Unakite Earrings

This pair of earrings is another inspiration from our trip to James Madison's Montpelier. The lady at the ticket gate had on a pair of Unakite earrings, and when we went to the Visitor's Center I noticed they had a very impressive collection of Unakite earrings. So... when I went to the bead store this past weekend I purchased two stands of the gemstone, and here are the earrings I made; not fancy just plain and simple dangles.

Unakite is olive green and coral color, and can is found throughout the Blue Ridge in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia as well as South Africa, Brazil, and China.

Unakite Earrings Click to enlarge

Introducing... Dolley

These earrings were inspired by a pair of blue glass earrings owned by Dolley Madison. Mine have 6mm Sapphire Swarovski cube crystals, with 4mm Sapphire Swarovski bicone crystals and Sterling Silver beads.

"Dolley" Earrings

Click picture to enlarge

James Madison's Montpelier

Thursday, the kids and I went on a field trip to James Madison's Montpelier in Orange, Virginia. It was a cold and rainy day, but we had fun and learned much.

Before our guided tour started we had a chance to take in the exhibit of personal items of the Madison family, they have Dolley's engagement ring and a pair of earrings (you know I was all eyes for those!). We had an opportunity to tour the house, and learn its history, then headed outside to learn about the slaves and indentured servants that were at Montpelier. Next came our ecological exploration in the James Madison National Landmark Forest.

They have an archaeology dig in progress on the grounds.

I thought this was interesting - the wholes in the leaves are due to a recent hail storm.


This looked like a huge growth on the tree - but just where the tree is "healing" itself.

This big old tree will not be standing for much longer.

Our tour guide

After our tour was over, we walked quickly through the gardens because the rain was really starting to come down. All I needed was a nice comfy chair, a good book and oh yeah - no rain!

Turquoise and Amber Lanyard

Here is a lanyard that I finished last night for one of Eric's co-workers, it features these incredible glass focal beads with turquoise, brown and amber swirls along with 8mm amber round faceted glass beads and seed beads. You have to see it to really get the WOW!

Click picture to enlarge

A Second Look

Here is a second look at a the green tear drop bracelet I made, CAB left a comment and wanted to see the bracelet on my wrist. With the help of my dear hubby, here it is.

Its funny because I haven't worn this one very much, and was thinking of restringing it to add more of a contrast to the drop beads. I do like that the drops can flip from one side to the other, it gives the bracelet character.

Thank you CAB for visiting and posting a comment, you are always say the nicest things!

Footprints in the Sand

Ana left a comment asking me about my craft project from years ago, it was a counted cross stitch called Footprints in the Sand. I purchased the instruction leaflet from Wal-Mart many, many years ago for $1.78 (it still has the green price tag) but I'm sure any craft store would have it.

If you know how to cross stitch you would not even need a pattern, because the majority of the piece are the words to the poem, with shells in three places. In my piece I didn't include the water, it was too busy for me or I was too lazy to actually do them - not sure which. Also, I picked a fabric that looks like sand. Here is a picture of the leaflet, I found one for Psalms 23 in my cross stitch bag that I've never used, well to be honest it was several that I've never used!



I searched the web for the words to the poem and found out that there are three versions. The first one is the one used in my project. Thanks Ana for your kind words, be sure to take pictures and let me see yours if you make it! Come back and visit often!

Footprints

One night a man had a dream.

He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from His life.

For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand.

One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him,

he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it.

LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way.

But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life

there is only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you!

During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints,

it was then that I carried you.

-Carolyn Carty, 1963

Footprints Also Known As "I Had a Dream"

One night I dreamed a dream.

I was walking along the beach with my Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

one belonging to me and one to my Lord.

When the last scene of my life shot before me

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

There was only one set of footprints.

I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life.

This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.

"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You,

You would walk and talk with me all the way.

But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life

there is only one set of footprints.

I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you,

never, ever, during your trials and testings.

When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

-Margaret Fishback Powers, 1964

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,

when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,

I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord,that if I followed you, you would walk with me always.

But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life

there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,

my child, is when I carried you.”

-Mary Stevenson, 1936

Turquioise Bracelet

This bracelet has been on my beading board for several weeks, just waiting for me to put on the clap, and I finally got around to it Friday. Don't you just love turquoise and red!

Turquoise chips beads accented with Sworowski Siam round faceted crystals, and Bali spacers.

click to enlarge

Gemstone Information:
Turquoise is a soft, porous stone. Its blue-green color varies depending on the amounts of copper, iron, and chromium present - the more copper, the bluer the color and the more valuable the stone. Most pieces have black or brown veining.

