actually get to see the stars at night. Country comfort to cure the blues.

To Write Love On Her Arms

2009-11-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

To Write Love On Her Arms

Mission Statement from their website:

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

I dont usually get behind "movements", but this particular site really made an impression on me. I dealt with some things as a teenager, not as bad as some, but you know how at that age everything that happens to you is compounded by 100...

In any case, I'll be joining in on "To Write Love on Her Arms Day" this friday.

I believe in hope, in possibilities, and in love.

Whats Really "On My Desk" Updated

2009-11-10T11:45:00.001-05:00

So yesterday I posted my desk photo, and while it was pretty clean it didn't really indicate anything that I'm doing. So I scanned my quick, scratchy to-do list and decided to post that here.

This isn't complete, either. It's also not nearly as neat & organized as I'd like it.

Notice my funny "Would Like To Do" section? Yea...A girl can dream.

****************

I organized my lists, so now everything is neat and orderly.

I also got my "itinerary" mostly settled down for the weekend, so I know when I should/can get things done. Hopefully I'll be able to get quite a few things crossed off my list, so next week can be a little easier.

Monday Feature - What's On My Desk?

2009-11-09T20:01:00.001-05:00

My desk is actually fairly clean right now - I got tired of the clutter, so I pared a lot of stuff down.

My desk at work is always pretty clean - especially now that I have a nice, BIG corner space :)

And just for good measure, this is what I had for lunch today:

And that was a SMALL salad.

Check out my Flickr page through the pics to check out notes on whats in them. Except the salad - that's just salad.

Until next time...

Guitar Playing Isn't Really For Everybody.

2009-11-08T22:43:00.000-05:00

Here's the newest project that I've been frightfully procrastinating on.

This guitar belongs to one of my co-workers. He asked me to "fix it up". He had painted the black squiggly designs on it and wanted to know if I could clean up the edges and make it look better. He gave me a bag full of enamel paints that I could choose from - out of Red, Purple, Gold, or White. I nixed the purple out of hand.Then I did a really quick messy paint mock-up in protoshop

Decided against the gold and while I waffled back and forth between the red and white, I finally decided on white, because it seemed to go better. So then I got a bunch of my supplies out and prepped things for "surgery".

Honestly, I got that far and then got a little distracted - It was lunch time, so I had to go pick up food, then eat, then play around on swap-bot and reading new blogs and etc, etc, etc...but then I got back around to it. Here's the first progress picture:

Still a loooong way to go. The lines are a little ragged - I'm half tempted to buy a paint pen to go over them, but I'm thinking if I do another coat it'll even things out. I've had this for a little while to work on, and there was no deadline or anything for when he wanted it back but I'm not one to want something "hanging over my head" for very long. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to take it back to work and say "Surprise! Here's your nifty geetar!"

Then I can cross one more thing off my to do list

Until next time -

Hello New Friends!

2009-11-08T13:33:00.000-05:00

Since the deadline is up for the "Be My Blog Follower" swap was yesterday and people are watching me now, I thought I'd say "Hey! Welcome - Come in and kick your feet up".

My name is Beck and this is my blog dedicated to crafting and my adventures into selling my jewelry. I also have a blog devoted to more day to day things and my weekday (and sometimes weekend) wardrobe, if you're interested in reading that also/instead, you can find it here: At Her Best.

Hopefully you'll find some interesting things here to read. Thank you for following (even if it was a swap requirement). I hope I can keep you here to stay!

Smith & Wessen say "Welcome!", too!

Until next time -

Beck

Chainmaille Bangle

2009-11-06T14:02:00.000-05:00

Last night I was playing around working on some jewelry pieces and stumbled on something new. Well, not exactly new, but I haven't seen anything around yet. I made a chainmaille bangle:

I was intending just to make a cuff bracelet and was mulling over what I'd do as far as a closure, but when I got the length down I looked at the other bracelet I was wearing (a metal-mesh bangle) and a lightbulb went off.

This bracelet is what's called a European 8 in 1 weave, which means each ring is connected to 8 others. With this size its very stiff, so when I started I was afraid I'd end up with just a practice swatch and it wouldn't actually serve to make a piece of jewelry.

As you can see in the photo, it stands up even when it's not on my wrist. Since it's a stiff weave, it doesn't collapse in on itself (wich if it were a 4 in 1 it definitely would, and then I'd certainly need a clasp for it to stay on properly), so it lends nicely to this result.

