Get your BoHo Bliss on

Deryn is teaching an online jewelry class that is sure to be a ton of fun and a true learning experience.
Click the picture above to check out the info to sign up.

Facebookin',shoes and sharks

Facebook been berry berry good to me. (Old SNL joke).

I have reconnected with some old friends and family members of the foster kind.
Also some old classmates. One of my classmates from my time at Oak Hill Academy boarding school and I are doing a seed swap. She actually owns a tree farm and we got to talking about my greenhouse and heirloom seeds.
Today, this came for me and it is just the bestest package of seed I have ever recieved.
Look at all those little envelopes filled with future deliciousness. There are fruit tree sedds, nut tree seeds, herbs and vegetables. And some flowers. She also sent a bag of black walnuts to eat, and some of her favorite recipes to use them in.
And a sweet card with a pup and a kitty on it. Thank you so much Elaine. I'm so happy to have gotten in touch.

Went to the big city Tuesday and bought these on clearance. I'm rockin' now baby.
Danckins, hey for 11 bucks I'll teeter around like I've been drinkin' till I get used to them, heck I teeter around for a lot less than that deal.










Okay now ya gotta hand it to this guy, He lost his arm, probably to a shark. Now did he just mope around feeling like "oh I lost my arm, I'm gonna hide my hideous stump?" Nooooo
He totally OWNS that shark !

Erma Sez......

"These earrings look so juicy, I could just pop them in my mouth".

A few months ago I was flipping through a beading magazine and saw an ad for these lucite beads that just popped off the page. The color was so rich and vibrant.

I immediately thought "I wonder if I can get them in a rainbow pack".
And golly gee if they did not have them packed just like that.
Orange, blue,deep pink, light pink,green,yellow and white.
Bad thing was they have a minimum order or they throw an extra charge on there, and their shipping was high. But I had to have them so I ordered. They are gorgeous.
Good thing is, I have been seeing other lucites that are pretty juicy too.
They are fat beads, but being lucite, they are light. Even when paired with all brass findings as these are.

Erma is sporting "Orange ya glad to see me"? in the first photo. And in the second she models, "Lollipop Hearts".

One World One Heart Blog Event

CLOSED. Heidi # 142 from Digital Misfit is the winner of the door prize.




It's that time of year again peeps, time to wing our way around the blogosphere. Stop in and look around. Introduce yourself and say something about each others blog. A worldwide event to bring us bloggers a bit closer and to share a piece of each others hearts.

Lisa over at A Whimsical Bohemian has generously hosted this event each year and this will be the fifth and final year. So please try to visit as many blogs as you can, and please visit HERE to read the rules about this event and a link to all the fabulous blogs all ready to be visited.

Here is a bit about what we are doing :

"One World One Heart is a worldwide event for bloggers only. It gives all those who blog a chance to meet and mingle and form connections with those they may not have otherwise met from all over the world. In the past 4 years this event has grown to over 1,000 participants with lasting friendships (and even one love connection) formed along the way. Think of it as a GIGANTIC open house allowing you to travel without ever leaving your home........going from blog to blog(in various countries) seeing the wonder each one has created and meeting all the fabulous people behind those blogs. As a bonus each blogger participant will offer up a "door prize or prizes"....just for dropping by, saying hello and seeing their world. It's really that easy."- Lisa

Last year there were hundreds of blogs signed up you could visit and I got to a few hundred but could not make it to every one, this year I have a personal challenge to try again.

Sooo please look around my humble blog, I took a bit of a break from posting for awhile, but I am back.
My blog generally deals with our life out here in the woods. We have 4 Jack Russells, and there is my husband Larry and me, Diane.
We live in a house the two of us built and we try to live as richly and frugally as possible.
I am an artist and I also design and create jewelry. I love to cook, although I am a low carber mostly now. We also have a garden every year and I grow in my greenhouse also.

For my fellow bloggers I am sharing a chance to win this necklace, "Have a Little Heart"... thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment about my blog to be entered for a chance to be picked by random number generator. Please be sincere in your comment, and please do not cut and paste the same "hello, I like your blog, bye" comment on each blog.
We be VISITIN' don'tcha know.
Oh, and if your contact info is not active on your profile, leave it in your comment....let the winging around commence...

Teddy Tucker has settled in

Teddy has a name we didn't even know about. Last summer when we got him, the vet handed me a little envelope with his tags in it. I didn't look at them until a few weeks ago when I thought I should put his shot dates on the calender.
Inside I found an ID tag with "Teddy Tucker" engraved on it. hahaha Little Teddy Tucker is what we call him now.
He has settled in very nicely.