Historically, Persia (now Iran) was the primary source for turquoise. Today, the southwestern United States is the leading source of turquoise. Sleeping Beauty and Kingman varieties (named after their respective Arizona mines) are among the most valuable. The gemstone is also mined in China, Peru, Mexico, Tibet, Siberia, Africa, Australia, and Europe.

Source: Bead Style Magazine, Spring 2008

Amethyst Earrings

When I go to the bead store I don't touch ALL the beads, just the majority of them! When I saw and touched the Amethyst quartz beads I knew that I had to buy them. They turned out great, and added the right touch in Carla's watch band. Since I had some left over, I thought I would make myself a pair of earrings.


Here they are Amethyst quartz with a Swarovski Light Amethyst crystal. This is how the earring looks on the leverbacks...




And on my favorite silver hoops that I wear everyday. I've worn them for the last three days on the hoops, and had not a stitch of purple on, but I felt fabulous!

One happy beader!

More Lanyards...

I had a request for two black lanyards earlier this week. Yeah! This one has gemstone chips, the Miyuki bugle beads and seed beads.

Click to enlarge

The second one has Black Onyx beads, Miyuki bugle beads and seed beads. They both were a big hit! Thank you ladies!!

Click to enlarge

Interchangeable Watch

My friend Carla commissioned me to make two watches, I suggested having them be interchangeable so that she can use the same watch face and just change the bands. She loved the idea, her colors were purple/black and pearl/black, this is what I came up with...

This is oval faceted Amethyst Quartz with Swarovski 5mm round faceted Light Amethyst Swarovski crystals, Swarovski 5mm Jet spacer crystals, Turkish sterling silver beads with a lobster claw clasp at each end.

Because the band is strung on the stretchy cord, you don't have to unhook the clasp to put on the watch, you can just slid it on your wrist. This idea came to me yesterday - you can also wear the band as a bracelet by attaching the clasps to a metal connector. Talk about versatile!

Here is how it looks with the watch face. Gorgeous!



This is the second band that I made for Carla, it features Swarovski 6mm round faceted Jet crystals sandwiched between Swarovski pearls, Czech faceted glass beads, sterling silver spacers, Jet seed beads and a lobster claw clasp at each end.


Here is how this double stand band looks with the watch face. Carla said this is what she pictured in her minds eye! Very regal.


Carla e-mailed me one morning and said, "I've come up with your next jewelry line... watches!" I have the BEST of friends, it makes my heart swell knowing that my friends are just as excited about my beading as I am.

Good Cooking!

A few weeks ago my friend Michelle invited us to dinner, Michelle reminds me of my dear friend Tracey over at In Word Adoring, who can serve you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it will taste like a fancy gourmet meal! They both have the knack to make you feel right at home and give you a terrific meal. Friends are a real treasure.

Michelle made this wonderful sauce for the spaghetti that was so good, I don't think I will be buying jar sauce again. I made the sauce last night, and it was a hit, Michelle was kind enough to share the recipe, try it - you will love it! It really is the perfect sauce. The second recipe is the appetizer she served, even Eric, my "I don't eat cheese" man enjoyed it.

The Perfect Tomato Sauce
From The Pampered Chef - Food, Family and Friends Cookbook, 1995

1 medium onion, chopped
5 -6 garlic cloves, mashed
2 – 3 teaspoons olive oil

1 can (28 oz.) Diced Italian tomatoes, with juice
1 can (28oz.) Crushed Italian tomatoes

1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste*

1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano

Salt to taste

Finely chop onion and mash garlic cloves. Combine onion, garlic and olive oil in saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, 6 to 8 minutes or until onions are translucent.

Add both cans of tomatoes, stirring to mix all together. Add tomato paste. (* Michelle uses a whisk to get the paste to mix in with the rest of the sauce, and usually does not use the entire 6 oz. – about half is all you really need to thicken the sauce – you can freeze the other half.)

Add basil and oregano. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cook 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with salt to taste. Serve with pasta.

This make a larger about of sauce so you can freeze half for later.


Mr. Walsh's Favorite Appetizer Dip

The appetizer recipe was easy - it's just 3 ingredients:

Jimmy Dean sausage (in the round plastic, I used regular, but they do have spicy)

8 oz. cream cheese

1 jar salsa (I used Tostidos mild chunky salsa)

Brown the sausage. When it is fully cooked, add the cream cheese and stir until it's all melted. Add the salsa and stir to mix. Serve warm with Tostidos Gold chips - they are sturdy enough to hold the dip.

Michelle's served grilled chicken breast, with the spaghetti and sauce. Last night I had broiled chicken breast with mine. You have got to try these! Thanks again Michelle!

Move Over Mrs. Smith!