One problem down, then on to the next - circumference. Personally, I dont often wear bangles - they don't fit over my hand. With this bracelet, it was a matter of having it large enough to get onto my wrist, but not so large that it will just fall off again when you're trying to wear it. So that was a few tries until I got the size right. My last problem was figuring out just how to close the bracelet in on itself. I think I might keep this to myself, as I'm still perfecting it.

So this is my latest piece of pretty. I think if I get some good feedback from friends this could be part of my niche. I love coming up with new ideas for old stuff!

New Feature - What's On My Desk This Week

2009-11-02T23:30:00.000-05:00

This is my little corner of my boyfriends desk that ~~I took over~~ he let me use. It's normally a mess of beads, rings, paper, pens, pencils, markers, and other various miscellania. This is what's on it this week.

Check out my flickr page to see notes on whats in the pictures.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T08:00:00.003-04:00

Here, There Be Pirates. Arrrrrrrgh!

2009-10-28T20:19:00.000-04:00

Newest project - pirate eyepatches for Halloween presents. Ahoy!

For the patches I simply found a template online, traced it on felt with some chalk, cut out two layers and sewed together by hand. then I got some black elastic cord from the jewelry section and doubled that to make the cords. The cords weren't too hard to attach, I poked a hole through the felt with a needle and wormed the elastic through to tie it.

I made up a couple to go in Halloween goodie bags. I got a couple Halloween themed takeout containers on sale at Michaels, a LOT of candy from the bulk section at Wegmans, some stickers and printables I've been saving up, plus some matchbox books and halloween pencils (not that my "grown up" friends will necessarily care about those, but they're cute, so I added them).

One of my friends lives down in NC, and she is a big fan of pirates, so I took the theme a little farther and got her a little candy dish with the skull and crossbones on it instead of a box. Since this had to be shipped, I used some old packing paper I had and stamped it all over with some new halloween stamps I got from a swap partner (Thanks again texdel!!). I printed a card and envelope out on cardstock, then I covered the box in halloween stickers. The man at the post office seems to be happy to see how I dress up my packages since I've been mailing stuff out lately.

THE CONTENTS

THE PACKAGE

I still have to finish one or two of the eye patches, but they are for friends I wont see until saturday, plus I have to get more elastic since I ran out. I'm hitting up the craft store again tonight to pick up that and some Tulip3D Slick paint to do another DIY idea for my costume.

Hopefully my outfit will all come together nicely and I'll be able to post a picture for you!! I'm really excited about it.

Craft Fair Mayhem

2009-10-25T20:42:00.002-04:00

I am a big fan of craft fairs. Last weekend I shopped at the only one I regularly go to (it has shows in fall and spring), and I only started going as a way to spend time with my mom and aunts. Now I'm hooked too - although what is featured is predominantly "primitave" or country themed art, it is fun to get ideas and see what people are coming up with. I like the style mostly because I grew up with it and I make things for my family, but I dont tend to prefer it over others. I got my little crows at one of these shows - I'm lucky that crows are one of the favorite themes within this genre.

(This is Wessen. He likes crackers.)

This time around, I got them a little pumpkin to go outside their little house (I had forgotten I already had the baby gourd, but this is a different color, so I tell myself it's ok).

I got a little toss-it bowl for my dresser, also crow themed.

Here are some cast star pins I'm going to use to hang my framed (Hah! if I ever get to them) projects.

This little box was only a dollar, and so sweet. I'm probably going to use it for holiday gifting, and keep the idea for future packaging.

( the pic is really that faded,my camera isn't that terrible. :))

Finally, I bought some yummy cheesecake/cream cake mix. Cherry Almond flavored! I plan on using it to make cream puff filling for one of our saturday dinners.

On Saturday I went to a NEW fair, all with local artists!

Salt City Urban Art & Craft Mart

I had an inkling to get some things together and be a vendor, but I found out about it too late. At least I got to go check it out, and if they do it again next year maybe I will have my act together and can make a showing. The space was a little tight, but for a first show it wasn't terrible. If it were too much bigger, with the people they had, it might've looked empty. I found a lot of cool items, some I bought and some I didn't, and I got a lot of neat ideas for setting up a booth. I was actually happy to see that none of the jewelry vendors there were doing chainmaille, so if that holds true for next year, I'll be a unique seller. Which could be a great thing! I am really excited for all the possibilities.

