My biggest sale ever! 50% OFF!

For those of you that don't follow me on facebook, I'm having a 50% off sale!  The coupon code will be good until midnight Friday, December 5th.  Enjoy!!

Why does it always seems like I'm most creative when I'm busy filling orders!  Why is that?  In the midst of filling orders today, some music was playing on Pandora and these gorgeous earrings flew into my head.  So I stopped what I was doing and made them...before they flew out again.  I named these "Soar" and they will be listed for sale on Etsy this weekend...along with a few other new things...stay tuned

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I'm always thankful and grateful for "YOU" ~ Thank you!

love and peace always ~ Kathy

"there is always something to be thankful for" ~ unknown

Drawing, swimming and wasting time [sorta]!

This was my calendar page for today!  So appropriate!  Although, it always seems like I take one step forward and two steps back!  My poor jewelry desk is just sitting there, unhappy and feeling unloved.  It seems as though my creative vibe has taken a hike and I don't know how long it will be gone [this time].  I did start drawing in my journal again, so that's a good thing!  I also started swimming at the local health club.  They have a wonderful indoor heated salt-water therapeutic pool and it is so nice!  My goal is to be able to swim for a 1/2 mile, continuous laps by the end of December ~ wish me luck!  I had forgotten how much I love to swim!  

I channeled this swimmer last night, while I was drawing.  I don't know who she is, but she insisted on that floral swim cap!  My sister thinks she looks like Angelina Jolie, but I don't think Angelina has ever swam....much less, worn a swim cap!

And then there was this awesome idea on facebook yesterday [yet another distraction from my jewelry] ~ you just cut your pumpkin[s] in half, remove most of the seeds [unless you are using your jack-o-lantern, like I did], poke some sticks through the sides, tie on some twine, fill it up with birdseed and wait for the action to begin!  Such a great idea and the birds LOVE it!

I've also started back on my digital paintings...especially since I'm doing a tutorial presentation on it in January!  Gotta keep my skills fresh in my mind [which is hard for me these days].  So, with that being said, I'm off to paint a picture!  

Happy Thursday!

love and peace always ~ Kathy

"time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time" ~ John Lennon

Frogs, shelves and sticky chicken...

Hey!!!  So yesterday I attended a free class on "frogs" at the "Cradle of Forestry".  It was very interesting and I learned about the various frog species in our area and their habitats. I also "won" a frog sounds CD.  You can listen to the "Gray's Tree Frog" here ~ one of my favorite Summer sounds.  

  Maybe the saying should be "a frog in hand is better than two in the bog" ~ I need to get better at drawing frogs.

 So this week's theme for the "2013 Project 52" Flickr group was "on the shelf".  I decided to showcase my little shelves of collectibles over my sink.  Click on the link and you can read all about each item and where it came from.  My little shelves of love!

Everyone is wanting the "Sticky Chicken" recipe, so here goes:
Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless/skinless chicken thighs, trimmed well [I don't like chicken fat at all, so I cut off just about all of the fat.  If you don't mind the fat, feel free to leave some of it on]
Cavender's  All Purpose Greek Seasoning
Bragg Liquid Aminos
Garlic Power

 1 Red Bell Pepper, 1 Yellow Bell Pepper and 1 Green Bell Pepper [diced]

1 Medium/large Purple Onion [diced]

Olive Oil [this olive oil is really really good]

2 cups Chicken Broth [maybe more, see below]
2 tablespoons All purpose Flour

 *Note* ~ the beer is not an ingredient for the recipe, just part of my Friday Night cooking school regimen :)
Directions:
In a bowl, combine trimmed chicken thighs with Cavender's, Garlic Power & Bragg Liquid Amino.  Coat well - use your judgement as to how much to use.  I use a pretty good amount of Cavender's [probably about 2 teaspoons] and slightly less Garlic Powder [about 1 teaspoon] and just enough Bragg's to get it nice and coated and have the spices stick good.  Set aside:

 Heat Olive Oil [about a tablespoon...enough to coat bottom of pan good] in a fairly large skillet for a couple of minutes and then toss in the peppers and onion to saute'

Cook the veggies until tender [really, as long as you like.  I like my veggies to start getting a little browned and caramelized, which can be achieved by covering while cooking, but leaving a small opening for ventilation]...stir often to keep from sticking.  After the veggies are done to your liking, wisk together 2 cups of chicken broth and 2 tablespoons of flour and pour over veggies

stir until heated well and gravy starts to thicken, then toss in the chicken

cook until chicken is done [about 15/20 minutes], stirring occasionally.  If your gravy seems to thick, you can always add a little more chicken broth to thin it.  That's it!  I cooked up a big mess of Kale to go with it

  and seved it over steamed rice.  

