It's My Jet Lag and I'll Cry if I Want To

noted

Its my Birthday today and I thought I would attempt to blog a few of my Birthday treats before I fall asleep, the only thing keeping me going at the moment is the coffee I seem to be mainlining, though hopefully soon I will be adding birthday cake to my sugar and caffeine intake. As you can see from the first image I got some beautiful leather notebooks for my birthday, the top one M got me (after several not to subtle hints) its from ArtisanGraham, the middle is an eco friendly nkuku, and the bottom one is a soft recycled leather journal from Barnes and Noble's that I bought myself along with a couple of novels. I really did need a new notebook and now I quite happily have three.

The next three items are gifts from my dad (my mother bought me clothes and a cute pair of polk-a-dot sketchers). The first item was a pendant made from a slice of a mastodon's tusk that will be the focal point of a beaded necklace. A lovely little vintage drawing and painting book , and a pretty little stone box.

The last item pictured is an agate pendant, that M bought me in San Francisco. It just looks like the ocean to me and makes me think of Bodega Bay. Frizbe dropped by with the girls this morning and brought me some lovely little birthday muffins, a little purple purse she knitted, and some lovely hair things too. I would feel spoiled if I wasn't so jet-lagged.

Mastadon pendant

vintage bird drawing book



pretty little stone box



agate pendant that looks like the ocean

Strawberry Quartz

strawberry quartz and silver bracelet

I treated myself to these pretty strawberry quartz beads while we were in Idaho, they were so sewat and summery I had to have them, especially with the dysmal snowy weather.

Home Again

Home again at last. I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing or not yet. We have been home about 3 or 4 hours, the house is a mess with gifts, laundry, and disemboweled suitcases littering the back room, boxed of American food stuffs piled on top of the counter, and a mountain of mail to tear through and mostly recycle. In the next few days I will blog all about California, and snowy Idaho. Right now I'm off to catch some zzz's.

Candy Apples and Holidays

red carnelian bracelet with apple toggle clasp

I made this bracelet last night while M and I watched Torchwood and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. And as usual the sun has only made an appearance after I took the pictures. We are off on our trip to San Francisco and Idaho tomorrow, well down to H's favourite hotel and flying out on Monday. Thank god we aren't flying with BA this time, though M says he wants to have a look around the new terminal 5.

We will be back at the end of the month, the day before my birthday, so my present will be jet lag! Thank you all for reading my blog, if I get the chance I will update while we are away, so check back from time to time. And of course I will post lots of pictures when we return.

San Francisco here we come.

And Idaho too.

Garnet in Bloom

garnet bracelet with a silver plated blossom toggle clasp

This was meant to be a necklace, well the clasp was intended to adorn a necklace, but as I am woefully short of beads with our impending holiday this clasp has been appropriated into this lovely bracelet. I have just finished wearing it as wandered about the room, Thank god H is napping and M is at work, as I'm sure I looked like I had truly lost it, perhaps I have. I'm really pleased with the finished bracelet, I only wish the sun would make an appearance so I could take a picture with the light streaming through the polished garnet chips.

Jelly Bean People- Kids Crafts

H's Mr. Blue Jelly Bean


H's Jelly Bean People

You will Need:

paper

poster paints

little fingers

a pen

These little Jelly Bean people are quick and easy to make, and a good way to occupy little ones. Spread some paint onto a plate have the kids press there fingers into it and then finger print the paper one print at a time. Once the paint has dried you can then draw faces, arms and legs.

H had a ball painting them, and then drawing limbs and faces and constructing stories as to who his jelly bean people are. My favourites are Mr. Blue Jelly Bean, Mr. Wobbly Legs the Tall, and Jelly Dog which I think looks more like a rat but I am apparently wrong.

Banana, Orange Blossom Honey, and Cashew Muffins

Banana, Orange Blossom Honey, and Cashew Muffins

Ingredients
2 cups self-raising flour
½ cup Mexican orange blossom honey (or any honey)
½ cup milk
2 eggs
¼ cup melted butter
2 ripe bananas mashed with a fork
3/4 cup chopped cashew nuts
pre heat oven to 375° .

Place paper baking cups into a muffin tin, or grease and flour the muffin cups.

In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients except for the cashews, the batter will be slightly lumpy. Carefully fold in the chopped cashew nuts.

Divide the batter evenly among muffin cups filling them about two thirds full.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and spring back when the centre is pressed.

Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

cook's notes: You could use pecans, or any other nuts in the recipe, I used cashews because the package has sat in the cupboard for ages unloved and unwanted. The muffins turned out light a moist, and I got good reviews from H, who recovered enough to stir the batter and nip off with a spoonful of batter to eat in the front room trailing batter on the carpet. And from M, who made happy noises on cosumming a muffin, so at the very least I managed to get rid of two freckled bananas that everyone else had rejected. The cashews blended well with the honey, and banana and the muffins tasted lovely with a little bit of butter.

Sardonyx and Me

amethyst, peridot, and sterling silver bracelet

As we will be going away on holiday on Sunday, I have forbidden myself to order any more beads. Obviously that wont stop me buying any if we just happen to be passing a bead store or two while in California or Idaho in the next few weeks. But it has the effect that I am limited to the oddments of beads and toggles that are in my bead box(s) which is not enough to make any necklaces but I have scraped together enough beads to make these two bracelets.

The first has small faceted amethyst beads and oval shaped peridot, with a bali silver toggle clasp. I know I have done several purple and green items, mainly bracelets but I just adore the colour combination. Something about the vibrant peridot mixed with amethyst just shouts spring to me. Thoughts of Irises, and lilacs, and purple tulips spring to mind.

close up of the bali silver toggle clasp

The other bracelet I made today is this one with the large rectangular sardonyx focal bead in the centre. I fell in love with the bead in the shop and had to have it, but wasn't sure wat to do with it until now. It may get taken apart and remade before I'm happy and M says it looks like a 70's watch without a face. Let me know what you think.

sardonyx, smokey quartz, black agate, and silver bracelet

Three Horsemen Shy of an Apocalypse

amethyst and black agate bracelet

Not a great deal of crafting going on as Plague has revisted our house, H is quite poorly with a cold at the moment and has stayed home from pre-school today. In an attempt to keep him occupied and not to pouty we have packed his little carryon suitcase, painted a canvas, and now he is napping with very little protest. You know you are dealing with a poorly child when there is no tantrum at being sent for a nap.

While he splodged paint on a square canvas from The Works I darkened a small canvas down that I previously didn't like. I'm still not sure about it but I think it does look vaguely better than it did previously. H says my painting isn't pretty becuse I was using black but his was pretty because he used blue and red. I felt inspired to paint this morning but found it difficult to paint while keeping H from spilling things or sneezing into the paint pots.

I should be cleaning the house but thought I would mess around with the new camera instead of my phone camera. So thats what I used to take todays pictures. A vast improvement over the phone pictures I think. The amethyst and black agate bracelet that I made last night looks stunning, and the light wasn't even that great. Baking to do later, something with bananas as I have a fruit bowl full and need to clear it out before we go away.

H's painting on canvas