Quick update.

I've had a very busy holiday season this year. Thank you so much to all of my customers!!! I have a lot of plans for 2012, and I'll be busy with organizing my craft room so that I can make all of the new designs that I have written down on random pieces of paper.

I'll get back to blogging more regularly soon. Now that Christmas is over I can focus more attention on my blog and designs.

Thank you for reading. Happy New Year!

New members of the family.

After a year of sporadic begging we were able to finally adopt two kittens!

We went to the Kitsap Humane Society during a free adoption sale. (saved about $300!) There were kittens everywhere. Most were adopted or weren't ready to be adopted yet.

We spotted these two lovelies in a cage together, and they were the only kittens that were playing and wrestling. We wanted playful kittens, and I loved how the tortoise kitten had a half black and half orange face. We just had to have them. Unfortunately they needed to get surgery (spayed) before we could take them home so we had to wait a whole weekend for them.

The tortoise shell's name was Moon Beam, and we decided to change it to Katniss (from The Hunger Games) The Siamese's name was Sally, and we changed it to Rue (also from The Hunger Games) Their new names fits their personalities. Rue likes to sing and be in high places, and Katniss is a crazy offender and very very playful.

I could go on and on, but in summary: they are so very cute and playful and "melty" I'm sure I'll post many pictures of them in the future. <3

There is a Winner!

We have a winner for the recent My Memories Suite Scrapbooking Software Giveaway I hosted.

Congratulations to Teresa from POP embroidery!!!

Fun key fobs, original key straps, embroidered gifts and personalized ID badge holders ALL available at POP embroidery!

She's also on Facebook. Be sure to like her page.

I hope you have an amazingly fun time trying out the software. Beware - it's addicting!

Inspiration Behind the Piece: Celestial Watch

There is something calming about the night sky with the moon and stars hanging in balance in all of the nothingness that is the universe.

I created this Celestial Watch in different stages. I first found the watch face and bought the star beads to match it. I knew I wanted to use black and silver and eventually found the perfect beads. They are dual colored, and they match perfectly with the other components of this watch.

I didn't know I needed to use the gunmetal stardust beads and the antiqued silver pewter spacer beads and the swirl toggle clasp until I sat down and placed the components alongside one another. Everything about this watch design - the colors, shapes, textures...all happen to be a beautiful contrast, but yet one and the same. Silver, black, and grey; just like the universe above and around us.

Thank you so much for reading. This Celestial Watch is currently available here.

Free Software Giveaway!

Today I have the honor to give away some digital scrapbooking software from My Memories Suite to one lucky reader! There is no catch, just a simple and easy giveaway. With this scrapbooking software you can create cards, photo books, scrapbook pages, and more all on your computer. It's not just for scrapbooking. Their website offers templates, kits, papers, and embellishments for very low prices, and they even have a free page!

I took a little bit of time to play around with my free copy of this software, and it was really fun and easy to learn. Between what was already included in the program as well as the free kits I downloaded from their site I had so much to work with.

Right before I was contacted to do this giveaway I was starting to look into how to make collages and cards digitally, and this software is the perfect thing. I included my partially completed collage. It started out as a blank white canvas, and it was so easy to turn it into what you see. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to collages so I might not be done with this one for a while longer.

If you take a look you will notice the fonts. The program has WordArt incorporated into it, and I can choose from a ton of fonts and colors. It's digital so I can rotate the font backwards or to a 90 degree angle if I wanted to.

Once I place an embellishment and start working on something else I can easily go back and change it. I decided to fade the snowflake decoration on the left side of the collage instead of it being a solid white like the notebook. And speaking of the notebook, those are beads! Cute colorful little beads, which is one whole embellishment.

This collage is just one of the many things you can do with this digital scrapbooking software. You can use any .jpeg or .png file to import your photos right into the software so make a lovely scrapbook page or a Christmas card with a picture of your family on the front.

And if you download digital scrapbooking kits and images from other websites this software supports those! Unfortunately their terms of use do not allow finish products to be sold.

So how does this giveaway work?

1. Visit My Memories Suite and check out the Digital Scrapbooking Kits. Pick out your favorite one and leave a comment on my blog with a link to that item with a brief explanation of how you would use that kit. Remember to include some way for me to contact you.

2. For an extra entry tweet this blog post on Twitter, and include your Twitter account in your comment entry. You can tweet this as many times as you would like, however, it will only be counted as one entry.

3. Only one entry per person (with the exception of those that Tweet.)

Be sure to follow my blog so you can find out if you're the winner!

For more information on My Memories Suite check out their social links below:

Blog
Facebook
Twitter

They also have a YouTube Channel.

My readers can also use this exclusive code: STMMMS8587 for $10 off the MyMemories Suite v2 scrapbook software.

Not into scrapbooking, card making, or other digital crafts? You can still enter this giveaway for a friend or family member...the holidays are coming up.

Thank you so much for reading this post. I hope I inspired you to enter the giveaway for a chance to win this great software. Remember the giveaway ends Wednesday, November 9th, 2011. The winner will be announced shortly after.

3 Quick and Easy Halloween Recipes

I was browsing online for a quick Halloween themed recipe that I could surprise my hubby with since we both work that day and won't see each other. All three recipes courtesy of AllRecipes.com

On this quest I found 3 quick and easy recipes that you still have time to do!

The first recipe is Green Grog. 25 8oz servings

Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans frozen limeade concentrate
• 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans frozen lemonade concentrate
• 2 (2 liter) bottles lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
• 1 (750 milliliter) bottle rum
• 2 quarts lime sherbet

Directions

1. In a large pot, combine limeade, lemonade and lemon-lime soda. Stir in rum (add more to taste if desired.) Mix in the lime sherbet.