HOW TO: Foldable Paper House, - or - Birds of a Feather Live in Tipsy Houses

2009-10-21T21:48:00.001-04:00

I found a great project on Claudine Hellmuth Halloween Village via One Pretty Thing and decided to use it to make my little mascots Smith and Wessen a place to nest. They've been "homeless" since I got them almost 2 years ago, and it made me sad that I'd neglected them so long.

Now they are very happy and cozy, though. I added window and door frames, but they are also black so they dont show well. And I didn't have sheet music like the original used, so I used "letter" scrapbook paper instead. It looks so cute when it's lit up at night!

A la Carte

2009-10-21T13:43:00.004-04:00

Since I "finished" my last list (I took one project off, because I can, and I'm finishing up the last), I thought I'd post my next list - Another 10 things.

1. ~~Halloween costume/outfit~~ - I didn't end up going out :(
2. Mix up some grey nail polish (I've seen this in a bunch of the fashion blogs I read, but haven't seen any colors in the store, so I'm going to try making my own. I don't wear polish that much to warrant buying some anyways)
3. ~~Halloween treats & gifts~~
4. Finish art glass pendants
5. Guitar painting project *
6. Photos of jewelry inventory
7. ~~Make "tattoo" tights~~
8. ~~Update my flickr page~~
9. Make charm bracelet from things sent in by swap partner
10. Finish up drafts in blog list

Hopefully I'll be able to stick to this list, since with my last one I went a little ahead of myself.

* This project is for a co-worker, I have to try my hand at pinstriping and cleaning up some designs he painted on his guitar. It's...interesting, at best, so far.

Plus, I have my Swap-bot deadlines to take care of, too, but I pared those down

til next time

Repetitive Action

2009-10-20T22:49:00.000-04:00

Guess what I made more of today.....

I fully admit my addiction to anything celestial-themed. Also, I had a killer headache and couldn't really focus on doing anything else when things were slow. Plus, I can say these are better because they were made with pretty paper.

Just to be random, here is a pic of what's in my pencil case I carry with me every day -

Contents include - many, many Prismacolor pencils and markers, multiple mini rulers and triangles, sketch pencils, pigment liners, a measure tape, pencil sharpener, eraser, a few highlighters, erasers, and label sheet scraps. My case has awesome skullies on it, I got it at Target for $1 a few months ago.

The Old Navy bag is my regular lug-everything-and-the-kitchen-sink-around bag. There's LOTs more stuff in there. Plus my purse. Why I feel the need to schlep so much crap I usually don't touch around is beyond me.

Thank My Lucky Stars!

2009-10-19T19:42:00.002-04:00

This is what I did this afternoon when there was nothing going on. I learned to make lucky stars. I've seen them around on the swap picture pool, and thought they were cute. I found a tutorial maybe two weeks ago, but never got around to cutting paper strips to make them with.

I cut down a regular age of printer paper since these are just practice - at 1 cm wide I made about 30 or so of them.

They were so much fun to pass the time. it wont be a regular activity, but its definitely something to add a little extra to my package swaps. I'll probably do a few in some more holiday grab bags too.

Shiny Like A Penny

2009-10-18T15:22:00.001-04:00

I had to post my new arm candy, because I'm so proud of it -

Just made it the other night. This weave is called Turkish Round. It's in the Persian weave family, similar to Byzantine. Took about 2 1/2 hours, and now I can say I have another weave under my belt! I love learning new things. I'm really happy with the way my skill is progressing. It's fun to figure out new techniques to make pieces go along more smoothly and come out more finished looking. Like with this I added a bigger, different colored ring to the end so I can keep track of it if I happen to drop my work or set it down. It makes things much easier on my eyes when I dont have to try and make out contrast between the different rings.

This was also my first time weaving with copper, and I must say that I really like it. It was very easy to work with, and it looks so pretty finished. I just have to do a little research on how to keep it shiny or if there are ways to polish it if it becomes tarnished. The rings came with a little strip of paper thats supposed to keep them looking nice, so I'll probably keep my bracelet in there for now.

