A Contest?

I was trying to come up with a few ways to increase my fan base on my Facebook page. I was thinking of a contest....for every person who brings someone to my page and they "Like" my page that counts as a point. The person with the most points after a certain date would win. Even people that just came to the page and have just "Liked" it can begin to participate as well. I would like to set a goal of 500 "Likes". I was thinking the prize would be a free pair of earrings.

What do you think?

Yikes! Tarantula Crossing

Wow! Time flies! We have been so busy - work, making jewelry, and we took a short trip to visit my husband's mother in Florida. Perfect time of year for us to go - we are starting to get cold here and there we were able to wear shorts and sandals again!

One morning I glanced out the window and saw something walking across the backyard. I yelled at my husband to grab his camera....it was a baby tarantula. It was about 3" in diameter. It lives in our backyard under some rocks. We had fun taking pics of it!

Bellissimo!

Beautiful Sun Sugar and Sun Gold tomatoes out of our garden made this wonderful dish. I also added some fragrant Basil from the garden as well. Serve this over small sliced toasted baguette with a "schmear" of cream cheese or better yet, Goat cheese! The original recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens and calls for mint instead of basil.

SLOW BAKED TOMATOES WITH GARLIC AND BASIL

1-1/2 lb cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
7 cloves garlic, peeled, split lengthwise
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 to 2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wash and drain tomatoes. Pat dry.

In 2 quart baking dish place tomatoes in single layer. Pour EVOO so they are coated and there is a thin layer of oil on bottom of dish. Toss in garlic, salt and pepper.

Bake, uncovered, for 45 to 60 minutes or until skins split and soften but tomatoes retain their shape.

Serve, hot, warm or at room temp. Spoon or mash over slices of toasted bread and serve with goat cheese.

Notes: After they cooled I added the fresh basil and I also chopped the garlic small. DELISH!

I Need a Name!

This is a new necklace that I will be posting next week....I need to come up with a name. It is a combo of Honey Jade, Pineapple Quartz and Leopardskin Jasper. I was thinking about "Wild Honey". What do you think? Give me some ideas....I would love it!

I've found a new place to sell my jewelry...it's called Yardsellr. I've been making a few more sales than on Etsy. Check me out: http://yardsellr.com/yardsale/Sharon-Duffey-27644

Domestic Goddess

Today was Domestic Goddess day for me. I spent most of the day in the kitchen. I could tell the cold nights were starting to take my basil plants so I decided to pick as much as I could and make another batch of Basil Pesto to freeze. That was easy - I then moved on to Tuna Salad for lunch with just a hint of curry - we love it that way. After that I decided to make Molasses Ginger cookies (see picture to the right). YUM-O. They turn out perfect ever time. After that I started on our dinner of a grilled Pork Tenderloin with a Curried Mango Chutney sauce, Broccoli Salad and Corn on the Cob - from Taylor, AZ! They are known for their corn in these parts! Some of the sweetest corn you will ever have!

I'm whooped! Back to work tomorrow. We have a busy month ahead though. Three weekends this month we will be having company. It's all good though - they are people we love to be around!

She Wore Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet

This one is for me! I made this to wear to work. It's made up of royal blue glass pearls along with Swarovski crystals. Being a flight attendant....we all look the same once we put on our uniform. So I like to wear sparkly earrings and bracelets. They may not always be inflight approved but I feel as though they are tasteful. I do get lots of fun comments from passengers on my jewelry.

Homemade Basil Pesto!

I made my own Basil Pesto today. The basil was out of our garden. It is soooo good. I'm thinking I might take what is left over after I make dinner and mix it with some cream cheese and serve it with crackers! It is absolutely wonderful....I won't be buying pesto anymore. I found the recipe on line.

The recipe comes from Pickyourown.org

2 cups basil, packed
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts (I used walnuts)
3 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil

Put everything except for the EVOO in your food processor. Pulse until it forms a paste. Begin to add the EVOO. I added a little salt and pepper at the end. DELISH!

Which banner do you prefer?

