This Week's Blog Post

Golden Sheen Obsidian

I was recently asked to do a custom lanyard incorporating golden sheen obsidian. Although I have worked with other obsidians over the years, I have never used this one! So this gave me the opportunity to make a couple of other things like this bracelet.

I rotated the golden sheen with black obsidian. Golden sheen obsidian is volcanic glass that takes on this golden sheen when the lava quickly cools! Its shimmer is subtle in the light. It is incredibly difficult to pick of its color with the camera! The bracelet is available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Pretty Cards

I did my May card shopping at Bella Card Creations on Etsy. 

Mother’s Day

My niece loves zebra print so this was perfect for her!

The cards are so beautiful!

Stop by Bella Card Creations next time you need a pretty greeting card for any occasion! Like on Facebook too!

Flowers

My azalea flowers are looking marvelous!

Thank you for all your kind words that have helped reduce some of my anxiety with the upcoming eye surgery. It is in 19 days! I am getting really tired of having to wear glasses everyday! Those buggers hurt behind my ears no matter how they are adjusted!

Have a wonderful week ahead. After the desasterous tornadoes I hope everyone sees peaceful, beautiful spring weather. ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Mother of Pearl and Calcite Together!

I love this mix of beads for summer! Included are mother of pearl, white shell and calcite along with copper. 

Very sunny like! I am a sterling silver kind of girl but mix it up from time to time with copper! This set is available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Polenta Dish

This was delicious! 

We started with a layer of polenta and added sliced portabella mushrooms and feta.

Added sliced tomatoes and asparagus which had been sautéed in olive oil.

Then added green bell pepper and zucchini which was also sautéed.

We finished with another layer of polenta and feta.

Then we baked it at 350 for a brief time and it was perfection!!!

Lasik Surgery

I have been wearing glasses and contact lenses since my childhood. It really stinks because I can not see anything without either. It is bad. For years I have wanted to have lasik surgery. At first I waited thinking the costs will drop. Well, they never did! 

A couple of years ago I scheduled a consultation, but I chickened out after watching a video that prepares you for the worst. Everyone I know who has been through it had no problem. My mom had her eyes done 11 years ago and is only now needing reading glasses!

So I finally went for my consultation and have the surgery scheduled in June. I am so excited! I barely make it as a candidate because my prescription is so strong. I just make it within the parameters where the surgeon will do it! Of course the anxiety will build until this is done but I have a huge feeling that it will be one of the best things I will ever do for myself in my lifetime. I have dreamed about waking up and being able to see. This dream is going to come true. :)

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy your week ahead. ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Dolphin

Here is my latest Peruvian ceramic bead. A dolphin!

This lanyard is available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Mulch

The mulching is done for the year! 4 yards! Yes, mucho mulch. I went with a brown tone this year as my tastes are changing.

Jim helped and we actually got it all spread in 1.25 hours. When I do it by myself it basically takes me all day. Not fun!

Here is the side of my driveway which is all me! When I bought the house this was all weeds and no fence. It will have color throughout the warm season but none yet except for those forsythia at the end. As you can see, I need to buy a broom!

One of my rhododendrons is blooming!

My azalea is blooming. I do not care for this plant, but close up the flowers are neat!

My forsythia is almost all turned to green.

My redbud is blooming again!
Cardinal

This cardinal has been hanging out in my backyard. It looks like he is wearing a disguise with sunglasses and a big beard. 

He is really tiny and it is my first time seeing a baby cardinal like this! It is so cute seeing a spot of red hoping through the grass (although my yard is more like a mess of weeds since I do not like chemicals or wasting water)!

Emmett

My sweet little Emmett. His eyes opened when I was annoying him with the camera again!

This poor little guy has the worst breath of any cat I have ever come across in my life!!! I found dental water at the pet store and it actually seems to be working! It is flavorless and odorless so my feline friends do not know they are cleaning their mouths while drinking!

Thank you for stopping by! Enjoy the beautiful season! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Random blog post time!

Vintage Beads

I paired these graduated vintage plastic beads with olive green jade. I have always loved the color of jade and it shows up so beautifully with the white beads.   

I made matching earrings too to make a pretty summer set! This is available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Periwinkle

Periwinkle is a lush ground cover. My dad gave me a bunch of them from his yard last summer so this is my first spring with the plants! 

They produce a sweet purple flower and have tons of new growth showing. 

He has plenty more so I will get some more this year! 

Over time they will grow in beautifully along the foundation. Right now it looks a little sparse!

Corn and Jalapeno Pizza

This was so delicious. Jim thought about trying jalapenos on our pizza. Then I had to chime in because I love corn with my jalapeno! 

So this baby has red sauce, mozzarella, mushroom, corn and jalapeno. It may sound a little odd but it was to die for!!!

Cardinal

This handsome fellow was on my baby Eastern Redbud outside my office window one morning. The photo was taken through a dirty window and a screen. 

The tree is starting to bud. It is a gorgeous purple pink before the leaves start to show. Cleaning windows is just another task on that long list of unpleasant chores!

Jury Duty

So I had to report for jury duty on Tuesday. It was scheduled in Salem, MA. This is the famous town where witches were hung many years ago. In reality they just had their period or were a little mentally unstable! This town is not fun to drive in or out of. With my GPS I still made multiple wrong turns. Then coming out the GPS could not pick up a satellite. So not fun!!!