I'm thinking next time I do this I'll make the connecting rings a bigger diameter and put some captured beads in between the sections. Blue and copper would really pop. I'll have to order more copper rings to try that, but til then I have some bright aluminum I can play around with. Then maybe I can finally use up some of my crystal stash I got over the summer.

Halloween Presents

2009-10-14T20:29:00.002-04:00

I love Halloween. It's possibly my favorite "holiday", barely inching ahead of Christmas (It's usually warmer around Halloween and there's no snow on the ground). This year I'm feeling a little craftier since I dont really have any big party event to plan for (boo). The Dollar Tree has had an absolute treasure trove of supplies available, so I've picked up a lot of things that I'll probably be posting projects here with.

I'm making goodie bags and things for my nephew and my little cousin. I tried to get more play gifts than candy and sweets, since I'm sure they'll get enough from trick-or-treating or just from having it around the house. I wanted to give them something to keep for a while and make them remember how cool I am...heh.

I love wrapping gifts too, and I was unsure at first about wrapping my cousins present, but the purple ended up working out Perfectly (in my opinion). It really pops against the orange card envelope and the black ribbon. I got all the halloween "colors" together, and I wasn't really even trying.

I also made some more matchbooks to send as gifts to some of my Swap-bot partners.

First one is a monogram:

I stamped the stars on label sheet scraps and wrapped it around the base to cover the staples. For the monogram I found some alphabet clip art and re-sized and traced it. Then I made the backgound from a tag template. I sent this along with a halloween treat bag full of foam stickers and other embellishments.

This one I did for a Beatles fan. I wanted it to be playful, I found the walrus image online and tweaked the size, added the ice float underneath and colored him in. The font I did free-handed but its based on a font called "Yellow Submarine". So, I got my Beatles references in there without doing all out images of John, Paul, George and Ringo, or just writing "The Beatles". I really hope she likes it. I sent this with a little single serve bag of candy corn, because she's addicted to it just like I am.

I love "meeting" people I have things in common with.

Still have a lot of other things to show from my teaser post, but they will get posted soon (I hope).

Til next time ~

Tattoos For Your Phone

2009-10-14T20:19:00.002-04:00

I tattooed my phone, so it's hip now -

What do you think? It was really simple actually - I just used a rub on sticker. I needed a new case because the last one broke, so I picked that and the stickers up at the dollar store the other day. Ten minutes and I have a nifty looking phone. (Until I finally break down and get a new-new phone - this Razr was my aunts that she loaned to me, and it doesn't make me happy).

HOW TO: Matchbook Notebooks from Scrap Paper

2009-10-12T00:32:00.001-04:00

I work in an office. Like most offices, we print out a lot of things that we need in the course of a work day - reports, prints, emails, etc.....The printer in my office has 2 feed trays - one for standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper, and one for legal sized 8 1/2" x 14". For some reason I have yet to find out how to switch the default setting to print documents to the normal sized paper tray - so myself and my office mates usually end up trimming off the 3" strip of blank paper on the bottom of the document (We're all a little OCD I guess - at least I am). We would then end up with untold numbers of little 3" strips in our reclaim bin - While its not so terrible as ending up in the garbage, I wanted to find a useful way to re-purpose these scraps.

I used to save them in a pile next to my phone but they looked so plain, and I wanted a way to make them look more "finished". I'd staple them together once in a while so they were more contained, but that was still boring. Then I thought of a putting them in some sort of folder or cover, but 3" x 11" is an awkward size. Then I started seeing matchbooks. Aha! They're easy to make, extremely portable, and so cute! Let me show you how I did it.

To start, get your materials together -

scrap paper
paper for cover - I use cardstock
stapler
scissors/paper trimmer

During the day as I'm printing documents I save up whatever scraps had to be trimmed off of documents, and trim them down further to make 3" x 3" squares (we have a paper cutter with a grid, so its really fast to do that while I'm right there at the printer) - I end up with slips of paper 2.5" x 3, but those work too, so I save them in a different pile so the pages don't get all mixed.

I cut my cardstock down to just slightly wider than the paper - about 3 1/8" - 3 1/4" wide, and 7" long. For the 2.5 x 3 squares, cut them to about 6 1/8" long (or you could keep it at 7" and make the width thinner ).