 So yummy!  And, it's even better the next day!  If you cook it up, let me know how much you love it ~ enjoy!!! 

love and peace always ~ Kathy

"I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly.  Tuna fish casserole is at least as real as corporate stock." ~ Barbara Harrison

Good Day Sunshine...

Happy Monday!!!  And Yay!!  A big congratulations goes out to Jennifer Allen!  She won those gorgeous earrings from my last post.  Congrats, Jennifer!!!  I know you will enjoy them.  And, if you were dead set on winning, but didn't get picked, you can purchase your very own pair right here.  For a limited time, I'm offering "free shipping" on them, just for you.  Thanks for being so awesome!

We had such a great time last night at the Porter Center at Brevard College.  The beautiful and multi-talented Ms. Shannon Whitworth had a benefit concert for the new animal shelter Transylvania County is trying to raise money for.  So far, just since August, they have raised over $200,000!!!  Hooray for the animals, the people and the new shelter!  Looks like groundbreaking will begin soon ~ hopefully before the Summer!!

And so...for your listening pleasure, Ms. Shannon Whitworth and Barrett Smith ~ enjoy!

Happy Monday!!

love & peace always ~ Kathy

"Cherish all your happy moments -- they make a fine cushion for old age." ~ Booth Tarkington

Imagine...some "free" spring earrings

Happy Sunday!!  Gosh, I sure have been enjoying my journaling.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy "going" where my drawings take me, which is usually to never, never land.  Actually, this little caterpillar/butterfly transformation drawings is similar to one I saw yesterday on facebook, but I tried to make it my own ~ I love it!  It speaks volumes!  But, as Wayne said this morning, my journaling is not going to make me any money in my Etsy shop, so I made these today:

and, most appropriately, I named them "Spring Flowers".  I have a ton [literally] of those pretty little vintage Lucite and Rhinestone flower buttons.  I love how they turned out!  So much so, that I'm giving a pair away!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, or on my facebook page.  That's it!  Lita will be picking the winner Wednesday, since this is her birthday week.  She will be seven years old tomorrow and she's still as mean as ever to Ozzy...always pulling him around by his ears!!  

  It's been a crazy day around here!  It was actually snowing earlier, but now the sun is out and the sky is gorgeous!  Flowers are popping up all over the place in my yard:

 I hope you had a great weekend!  Good luck in the drawing!

love & peace always ~ Kathy

"Each moment of the year has its own beauty, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Made my heart sing...

  I was so excited when I went to check on the "frog eggs"...seems as though they are not frog eggs after all.  Looks like they are tiny salamanders!!  I think I squealed when I saw this cute little fellow still tucked inside the comfort of his jelly egg:

I'm heading back there today to check on their progress.  At least now I know why it has been taking so long.  Here I was all worried about the fate of the tiny frogs, since their gestation period is only about 21 days and I had not seen any of the eggs with tiny tadpoles inside.  Come to find out, the gestation period for salamanders can be between 40 and 50 days, so "yay" ~ I might actually be able to witness a live birth!  I can be a salamander life coach!  Wouldn't that be a hoot!

On my way home from checking on the eggs, I stopped at a cemetery that I've been wanting to checkout.  It's a beautiful old cemetery, with some rather interesting headstones and history:

And don't you know, right on the ground [apparently had fallen from the tree] was this beautiful little nest:

the bottom of it has a big hole in it, so it was most likely robbed by a black snake and then knocked out of the tree.  Now it's resting on my bookshelf.

 The sky is starting to clear!!  Looks like it's going to be a great day to see some little baby salamanders!  Life is good!!

love & peace always ~ Kathy

"I'm Nobody!  Who are you?

Are you -- Nobody --Too?

Then there's a pair of us!

Don't tell!  they'd advertise -- you know!

How dreary -- to be -- Somebody!

How public -- like a Frog --

To tell one's name -- the livelong June --

To an admiring Bog!" ~ Emily Dickinson

All About Art!

While I was searching for my paint brushes yesterday, I came across my box of colored pencils and my old journal that I haven't written or drawn in since 10.03.06.  What a fantastic find!!  I was just about sure I had given those pencils to Broc when we moved to North Carolina from Baton Rouge.  So, this was my entry and drawing for today, using my favorite words with "L" - "Live, Love, Laugh".  Of course, after I took a photo of it, I had to tweak it some in PhotoShop [of course].

I just had to share this crazy photo with ya'll.  I took this last night, when Greg was pouring me a Blue Moon from the tap...then, I funkied it up with Topaz Software in PhotoShop ~ it's epic!  We had some great beers and burgers at "The Square Root" restaurant and then headed over to celebrate Annie's 59th birthday!  It was a great evening!

Happy Saturday, ya'll!!  Life is good!

xoxo & peace always ~ Kathy

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." ~ Thomas Merton