I've been trying to decide on the current banner that is in my Etsy shop - it's green and purple with a pair of earrings - the newest one is turquoise with a necklace on it. Which do you prefer?

Tasty Treat

We get these cute little Abert Squirrels up here. In the winter time their ears have big tufts of hair on them. They almost look half rabbit and half squirrel. My husband likes to take alot of pics so he was outside and saw this guy find a tasty mushroom treat. He followed him around until he could snap a pic of him. I love this picture!

Oh Mandy.....

Meet Mandy the Mannequin!

I have been wanting to get a mannequin for quite some time. However, they are sooooo expensive. I finally found one on Craig's List that didn't cost an arm and a leg! Ha! Ha! Get it? She has no arms or legs!

Anyway, she really enhances the look of my jewelry. I have been retaking alot of my pictures, especially the ones that are getting ready to expire and I will have to relist on Etsy. The really sad part is that she looks much better in my clothes than I do!

Feel free to take a look at some of my new pictures and give me your honest feedback!

Bats In Our Belfry

Every summer we find a couple of bats in the same place on our house. They like to get into this little crevice where it is dark and hang out all day. We first discovered them last summer when my husband was outside with the blower. He turned it off and we heard this chattering noise. We went and looked and discovered two bats. We encouraged them to leave and tried to put a piece of foam up into the crevice to keep them from coming back. Worked for a while but it kept falling out. A few days ago I saw that they were back - so Honey went and got a bigger piece of foam but first we had to encourage them to leave again. He gently nudged them out with a long stick (we would never hurt them). They fly down to the ground - I guess to gather their wits - before they fly off to find another daytime hang out. But Honey was able to grab a quick photo while the bat was still sleepy. I wouldn't go near them! I was in the house!

Hi Ho Hi Ho......

It's back to work I go.

Well, I guess vacation is over. Back to work. I have enjoyed this vacation mostly because I was able to sit down and finally get some bead work done. It's so relaxing....I find myself looking up at the clock and hours have gone by. It's a great way for me to just forget about everything.

This piece, Midnight Rendezvous, is one that I am really excited about. This is pretty different from anything I have ever done. I think someone really special can wear this one. It's very BOLD!

Garden or Jungle?

This is a pic of our garden this summer. This is the biggest it has ever been. I know it's hard to tell but it is about a 6x8 raised garden. The tomatoes and squash took over. There are other things under there but I don't know if they will make it or not - they don't get much sun light anymore since the other two plants took over.

Bountiful Garden

Well last night we were able to enjoy a wonderful dinner of Stuffed Squash. The squash came right out of our own garden. We have had the garden for three summers now and it never really took off. This year, however, it is a jungle. I'll have to post a picture later.

Anyway, we really enjoyed the meal right from our own garden and I got to take the picture with my new camera to boot!

New Camera!

Hello everyone! My honey surprised me the other day and bought me a new camera to take pics of my jewelry. I'm always borrowing his! Now I have my very own. And it's hot pink to boot!

We are finally getting some sunshine today. It has been raining everyday for the last week. So much so that we noticed the back garden had a fungus growing in it. Yuck!

Anyway I snapped this pic today of my beautiful Mardi Gras Parade Daylily. We have had this plant for three years now and it looks more beautiful every summer!

Seraphina Necklace

This my latest addition to Etsy! I love the colors - pink and purple!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52029801/seraphina-necklace

New Blogger!

Is that a word?...blogger? I am a work in progress...please bear with me while I learn something new!

Welcome to Sharon's Bead Creations! I am new to blogging and it may take me a little while to get into the swing of things.

I want to introduce to you my page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharons-Bead-Creations/98181298153?v=info&ref=ts#!/pages/Sharons-Bead-Creations/98181298153?ref=ts

Just cut and paste into your browser and become a fan today! I also have a small shop set up on Etsy at http://www.beadcreations.etsy.com

Stop by and browse! Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from you.

A little bit more about myself: I live in NE Arizona with my husband. We both fly for a local airline! Guess who! I love to cook, garden and most of all bead! I wish I had more time for everything....but it seems like work takes up alot or our time.