First you measure 3/4" to make the bottom tab:

and fold, like so:

Get your paper scraps - I put about 30 pages into my notebooks, so its enough to be usable, but still slim. The paper cutter never leaves precise sizes, so I line up one edge, and then hide the raggedy edge under the bottom tab. You could do it the other way if you like a more primitive look.

Then you staple the pages in - I'm happy I have a big, monster "high-powered" stapler, as we call it here.

Don't worry if the stapler leaves dents, we'll be hiding them in a bit.

So now that your pages are in, make a crease at the top (a bone folder or folding against a ruler will help get a crisp line), tuck the end under the bottom flap, and fold the edge down so it's nice and clean.

Ta da!

Not done yet though - Now its time to get out your fun stuff - Ribbon, buttons, stickers, markers. Get to work and personalize it!

I took a little strip of ribbon and glued it around the staple line, Thus hiding the staples and those funky dents the stapler left in my cardstock. Then I used a few different stickers on the front.

Now, you're done! A nice little notebook that you can customize and give as (really quick!) gifts, toss in your purse, or even use as marketing material - Make the first page or the cover into a ersatz business card or a promotional flyer. Your possibilities are endless.

I'm having a lot of fun with these and plan to use some as holiday stocking stuffers and as goodies for my Swap-bot swaps. Hope you enjoy playing with them too!

Til next time

How Busy the Buzzing B Is!

2009-10-08T20:49:00.002-04:00

I have been so super motivated and inspired lately - I am almost ready to move onto my next to do list!! I can't wait to share what I've been making - I just have to take the time to stop making stuff and start taking photos.

Teaser :)

By the way, like my blanket? (Original Dukes of Hazzard!)

In the mean time, check out some awesome projects over at One Pretty Thing - This site is such a great resource - Rachel collects and posts projects from across the blogosphere to teach and inspire - so a great learning tool, and great marketing for the other blogs she features! I hope I do a project one day that is good enough to show up on one of her lists. Until then, I'll keep getting crazy ideas from the other great people on the site.

Til next time

Toodle-Doodle-doo

2009-10-04T22:45:00.000-04:00

Very quick post, as I only have this pic to put up and then I'm going to head off to sleep land.

Was feeling a little low this weekend, so I haven't gotten too much done, although I did get something started from my list, so I am definitely working on it.

This is the postcard I did for the Swap-bot "Doodle PC #13" swap. I didn't realize before I sat down to work on it, just how hard it is to come up with a doodle! I guess I am just out of the habit of "doodling", since I do so much drawing with an actual purpose. Anyhoos - I hope my swap partner likes it!

Til next time-

Beck

Mid-Week Update

2009-09-30T21:34:00.000-04:00

Just to follow up on one of my last posts - I got photos of some things I meant to post, and I've updated my previous to do list as I complete things. When they're all finished, I'll start my next list! (Well, the list is already getting written out, it's just on standby....)

So anways...

This necklace was something I put together specifically to go with a certain outfit. It came out differently from what I first intended, but I really like the end result.

and shown on:

This next bracelet is one I've had finished for a while, but had no photos of yet. It's in regular wearing rotation-

Half persian weave in Brown Annodized Aluminum.

That's really all I have for now. The rest of my tasks I've completed have mostly been getting things in order.

Hopefully I'll make great progress and have more to share soon!

Til later-

With Pen and Paper

2009-09-29T15:43:00.002-04:00

Along with all my "normal" projects I also have my commitments on Swap-bot to uphold - which I don't count as normal projects. Swap-bot has deadlines, and therefore more accountability for my productivity. I am only in a few simple swaps right now (since I'm still a "newbie"), but I was interested by one I found last week or so. -

http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/44912

While I don't want to commit to it as a swap (like a lot of people, after 6 months of writing things, I'd want at least a copy myself...) I thought it was a really great idea. I used to keep a regular journal, and then just got out of it. Honestly, because I got tired of writing about how boring my life felt at the time. I plan on starting this and using something better than just my day to day activities as content:

http://journalingprompts.com/

The topics I've seen so far are a great starting point for getting your writin' hand movin. Questions like "In your opinion, what acts can be described as courageous and why?" or "How do you fight negative thoughts?" or even something as simple as "What is your least favorite food". With all that inspiration, it should be hard NOT to think of something to write about.

