Conversation Pieces

This is a new line I have started with conversation pieces meant to initiate a fun chat for its wearer.

This phrase below is popular in our house after watching The Leftovers which had a great cover of the song!

Another phrase we love since people are not quite sure how to react to it! The line made famous by Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener.

One of my personal favorites is Under Construction. It has multiple meanings. Sometimes we are simply restructuring ourselves through education, a life change, etc. For others it always applies! Most small business owners can totally relate.

 At times we need to remind ourselves that this too shall pass.

So there are a lot more ideas being thrown around.

These necklaces hang as 18 inch on a stainless steel chain but can be adjusted to shorter or longer lengths. They come in kraft box ready for gift giving in my Etsy Shop. 

I hope you enjoy seeing some of my new items! They certainly are fun to make. ~Val

A Necklace and A Hair Update!

A Fun Necklace for Myself
There are so many goodies in my stash that are not the easiest to work with! 

So I decided to make myself something with some of these odds and ends.

I do miss the days of doing jewelry parties since unique funky things sell well in person. Online, not so much which I completely understand. Most prefer to try on conversation pieces before buying.

Anyway I love of the lava stone with the huge crazy horse stone coins and Botswana agate chips!

How does it look on? Here it is:

It's neat how the beads twist and turn sitting however they would like. I need treat myself more often since it is fun to make a unique piece to wear.

Hair Update
I had my second short cut since rebelling against hair coloring.

This cut is shorter on top so I an wear it down or I can go wild with it! Next week I should be able to have even more fun with it since it was cut a little short initially so I wouldn't feel the need to get a hair cut again in 3 weeks.

It is getting lighter with less processed hair left! The hair is blending in well. I was worried about walking around 2 toned but it does not feel that way.

Thank you for stopping by! ~Val

A Curly Shell Necklace and Feature

Curly Shell Necklace

Everlasting curly shell is fun to work with, although awkward. It's one of those beads you look at and think "what the heck am I going to do with these?" 

I paired these with one of my go to stones, chrysanthemum stone, which picks upon on its brown tones. The calcite beads pick up on the yellows of the shell beautifully! This pretty is available at Miss Val's Creations.

A Feature
I was pleasantly surprised to be featured on hopper.com. Well not me, but a blog post from almost 2 years ago! Hooper.com is a travel site for ideas.

My post was shown under the city Manchester, New Hampshire where the Currier Museum of Art is. The above photo leads the post. 

Other photos of mine were included.

So it was a fun trip down memory lane!

This museum has a little of everything including Monet! They allow photography which is rare in a museum.

This page brought me to a lot of other fun area things to do that I have not done yet! I guess you can spend a lifetime in 1 region and never experience it all. 

Although hopper.com is Boston based, their blog covers many parts of the United States as well as international locales.  

A Bunny

I saw my first yard bunny! 

Here it is next to my car wheel so you can see how little he (or she) is. Adorable!!!

The mommy has no fear. I walked by her being only 2 feet away and she was not scared at all. So cute!

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have a fantastic week ahead! ~Val

The Kitchen Imp and a Lava Stone Necklace

Lava Stone Necklace
Time for more lava stone! 

I love the texture. Some beads have holes that go all the way through! They are paired with black onyx.

This necklace is available at Etsy.

The Kitchen Imp
I bought Jim some spices and tea! The Kitchen Imp on Etsy is a place for tasty spices, salts and teas!

The Dukkah can be used in various ways. It is made up of almonds, sesame seeds, coriander and cumin. It could be mixed with yogurt to create a veggie dip. It could be mixed with olive oil for a bread dip. It can also be mixed up to create a salad dressing. It can even be used as a bread substitute on chicken.

The Harissa is a Moroccan spice that includes aleppo pepper, ginger, paprika, cumin, caraway and cayenne. Sure to get the creative juices flowing in the kitchen! We have already added some to a veggie soup and it was fantastic. A little bit of this spice goes a long way!

The Chai Tea is made up of Assam tea, Ceylon tea, black tea, organic cardamom, organic black pepper, organic cloves and organic crystallized ginger.

The Genmaicha green tea includes organic green tea and organic toasted rice. Doesn't this look amazing? It tastes just like the real deal you get in a Japanese restaurant! I guess their secret ingredient is the rice.

Genmaicha Tea

In this shop you can also find sweet curry. As a curry fan, this sounds delicious!

Sweet Curry

Teas can also be purchased loose.

Pitta Tea

This is intriguing....chile sugar! It comes with a recipe for hot-sweet brownies. I bet this is a feast for the taste buds!

Chile Sugar

How about a Moroccan rub for meats or fish? You all know I don't eat meat but used to flavor veggies sounds delicious.

Moroccan Rub

So if you are a tea lover or enjoy cooking (or both) stop by The Kitchen Imp! 

Creative cooking ideas can also be found on The Kitchen Imp's Facebook page. I think these new spice (well, new to us) will inspire our dishes!

