Earrings!

I have finally put some earrings in my Etsy shop!  I have made a few pairs but I wanted them to look a certain way... I just couldn't make up my mind what way that was.  After a few trials and errors, I added a crystal to each pair and finally go the look I was going for.   I have four pairs that are ready; two are already in Etsy and the other two pairs need to be photographed, but should be there later this week.  Check them out:

Pinterest

As you may know, I really love Pinterest!  However, now that the novelty has worn off, I no longer spend hours upon hours on Pinterest, pinning tons of things everyday.  There are some days that I don't even look at Pinterest (if you can believe it!).  I still enjoy it a lot though, and these days there are three main areas I pin in: 1) lesson plan/classroom ideas, 2) recipes, 3) art/inspirational pictures.  Now, I have a personal pinning policy that I started use. I read a blog post (I really can't remember where or I would link to it...) about a woman who was no longer going to use Pinterest because she felt that it was not ok to use other people's images without their consent and without giving them credit.  Well, I was too much in love with Pinterest to stop using it, so I decided to only pin images that take you back to the original source (disclaimer: I may have a few lingering pins from before I implemented this policy - I am not perfect... but I try).  This is harder than you may think.  Many images are links to nowhere or just to another site that has several pictures.  Others are links to people's blogs who tried a recipe or project they saw on another blog, so I follow their link back to the original and pin from there.  I feel that this is my best pinning policy because this way, my pins link back to the original author (giving them credit) and I am ok pinning their images because I know it is possible to block pinning capabilities if you do not want your images pinned.

Now, all that was to say that I recently pinned a chocolate berry tart recipe.  It was originally very disappointing because I saw a beautiful, mouth-watering, delicious-looking picture of one on Pinterest that was a sad case of it being a link to nowhere.  But after seeing it, all I could think about was making a dark chocolate berry tart, so I did some googling.  I did not find the source for the beautiful, mouth-watering, delicious-looking chocolate berry tart, but I did find another recipe for cute, little, yummy looking mini-tarts.  So I pinned that instead.  I happen to have cute tart pans that I have been waiting to try out, so this is the perfect recipe for me!  Here is my link in case you want to check it out: http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2012/08/no-bake-blueberry-truffle-tartlets.html.  I will let you know how they turn out!

(photo from loveandoilveoil.com)

Light Switch Covers

I have been making a few light switch covers.  I started because I wanted one for my room, and then I thought I would try out some different designs.  They are fun to make and it is nice to have a bigger space to work with.  However, they can take a really long time to make!  I will have to figure out what to charge for them and add them to my shop.  Here is my favorite so far:

Hello again!

Well, if anyone is still checking this blog after almost a year of no posts then you are an amazing optimist and I am awed and impressed!  I am using this summer to dive back into blogging and tweak my Etsy shop, so look forward to more posts about my escapades in art making, cooking and whatever else comes up.

For now, I wanted to share the new line of necklaces I am working on.  I decided to use my drawings as inspirations, so I made a intricate purple necklace and a greenish, turquoise paisley necklace:

After that I decided to try and make large necklaces that were either parts of my drawings or mini versions of them.  Here is how they turned out:

 black and white checkered background with swirls and yellow daisies 

colorful circles/mini mandalas 

funky hanging balls on a streaky pink background

I think I like the purple doodle necklace best, so I am going to try a few more in that style and see how they turn out.  Look for all of them in my Etsy shop this summer! 

In case you are interested in what I'm cooking these days, yesterday I made chocolate banana bread that is wonderfully delicious!