I can't wait to start. My only problem right now is that I have 1 day til it is supposed to start, and I can't decide whether I should use a journal I already have, or buy a brand spanking new one! Of course....I've also decided I need to stay away from the stores this week (it's my "No Buying" challenge), so I hope that either the one I was using before has estimatably enough pages or that I have a blank one to have fun with.

So in this day of online blogs, who else journals?

Multi-tasking is a Myth

2009-09-28T11:26:00.007-04:00

Or, so I've read. I'm admittedly a perfectionist, and have Obsessive Compulsive tendencies and in some cases yes, I can definitely "multitask" with the best of them. At some point however, you have to stop and ask yourself if the result of doing so many things at once is really your best work? If you put so much into so many things at once, can you really say that you "gave your all" to one thing? I've been thinking about this a lot lately since I'm starting to feel like I'm slowly drowning in all of the crafts and "hobbies" and ideas and chores and holidays and birthdays I have to plan for (whew!). I want to make EVERYTHING happen. With so much to do, and nothing actually getting finished yet, it is starting to make me a little bit down in the dumps.

With all that in mind, I have become inspired by a quote from a "quote-a-day" calendar that I found at my mom's yesterday.

"The fastest way to get many things done, is to do them one at a time"

-(credit currently unknown, will update later)

So, with that in mind, I'm going to prioritize my tasks and keep myself on track by listing a few (say- 10)projects here at a time. When I finish them all, I'll make a new list and continue on until they're all finished. That's the plan anyways.

Here's my first list!

~~1. Finish reading Pontoon (only 2-3 chapters left)~~
~~2. Swap-bot doodle postcard swap~~ (this is due to mail out by Friday)

~~3. Start/ finish commission for chainmaille cuff (no deadline for this, but I want it out of the loop) working on this now, almost finished! (10-21-09)~~

~~4. Finish sailboat homemade postcards~~
5. Finish bracelet project for Aunt. taking this off, may as well be done
~~6. Organize workspace with new drawer unit (no more piles of paper!)~~
~~7. Turn label sheet scraps into sticker tape~~
~~8. Start mock-ups for monogram cross-stitch pieces (for xmas gifts)~~
~~9. Organize Stationary~~
~~10. Take photos of projects I finished last week!~~ (to post here)

Ok, so now I have my assignment - What are you working on these days?

Captivated

2009-09-20T20:51:00.003-04:00

Last time I mentioned how I had picked up some orders this week, and previously I posted a work in progress. Well, they're all done, so I thought I'd share!

First up, the "big one" - a necklace commissioned by a friend of mine, and honestly a weave I've been wanting to try my hand at - Captive Inverted Round. CIR is an orbital weave - I've also seen it referred to as Jacob's DNA Ladder. I created mine with a mix of 18 and 16 gauge Anodized Aluminum rings, all 1/4 " ID.

It all started from this:

In progress:

To this:

La viola.

The second project I finished was another basic Byzantine weave bracelet for a coworker to give to his wife.

In pink!

Here's another view:

In other crafts, I've been working on a homemade postcard for a Swap-bot swap (since I can't seem to find any to buy.) I have all the pieces cut out that I need, I just need to put my glue stick to work.

Here's the mock-up:

I have a couple other papercraft projects I finished this weekend too, but I'll save those for my next post.

Until next time -

Rings N Things

2009-09-10T20:16:00.001-04:00

I picked up a couple commissions this week, so I just dropped a healthy chunk of change on new chainmaille supplies - It always gets me so agitated to see so much go into it, but I always love the things I make, so I guess in the end it is worth the investment. Plus I am looking forward to having the work and feeling productive in my own right. Not that I don't love my day job- but I really enjoy working on my creative pursuits and it's nice to know that other people might appreciate my crafts, too.

I went on a shopping spree and bought a few new illustration books at Barnes and Noble last night with birthday money I still had burning a hole in my wallet. One in particular I am really looking forward to using - 4000-Alphabet-Letter-Motifs . It's full of all different fonts, initials and alphabets for use in all sorts of art. The book even comes with a CD to use them on your computer. I haven't tried the cd out yet, but I'm brainstorming so many ideas already. I'm a sucker for type-based art. There's just something about the written word that resonates with me. I love writing letters, I love making words. I'm thinking of developing a line of initial charms to use in my jewelry. Thats not the only use this book will get, but I have a lot of things in the works right now. The other two books I picked out mostly for personal interest - one is a treasury of flower designs, and the other is a book of Art Nouveau motifs. I like to have a lot of visual reference when I'm sketching, and I really want to develop my drawing skills. Always something to work on...