As always, thank you for stopping by. I hope your 2014 is starting out great! ~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

Freeform Wire Earrings
I had some time to play around with wire! I love the look of freeform designs. These findings were made with 18 gauge sterling silver filled wire and hammered flat. Since they are for myself I used inexpensive steel ear wires!

Eventually I will get around to making findings like this for the shop!!! The various loops are great. The findings look pretty solo but all sorts of beads could be dangled to make unique earrings or pendants!

More Etsy Stuff!
My 10 year old niece is into One Direction! More fun things to shop for on Etsy! If you do not know what One Direction is, they are like the new New Kids On The Block or the new Nsync.

Niall Horan is her favorite One Direction band member.  This bracelet is from iccgiftco. It came with 2 different bands so she can change out the look with outfits!  You can find all sorts of fun bracelets here.

This Mrs. Horan 1D necklace is from Tag Soup. This is a great shop for personalized hand stamped jewelry pieces.

This unique nightlight is from Cheryls Creative Block. Each side has a different photo of One Direction! This shop also carries a variety of other fun nightlights for any obsession.

This personalized water bottle is from On Your Mind Designs.  This shop has cool tumblers, water bottles and more!

I also made her a necklace using zebra print beads. I could have sworn I took a photo of it but can't find it!!!

It is time to say Happy New Year! I hope you all have a brilliant, prosperous, happy 2013. ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Turquoise and Red Coral Necklace
It has been a while since I paired turquoise with red coral. It is a combination I have always loved!

The pairing always looks great with a white shirt in the summer. Yes it is December and cold out but I still think of beautiful weather! Shoppers still need to find pretty accessories to wear when they fly to a warm climate for vacation. Available at Miss Val's Creations.
 
Cheetah Print Stuff From Etsy
My youngest niece is a 6 year old fashionista who loves anything with cheetah print! I knew Etsy was where to go for my shopping! I hope she will love all her new cheetah goodies.

These super fun leg warmers are from Snugglebugkidz. Check out the ruffles on the bottom! This shop is full of delightful children’s accessories!

This hairclip is from 4SistersCreations. This is a great shop for adorable hair decorations!

This infinity scarf is from OAKscarves.  It is children’s size! This shop also has infinity scarves for toddlers! So sweet. The infinity scarves are also available for the stylish adult man or woman.

This totally endearing  tutu is from emeliasmom. This shop also has some really fun baby t-shirts and other neat accessories.

I saved my favorite for last….this pageboy hat with the pink flower. Talk about ridiculously cute!!! This is from molzeeblossoms. This is another shop with really cool accessories!

I hope all of you celebrating Christmas have a wonderful holiday surrounded by loved ones! Merry Christmas! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Striped Agate Necklace
This huge teardrop is striped agate. It is black with blueish grey stripes. The strand is made up of onyx and manmade hemalyke.

So simple and beautiful! Available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Stuffed Butternut Squash

Jim and I made stuffed butternut squash. We baked 2 pre-cut and de-skinned butternut squash halves at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

At the same time we cooked the following diced vegetables in the oven:

• 1 zucchini
• 1 summer squash
• 3 parsnips (but agreed would have been better with turnips or carrots)
• 1 package of pre-sliced mushrooms

We seasoned these veggies with curry, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. The veggies were done before the squash so we left that in a little longer.

We cooked 1 cup of quinoa and seasoned it with orange zest, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, salt, pepper, spring onions and maple syrup to taste.

Once everything was cooked we put the quinoa in the squash cavities.

Then poured the veggies over it. I also had some leftover breadcrumbs in the freezer which we put on top (amazingly delicious addition). Then put it back in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes so it is all hot and ready to eat! 

Not only is this delicious and filling, it is also vegan and gluten free so anyone can enjoy it! This was inspired by a local chef if you would like to see his video tutorial.

Around Town Part I

I live in a city called Methuen (I call it a town since it feels more town like to me). While it is not a picturesque town, it does have some amazing historical buildings which I have decided to check out. So over the next several weeks I will be showing some beautiful bits!

Starting off with Town Hall.

I remember going here when I moved to the town for my business certificate and thought “how grand is this?”

It was built in 1904 as the high school and later used as the town hall. Architecture has become so bland in recent years. New schools look nothing like this!

Thank you for stopping by! It sounds like Hurricane Sandy will be affecting my area at the beginning of the week. It has been such a devastating storm in the Carribean! 

My fear is always losing power. A couple of weeks after moving into my house 4 years ago in November we had a wicked ice storm and my neighborhood (as well as all the surrounding neighborhoods) were without power for 3 days. Not fun, especially when I was trying to settle into my new home and had to stay at my parents house for those days (not to mention worrying about pipes freezing)!!! Mother Nature really loves having her evil fun.

Last year Trick or Treating was rescheduled due to a massive snowstorm at the time. It may be rescheduled again this year! Happy Halloween everyone!~Val