The second recipe is S'mores Apples. 6 servings.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 Granny Smith apples
• 6 wooden sticks
• 1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Insert wooden sticks 3/4 of the way into the stem end of each apple. Place apples on a cookie sheet covered with lightly greased aluminum foil.
2. Combine caramels and water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring often, until caramel melts and is smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Dip each apple into the caramel and gently run apples around insides of saucepan to scrape off some of the caramel. Scrape excess caramel from the apple bottoms using the side of the saucepan.
3. Combine the miniature marshmallows and graham crackers on a dinner plate. Roll the apples in the mixture to coat. Place on the aluminum foil and chill.
4. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Drizzle over the apples and return them to the refrigerator until ready to serve.

The third recipe, which is the one I might make on Monday is Mud and Worms. 4 servings.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 12 chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies
• 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (3 ounce) package gummy worms candy

Directions

1. Place the chocolate sandwich cookies into a resealable plastic zipper bag, and crush with a rolling pin into crumbs. For a more mudlike appearance, untwist the cookies and scrape off the creme filling before crushing cookies.
2. Whisk together the chocolate pudding mix with the milk in a bowl, stirring for 2 minutes. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the crushed sandwich cookie crumbs into the bottom of a serving bowl, and spoon the chocolate pudding over the crumbs. Smooth out the top of the pudding, then top with the rest of the chocolate cookie crumbs to resemble dirt. Poke gummy worms halfway into the dirt. Refrigerate until serving.

These all look delicious. Are you planning to cook or prepare any treats this Halloween?

Work in Progress Wednesday 10/26/11

This week I have more inspiration than actual progress, but that's part of the fun.

I have some cameo pendants that will be made into beaded necklaces, although the skull one might turn into something more manly.

I have a few necklace starts at the top of the picture with amethyst, lampwork glass, and swarovski pearls.

There's an owl key chain hiding in the top right corner, and below that a pair of cute rose hair pins.

The blue and pink earrings were previously featured here. The bottom left corner is some starts for cell phone charms. I want to use the rune pendants for something so I pulled those out of their storage (along with the black and grey snowflake obsidian pendants) and there are some flower hair pins as well.

To the left of the colorful earrings are some tech/geeky charms. I was thinking maybe zipper pulls or cell phone charms? Not exactly sure yet.

What is Work in Progress Wednesday? It's a meme from off of the internet somewhere. I've decided to start posting some of what I'm currently working on every Wednesday for your viewing pleasure and my motivation. I have to finish what I show you...right?

Reasons to Send Holiday Cards This Year

It's getting to be that kind of year where you are thinking about how to spread the holiday cheer with gifts to your friends, your family, your coworkers or classmates, and the list always seems to grow...

And you come to the realization that you cannot afford to provide a gift to all of these people, but you can't shake the feeling of wanting to do something for them. I often feel the same way. I try to think of small inexpensive gifts to get everyone, but even this ends up being expensive because I want it to still be "nice."

So the solution is holiday and/or Christmas cards. Yes, the idea seems simple and "not enough," but last year when I was writing out all of our cards my husband wanted to give some to his coworkers. The night he came home after handing them out to everyone he told me about their responses and comments. Many people told him how unexpected and appreciative they were because they never get holiday cards from anyone, and the card he gave them made their day. Hearing this made me feel all fuzzy inside.

Giving people well thought out personal holiday cards is the best inexpensive gift that you can give them. They can display the card in their locker or desk at work to read during times they are having a bad day, or they can take them home to put out on the table.

Last year I sent maybe around 50 cards, and I received less than 5. In honesty it was disappointing, but I clung to the thought that the people I sent mine to appreciated the thought.

Cards don't have to be expensive or handmade. This year I found a great deal on plain cards, and I plan to write out a nice personal message/holiday greeting in them. The image on the front of the cards are nice and festive enough, but people will focus on the handwritten note inside.

Though I must say on more than one occasion at work a coworker gave everyone a card, but they just signed their name and didn't add anything to the simple printed message "Happy Holidays" that was inside. I know I should be grateful that they took the time to give me a card, but it just felt really impersonal.

A few questions for my readers: Do you ever send or receive holiday cards? How does it make you feel? Do you plan to send any this year?

Thank you so much for reading.

Inspiration Behind the Piece: Celtic Tree Necklace

This Celtic Tree Necklace was inspired by a friend of mine. She loves all things trees and copper and green.

I wanted to make something extra special with the tree pendant, and I was hoarding the green beads until I could come up with the perfect design.

When holding this necklace the beads are so lustrous and sleek. I can safely say that this is one of my favorite pieces that I have ever made.

But where are the Celtic symbols? You can't see it very well in the picture, but that triangle bail that holds the tree pendant has Celtic designs on it as well as the top round part of the toggle clasp.

Thank you so much for reading. Please check back as I will continue to write the inspiration behind some of my pieces.

Work in Progress Wednesday

What is Work in Progress Wednesday? It's a meme from off of the internet somewhere. I've decided to start posting some of what I'm currently working on every Wednesday for your viewing pleasure and my motivation. I have to finish what I show you...right?

Today I have a few bookmarks: dog, dragon, and coffee.

Some bracelets that are almost finished.

A rocker necklace with a big guitar pendant.

Some random 1337 letter beads...not sure what to do with those just yet. I recently used some of them to make wine charms.

Thinking of using the cherry and castle charms to make cell phone charms. Or maybe key chains?

And the pearls will be made into earrings.

Thanks for browsing! What are you working on this Wednesday?