Then I was panicking because I was 15 minutes late after dealing with the cluster f**k of this town, then parking in a garage, then asking 2 pedestrians where the courthouse was, then jogging  a little, then entering into the incorrect court building. Finally I got there and was not penalized!!! They stress being on time or you may be turned away. That would mean being rescheduled!

Luckily I was not chosen as a juror.  The cases were unpleasant so I immediately thought guilty on both so I would not have made a good juror. I would much rather seen people in the box who can be 100% impartial. Not easy to do!!!

Thank you for stopping by! I wish you all a wonderful week ahead!  ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Rosary Beads

This was my first time making rosary beads for a boy! 

Girls are easy.  I am happy with the results though. The glass beads are cats eye accented with pewter like beads. The sterling cross on this one is perfect! This will be carried by my nephew at his First Communion.

Birthday Flowers

My 39^th birthday was a couple of weeks ago and Jim gave me a beautiful bouquet of red roses and Fuchsia pink carnations! 

These flowers lasted really long. Carnations are the Energizer Bunny of bouquets. This was taken 1 week later:

 The roses have passed on so yesterday I removed them and the carnations are still going strong!

Wine Tasting Party

I had always wanted to host a wine tasting party and finally did so! We got 4 whites and 4 reds. Yup, Jim and I already got into the 7 Deadly Zins before company arrived! Hence the wine stopper on 1 bottle!

Jim made these perfect pamphlets.

The graphic on the back was for tasting instructions! The was a non pretentious event!

I put wine glass charms on the glasses. Jim had the idea of gifting the glass along with its charm as the party favor! We scored the wine glasses from the dollar store. 

These were surprisingly good quality and actually made in the USA. The dollar store is full of surprises!

I got this prop for photo ops. It is a super huge brandy glass. Jim figured out the right food coloring combination to create the look of red wine from water. 

I actually came across a massive wine glass at a store and passed on it thinking I would never be able to use it again after the party. I wish I got it though! This style of glass has more decorating potential later.

My friends who are totally talented bakers brought this masterpiece of chocolate covered fruit including apples, bananas, strawberries and pineapple. What a hit this was! 

They used sticks and that foam stuff from a florist shop to show off the fruit!

Here is Jim and I. I was totally feeling the wine if you can’t tell from the photo.  Hence the over smiling.

Thank you for stopping by!!! Have a wonderful spring week ahead! I really need to start addressing my yard! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Custom Lanyard
One of my customers requested a tiger eye lanyard with gold accents! I love it! 

I may consider adding this to my inventory along with some other more expensive gemstones.

Boston
So this is not my planned post for the week. In light of the tragedy that occurred on Monday, I wanted to do a little dedication to Boston as I have lived in Massachusetts my entire life and always within a 30 minute drive from this great city.  

Yesterday was surreal. Driving to work I was listening to the news and how Boston and surrounding towns were in lock down. Residents were being told to keep their doors locked. Public transportation was not running. I felt a huge sense of relief last night when they took the second suspect into custody!

It is not easy just going on with life as normal between this and the results of the horrific blast in Texas. Life right now feels uncomfortable to say the least.

To lighten things up I will share some of my favorite photos of Beantown in recent years. Those of you who have been following my blog for a while may remember some of these.

This is Jim's favorite painting at a cool restaurant (The Beehive) in the South End where we had a great jazz brunch.

I just love this thick heavy chain!

Fanuel Hall is a neat place for shopping, eating, drinking, enjoying street performers or simply people watching!

Paul Revere! He was the dude that shouted "the British are coming" while riding through on his horse. (although those were not his exact words that night)

Who does not love street art that makes you smile!

Here is the Old State House which is now a museum.

Here is the new State House (in the background) by the Boston Public Garden.

Brownstones!

The John Hancock Tower. My dad worked in this building when I was really young.

Great architecture and accents.

Old cobblestone streets. The Union Oyster House (in the background) is a landmark.

Ok. I do not care at all about sports, but Go Sox!

Why do we call it Beantown? 
Back in the colonial days, baked beans cooked in molasses was a favorite. There was some sort of overage of molasses so I guess the ladies got creative in the kitchen! That is what Boston Baked Beans are although they are no longer popular. 

Why do we call it The Hub? 
Author Oliver Wendell Holmes described the Old State House as a "hub of the Solar System" in a 1858 novel. The nickname was shortened years later. I guess the city was a little cocky during its growth!

Here is my favorite Boston anthem. It is titled "Dirty Water" by The Standells. The drummer cracks me up. I want whatever he is on!!! This song was written jockingly in 1966 when there was tons of pollution in the Boston Harbor and the Charles River.

Here is another one of my favorite Boston anthems. This is from the celtic rock band the Dropkick Murphys singing "Tessie". This Boston Red Sox anthem is a take on the 1902 Broadway musical The Silver Slipper.

I hope you enjoyed my tribute to a great town!!! If you have never been here, it is definitely worth the trip. It is a perfect walking city and easy to navigate!

Thank you for stopping by and have a great, peaceful week!!! ~Val