Spring pleasures that kept us busy this week

Birthdays~6 year old twins!

Amber made an amazing cake, dreamt up entirely by one of the twins.
She was very specific "I want real roses, strawberry inside, cherries on top"
That is a girl knows what she wants!
Watch out Mom & Dad when wedding bells are ringing. $$$ :D

Spring break, sunny days and sidewalk art.

Budding gardener and floral designer

Life is good

P.S. We are planning another ginormous giveaway of beads just in time to make your mamma something special. Stay tuned!
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Nothing but goodness

Spring has arrived and my eating habits begin to lean towards lighter healthier dishes. Lots of cold dishes, made with beans, veggies etc. and samiches: Tofu, avocado and sprouts, peanut butter and tomato, asparagus and habanero cheese. Weird? I like to think of it as "unique" lol
Oh and one of my most fave things to eat this time of year is tuna salad made with red onion and curry ~ scoop into a halved avocado. Try it, you won't be disappointed!
Anyway I wanted to share 2 Delicious recipes great for spring and summer.
Both are easily adaptable to your likes and taste so don't be afraid to leave something out or add to it!

TEXAS CAVIAR
1 can black beans
1 can black eyed peas
1 can white corn (I replace this with garbanza beans for my tastes)
1 cup diced green peppers (I used red and orange instead)
1 cup diced red onions
1 cup diced celery

Drain all canned products and combine all above ingredients in a bowl, Set aside.

DRESSING:
1 cup vegetable oil (I replaced with mixture of olive/grape seed oil)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar (I cut this to 1/4)
1/2 tsp salt

Mix dressing separately and pour over bean mix. Refrigerate for at least a few hours, but better overnight. Drain dressing before serving.
Great as a side dish, scooped inside a pita pocket or as a "dip" served with tortillas or fritos

This second recipe was shared via tweetheart Sheilah on twitter.

You can find her tweets here ~> @ssheilah and on facebook
here ~> ssheilah
Sheilah also owns a shop on Etsy that has jewelry, cool crochet items and more. Stop in and check it out: ssheilah jewelry & accessories
I just got the chance to try this recipe out~it is awesome goodness!
Every ingredient compliments the other creating a delightful flavor experience.

CURRIED SWEET POTATO SALAD
3 large sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and dieced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup pecans (I threw a bit more in, I love pecans!)
2 tbls mango chutney, chopped
1 tbl orange juice concentrate, thawed or 1 tbl orange marmalade (I used the concentrate)
1/2 cup sour cream or substitute
1/2 cup mayo or substitute
1 1/2 tsp good quality curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Stir it all together and chill at least an hour for flavors to combine. (I mixed all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl then mixed it with the potatoes, celery and pecans)
It works best if the sweet potatoes are still warm when all the ingredients are mixed.
This is a fabulous side to grilled salmon!

Bon appetit!!

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wordless wednesday

Spring 2010 finds

What a fabulous 1st spring weekend!

Hope you all had some great adventures & delightful times.

Here the sun was shining for the first time in weeks and warmed up our little part of the world.

Spring cleaning fever kicked in hard.

Honestly, this is the only time I ever feel like cleaning & the feeling has a very short life span!

Knowing that the "cleaning spirit" would be exorcised from my body any moment, I grabbed garden tools, gloves and shovel, tossed them into the wheel barrel and headed into the back yard.

The grasses around the pond needed to be cut down & separated. If you have the tall grasses you know they can double in size yearly & quickly overwhelm any area. You also know how dang hard the roots system is and therefore impossible to dig out with a spade!

Got a great tip from neighbor: use a reciprocating saw. No joke. Like slicing a piece of cake.

Found this little beauty hidden amongst the grasses

After the pond, grasses and deck were tackled I needed a break.
Tall glass of ice cold green tea and a sit a minute.

Surprise visit from a tit mouse (yes that is the name of this bird-dunno why) who I felt for sure would not be able to manage flight with the peanuts. ..Wrong!

and this squirrel who also could not resist the peanuts.
Looks like he is in springtime euphoria

Tea time over, out to the front yard for some sprucing of the yard.