Other than that, I'm just trying to finish half done projects, and trying to enjoy what little summer we have left to experience.

Put a Label on It

2009-09-07T23:30:00.001-04:00

I've been making lots of tags lately...almost obsessively, even....

Red tags:

and beige tags:

I found the stamps I used to make them for cheap at the craft store. I've really been more focused on developing my "brand", and while I dont plan on using these forever they are a first step towards creating a recognizable image. I can tell you it's been difficult for me. I like definitions, but I don't always like trying to define myself - in a way it's as if you're putting yourself in a box, and if you're in a box how can you move beyond and improve? But anywho...I've been up to a few other projects as well. I've got a new commission to start work on soon; I just finished a series of pendants with some pretty art glass beads, and I finished up a bracelet to save for an x-mas gift.

(shhhh I can't tell who for)

1 of 5 - They are all different but based around 1 of 2 beads. The other 4 will also be on ribbon necklaces.

Work In Progress - This is really messy, but it was just practice. I will post better photos soon.

This week I have a few things to focus on:

1. Commission - work in progress above.

2. Finish a set of bracelets I've been working on for my aunt.

3. Do a quick gift for a friend :)

4. Finish ribbon necklaces

5. Order supplies

I'm sure I've got more that I'm forgetting...my "To Do" list is always miles long....but sometimes I manage to finish it! I'll also be working on my sketching and maybe getting some photos printed from recent visits to my moms house. I got some pretty good nature shots that I'd like to blow up and hang on my wall.

Until next time -

Presents Everywhere!

2009-08-30T08:00:00.027-04:00

I love presents -

Today is my friend Amber's birthday. Happy Birthday Amber! I made her a present:

This is what was inside:

Its a weave called Celtic Visions, turned into a "flower". I wanted so badly to keep it, but I know I can make another, and I thought that she would love it since she just bought a house and now she will have a lovely new keychain for her lovely new home!

I made presents for some other friends too:

Unfortunately I dont have pictures to post of what I put inside them...yet.

I've been working on a few other projects, and I got a new commission work yesterday, so I'm pretty happy with my productivity these days!

Until later -

Welcome!

2009-08-23T22:36:00.000-04:00

Hi! I'm Beck. Today is My Birthday.

I've started this blog as a "present" to myself to use as a means of documenting and cataloguing my various projects. I'll also be working towards developing a business for my jewelry. I thought a blog would be a worthwhile record of my activities.
Bear with me as I'll also be learning the various aspects of blogging as I go along. It should be an interesting adventure.

Thank you for joining me. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.

Until later -

Salt City Crafter

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The Process, In Photos

What I've Been Working On

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Tutorial: Origami Gift Box

Origami Gift Box & Cherry Blossom

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Here, There Be Dragons

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Finally Friday!! Finally Finished!!!!

Yay or Nay Wednesday

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A Project Dear To My "Heart"

What's Your Color?

Twing Twang, A Tiny Update

W.I.P. Wednesday

Looking Back On - ADK Adventure, 2008

How'd I DO That??

I Got Chains

Review Notice and Next Posts

Grand Opening

Coming in 2010

Holiday Aftermath

Merry Christmas!

Stuck

It's Not Christmas Unless

Tuesday To Do

Sunday Meanderings

Oh Goodies

Sick Day

Tuesday To Do

MDM - My Desk on Monday 12/7

Friday Fill In

Rest In Peace

Tuesday To Dos

MDM - My Desk Monday

Etsy-ian Adventure

Happy Thanksgiving

MDM - My Desk on Monday

Tuesday To Do - Halfway there!?

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Let the Tradewinds Blow

Simple Bound Notebooks

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Now Let Me See Your Pumpkin Rolllll (How-To)

TWLOHA Day

Blue Beaded Delight

Wednesday Weekend Planning

To Write Love On Her Arms

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Monday Feature - What's On My Desk?

Guitar Playing Isn't Really For Everybody.

Hello New Friends!

Chainmaille Bangle

New Feature - What's On My Desk This Week

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Mid-Week Update

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Multi-tasking is a Myth

Captivated

Whats Really "On My Desk" Updated