I've been working on some items for the shop and finished this today.
I love old watch parts.
This has small pearls, tourmaline rondelles and metallic seed beads.

Metal Head

Been working in the studio. I love to work with metal even though I don't have the "right" tools.
I cut copper pipe and pound it flat. I use leftover romex (copper electrical wire) from when we wired the house.
But as one of my internet idols said, it can be a good thing to be challenged like that.
I sure would like one of those dapping blocks though....

Made these today, I'm thinking something along these lines for One World One Heart blog event starting the end of this month.

Turquoise scarabs, garnet chunks and green agate.

I have this friend.....

She is such an inspiration to me. She is a survivor.

When I made this piece, she fell in love with it. Then I added the necklace parts. So she wears it now, around her neck. I am honored. 'Early' has a special meaning here. It is very important to be early sometimes. I love you, my suzyQ sista.

I gave up "low fat" and lost 38 pounds.

I gave up trying to lose weight with low fat and calorie counting. I found it kept me way too focused on food. And being focused on food was one of my problems in the first place.

You know how much I loved to cook. And I still do. But I needed to lose some weight (still need to lose more) but I am pleased to be unfocused on cookbooks and tons of recipe sites.
Yes I have cookbooks for sale...if you want to learn more, email me.

I am low carbing and loving it. I read about insulin resistance, and it fits me to a T.
So sleepy after eating, craving carbs, scale goes up and down, a real chunky monkey around my tummy, butt and thighs.

Most common signs that may mean you are insulin resistant:

These depend on poorly understood variations in individual biology and so are not found in all with insulin resistance.

1. Fatigue.
2. Brain fogginess and inability to focus.
3. High blood sugar.
4. Intestinal bloating – most intestinal gas is produced from carbohydrates in the diet, mostly those that humans cannot digest and absorb.
5. Sleepiness, especially after meals.
6. Weight gain, fat storage, difficulty losing weight – for most people, excess weight is from high fat storage; the fat in IR is generally stored in and around abdominal organs in both males and females. It is currently suspected that hormone production in that fat are a precipitating cause of insulin resistance.
7. Increased blood triglyceride levels.
8. Increased blood pressure. Many people with hypertension are either diabetic or pre-diabetic and have elevated insulin levels due to insulin resistance. One of insulin's effects is to control arterial wall tension throughout the body.
9. Depression. Due to the deranged metabolism resulting from insulin resistance, psychological effects, including depression, are not uncommon.
10. Acanthosis nigricans.
11. Increased hunger.

(info list taken from Wikipedia)

So after doing a bunch of research I decided to cut the carbs. I never ate a LOT of sugar per say, but the thing is even brown rice is pretty carby. Also most breads that you buy from the store and even if you bake your own, the flour you use can be carb laden.
So I have been learning to cook in a bit of a different way and to just eat what I know I can eat.
Basically I cut rice, potatoes, wheat and corn flour, oats, any type of sugar ie: honey, syrup, molasses.
And some veggies, like corn, limas, peas, onions.
I limit some of these foods to just once in awhile while others I do not eat at all.
But I eat. I love the food I eat. And I have lost 38 pounds since July while not counting calories or measuring anything.
Here was my dinner tonight.

PIZZA!!!
This I made on one of these:

Each one of these tortillas has 12 grams of fiber and just 5 net carbs. I eat 2 a day. In the morning I eat one with a scrambled egg, mushrooms, spinach sausage or bacon and some cheddar cheese. Along with a protein smoothie.

Then maybe one for lunch with turkey or ham, chipotle mayo, lettuce, banana pepper rings and cheese. Or one for dinner with pizza toppings. That right there is 24 grams of fiber, just in the tortillas. I have not really upped my exercise that much. I get on the treadmill a couple times a week, play with the dogs, stack wood, do stuff around the house. I have some little Dickie Simmons Sweatin' dvd's that I do once in awhile.
Oh, and one of the perks is, Larry has lost 10 pounds.

One World One Heart coming soon !

Lisa, over at A Whimsical Bohemian is once again for the 5th year, (sigh* for the LAST time) the ONE WORLD ONE HEART Event.

I participated last year, along with over 1,000 other bloggers worldwide and had a blast. I met the most wonderful fellow bloggers and quite a few are followers of my blog now. And I theirs.

Follow the link above, to find out more about this wonderful blog hop party. There are a few rules, but not many and I promise you will have a blast if you join up. Come visit beautiful, creative bloggers. Get to know them through their blog. Visit a little piece of their world. See what they are up to. And there will be door prizes!

So if you are a blogger, come get in on the action. The whole shebang starts on January 30th and ends on February 17th. There will be places to visit all over the world. And tons of eye and heart candy.