This Week's Blog Post

Onyx With Gold 

Black onyx eyeglass chains and lanyards have always been a staple in my shop. However I have only made these using silver accents!

So I whipped up a gold eyeglass chain and will be doing the same with a lanyard. Onyx is such an affordable classic for every woman’s wardrobe! Available at Miss Val's Creations.

She’s So Creative

4 of my girlfriends celebrate May birthdays. This year I did my card shopping through She’s SoCreative on Etsy!

This one has salad dressing on the outside and reads “It’s Your Birthday! Just Vegetate.” Inside.

This one reads “Edna’s therapist tries a new approach to curing her fear of sharks.” on the outside and reads “Forget all our worries and have a happy birthday” on the inside.

This one reads “The Origin of Turkey Bacon” on the outside and “And that’s why they don’t have happy hour on farms anymore.” on the inside.

This one reads “The Dog Walk” on the outside and reads “Woof, woof! Happy birthday” on the inside.

Besides birthday cards, this shop has a great selection of other cards for various occasions. She also offers art prints, notepads, napkins, aprons and more! Stop by She’s So Creative for some fun shopping! I love her play on words!!! See her interpretation of pasta bowl or french chicks.  Like her on Facebook.

Brunch Fun

The May birthday girls came over for brunch. One of them and her daughter brought me a beautiful, vibrant bouquet!

A week later, the flowers still look fabulous. I decided to give the big orange one its own vase which Emmett thought was really cool.

I was craving one of my favorite things which I had to make….a corn salsa dip!  Simply combine the following in a bowl:

• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 avocados, chopped
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained
• 8 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, if desired
• 1/2 cup Italian dressing (I actually only use 1/4 cup of light)

It is ridiculously delicious as is or with tortilla chips. Luckily this has no effect on my gluten free diet!!!!

Rhododendron

I have a huge rhododendron that has amazing blooms. Here is the evolution of this bloom!

New Hairstyle

Every 6 months or so I feel a need to change my hair style (in the side bar). This is the latest. I actually had a different cut for the last 5 weeks which I did not care for. This is a modification of the last style combined with my former style.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a great weekend and week!!!  ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Eyeglass Chains

Eyeglass chains have been selling like crazy this past week! Every night I have been making 2 or 3 of them to keep from falling too far behind. These were posted last night to Miss Val's Creations.

 Journals

For my nieces and nephew for Easter I got these gorgeous handmade journals from Blue Toad on Etsy. These feature original artwork on canvas and they are hand-bound such a beautiful way!

I made bookmarks to compliment each one.

I am partial towards the Bucket List journals!

These pocket sized journals are great to carry around in your handbag!

The artwork on this Nested Thoughts journal is so stunning!

Stop by Blue Toad on Etsy or their sister site Tremundo for a full selection of these journals. They made a perfect gift!

Easter Cards
These super cute cards are from Being A Creative Mom on Etsy. Each egg opens to show 3 adorable chicks!

Beside super cute cards like these she also create banners.

And adorable hair accessories!

And coffee cup cozies! Stop by Being a Creative Mom's Etsy shop for a variety of great items. 

Pinterest Pin

This was my favorite re-pin this week on Pinterest. So adorable!

Giveaway

Janice of Bikbik and Roro is having a giveaway of 100 free postcards from PrintRunner. A great way to promote your business! Stop by her blog to find out how to enter!

Fort For Mr. Emmett

Jim made Emmett a fort! He was loving it!!!! I think he thought no one could see him.

Of course when I took that picture, Miss Alice the glamour girl that she is, wanted me to snap a shot of her as well. Got to love the scary eyes the flash produces. My camera probably has a pet eye feature but I do not feel like reading the manual.

Have a great week everyone! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Copper Stamped Pendants
So I played with my metal stamping kit! Here are my first attempts!

These are for my nieces and nephew for Valentine’s Day. I used a heavy duty 20 ounce hammer per a video recommendation watched on metal stamping. What a loud activity this is!!!

Valentine’s Day Cards
Speaking of Valentine’s Day here are my latest Etsy card purchases for the kiddos!

The illustrator is Joy of Sugar Beet Press. I love the whimsy in her work. It just makes you smile! The alien is my favorite!

This butterfly is so cute!!!

How about this big dinosaur holding a little tiny gift! So fun!

This card is great to give to someone with a devilish side!

The Bearded Lady is quite unexpected! It would certainly get some laughs!

Joy also has a sweet selection of baby announcements!

Visit Joy’s website, Etsy shop and blog!

Fruit and Vegetable Curry
Jim and I made a delicious curry. If you like to excite your taste buds, this will do it! We started with 2 chopped potatoes in 1 can of chopped tomatoes, 2 cups of veggie broth and some water.

We added 1.5 teaspoons of ground coriander and ground cumin. We played with the flavor and heat adding cayenne pepper. When the potatoes were almost cooked we added a frozen bag of each chopped squash, peas and cauliflower.

The dish started to dry up a little and we dumped in some red Cote du Rhone that Jim picked up at the store and we did not care for. This way it did not go to waste. Once the veggies were all ready, we added a fresh chopped mango and a chopped apple (with the skin). Before serving we mixed in cashews and jasmine rice.

It was super tasty and prep was really easy using the frozen veggies. So many things can be substituted in this and no recipe is needed! It can be made hot and spicy or mild depending on taste buds. If you attempt something like this I would suggest onions too! Maybe raisins! We strayed far from the original recipe I had which included carrots, fresh ginger root and creamed coconut.

Silly Pet Photos
I am sure these guys are gentle giants but I feel a little nervous for this baby!

This photo is from the Ellen website. If you are a cat person or a dog person you will love these since it is about half and half!!!

Since I am a cat person I am throwing this one it too! The hairy ears are a riot!

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