I can not tell you the last time I baked a apple pie (or any other kind for that matter), I should be ashamed because apple pie is my hubby's favorite, but he will eat store bought pie just fine. Well tonight I made my man a pie! Okay, pick yourself up off the floor, you read correctly, I made Eric a pie!

My mother-in-law gave us a bag of apples from a friend's apple tree, plus two pies she made; one of which is already gone, so I thought I would try my hand at baking. Here is my pie before I put the top crust on - no I didn't make the dough. Baby steps, remember!




And here is the final results! She might not be the prettiest but I know she will not be thrown away. So, move over Mrs. Smith, there is a new pie maker in town! Maybe tomorrow I will make apple sauce, I have lots of apples left.

Back to School

This was our first week back to school, and it has gone surprisingly well. I like to start off on an abbreviated schedule and then work our way up to a full schedule. So, this week our focus was on math, English, spelling, writing, and science, most days we were finished before 11 am.

It never amazes me that I can have everything all planned out, and still need to make a copy of this, or oops I need to print this out or something is missing! Even with all my goofs we still had a good week. Their student notebooks are all ready, I still need to search the basement for two empty binders for their Science notebooks, but will have that all squared away before our next Science lesson.

On Friday the kids needed to type their compositions and boy did that start out very hectic; for some reason Microsoft Word didn't want to load on the computer downstairs, not a problem, switch to Plan B - have them type up their work on the laptops, but I wanted them to save the document to a CD, only that would not work! Finally, I just had them save the document to the hard drive, then they can copy to a thumb drive so they will be able to print out the masterpiece. Sometime those really simple things take up way more time than they should! Am I the only one this happens to? I hope not.

AWANA started this week, the kids were all excited, Gene will now be in the Trek group which meets on Wednesday evening, and Nicole continues in T & T which meets on Friday evening. I almost forgot about taking Nicole on Friday, after dinner I was ready to lounge on the couch like a lazy cat and then suddenly remembered I needed to take the girl to her AWANA meeting!

Next week for school, the focus will be on our Tapestry of Grace Year 2 studies, so I'm off to complete our schedule.

Amber Necklace and Earrings

Is this beautiful or what! My friend Ms. Magdalene saw my amber lanyard and told me that she would like for me to make her a necklace and earring set in the amber to go with her new outfit. I think they turned out great, she loves both! Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge, it is so pretty. Thank you Ms. Magdalene for allowing me to make this for you!!!

New Jewelry

I have been busy over the last two weeks making jewelry, take a look and let me know what you think...

The picture does not do this bracelet justice. This is a multi colored fresh water pearl bracelet with 2mm clear crystals between each pearl to give it a little sparkle. I plan to make the necklace and earrings to match. Click the picture to enlarge so you can get a better look!

This bracelet features Swarovski pearls and fuchsia round faceted crystals.

The earrings to go with the bracelet above, I didn't want to use the fuchsia crystals so that I can wear the earrings with more things. I really like pearls because you can dress them up or down, and they always make you feel pretty!

This is a multi colored lanyard, I think this one is my favorite (this week!) I'm thinking of making a necklace to match, this is so cute.

The next two lanyards have a Native American feel, turquoise has been one of my favorites for years, and it really pops in this piece.



This one is more muted with turquoise and the amber and bronze beads.

My "All Things Red" lanyard, I even included red focal beads on this one. This lanyard will help brighten even the most hectic of days!

Someone at Eric's job saw the green lanyard I made with the pineapple clasp and wanted one just like it! This one is not exactly like the other one, but made with the same beads and of course the same pineapple clasp.

One happy beader!

Planning, Planning, Planning

I have been busy, busy, busy putting the final touches on our resources for the new school year. The UPS man should be coming to my house several times over the next couple of weeks. Of course I use the public library as much as possible and yesterday we had two canvas bags full of books - some are for school, some are just for pleasure. Here is what will be using:

Math:
Teaching Textbooks 7
Teaching Textbooks 5

English/Grammar:
Easy Grammar Plus and Daily GRAMS
Bob Jones English 5

Spelling:
Spelling Power

Science:
Christian Kids Explore Biology (will tweak for Gene)

History, Literature, Arts & Activities, Worldview, Geography:
Tapestry of Grace, Year 2: Between Ancient and Modern

Writing:
Institute for Excellence in Writing

Also:

Latina Christiana

Bible Study Guide for all Ages

Gene and Nicole will participate in a Public Speaking class this year, for their first class the instructor has asked them to prepare something to recite. Gene selected Psalms 23 and Nicole Psalms 100 each already know the verses, but spent some time this morning practicing, tomorrow I will dust off the video recorder and record them as they practice (this should be fun!).