Trim and tame prickly pear cactus~yikes love them but hate them!
Great tip here: use tongs ~ Saves a whole lotta "ouch son of a beeswax!"

found this shroom fungis thing. dunno what it is. But it was right in the middle of my cactus bed.

Found this too. I know what it is. Do you?
Take a shot-leave a comment on what you think it is.
If you've read this far, well you are in luck! First correct answer
left in comments gets a free strand of gemmies! Our choice.
No joke :)

There is a hilarious story with pics to back it up as to how I found out what these are. Saving that for another post! *giggles*

And this little lady bug was on a cat that scared the poop out of the
fed ex guy. Shook him so bad he lost footing on our front steps.
Saw it go down and just about peeped. Too bad I couldn't capture that moment. Would have gone viral! lol

The cat which no one seems to like but me has been banned to the
back yard since the "fed ex" incident.

At weekends end, spring cleaning fever totally expelled from my sore & tired body,
I headed to the back yard to put away the tools.

Thrilled to see the little bud I found had awoke with such beauty

Happy Spring!

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I need more fingers..............

Why? For RINGS of coarse! I love rings, and can never have too many. Until I run out of space on my fingers. Sooooo I just need more fingers! Check out this fabulous artist on Etsy for beautifully textured Sterling Silver rings. But rings is not all you'll find at Capital City Crafts--bracelets, necklaces, and earrings in
fabulous color combos ranging from bold & bright to soft and sensual. Barbara really has an eye for color! Here are a few of my faves, as if I could really pick.

Antique Hammered Sterling Ring

Turquoise and Dyed Coral Bracelet

Moonlit Pool Earrings

Lapis Sterling Silver Swirl Ring

Rainbow Tourmaline Necklace

Be sure to take a minute to visit Capital City Crafts and drool over Barbara's gorgeous creations!

wordless wednesday

Adroit Jewelers

Adroit Jewelers is a fellow JET team member(Jewelry on Etsy). Her unique non-pierced hoops and hand picked sea glass from the beaches of Maine set her apart from the many artisans on Etsy. Take a peek at some of my favorites from Ida's shop!

Shapely Genuine Purple Seaglass pendant

Tourmaline and gold slip on hoops - non-pierced

The Deep Blue Sea Necklace - Genuine Seaglass

Freshwater Pearl slip on hoops - non-pierced

Each of the gorgeous pieces above can be found by clicking on the picture title, or visiting her shop by clicking HERE. You can also find her on Facebook and stay up to date on her new listings!

The Shamrock hunt is on!

In case you haven't heard, The Gemalicious Girls have some special deals for you in our Etsy shop happening right now.

#1 FREE worldwide shipping on ALL purchases.
#2 FREE strand of pretty Pearls with any purchase of $50 or more.
#3 AND last but not least...25% OFF select gems. Add #1 and that's a deal that is hard to beat. Yea, that's how we roll. lol

Let the Hunt begin!!

There are 10 items in our shop that have this shamrock as last picture in listing, you find one and you receive 25% OFF that item!

We will be adding more shamrock listings now through St. Patty's Day.

So check back ~ the stone you've been drooling over may have a shamrock!

Here are some hints to get you pointed in the right direction:
hammered
dark
mystic
pink
honey
multi

Happy hunting,
Teri & Amber

wordless wednesday

Yobo and The Jewelry :ninja!

A bit about Yobo:
the :ninja is an all self-taught jewelry designer, and has been making jewelry for more than 12 years. she does beadwork, wirework, and the occasional metalwork, though her favorite is the wire.

A Tisket, A Tasket

sterling silver pixie ring

Chalcedony Cluster

the :ninja is slightly obsessed with foreign countries. she especially likes Korea. she finds the language to be beautiful, and she really would love to learn to speak it. yoboseiyo is how one answers the telephone in Korean, and the nickname yobo is a term of endearment.

Teklah's PendantPrice

Ogham Swirls

Clusters of Heather

yobo herself is a strange little girl who likes to be silly and make people laugh. she got the nickname over on the forums on Etsy, where she has the reputation for being a complete and utter nutball.

*personal note here...although I haven't had the pleasure to run into yobo in the forums, on twitter this is true! follow yobo for giggles and sweet tweets!

Miss Margaret Has New Earrings