Odd Etsy Items of the Week

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I definitely did. I'm back to work today, but most of the free world decided to take the day off, so needless to say it has been pretty slow. I've been doing some surfin' to kill the time, and I noticed Etsy has a new feature. Shop Local. It's pretty fun to see all the talent coming out of just your state or city. Be sure to try it out. Who knows, you may even find a local Odd Etsy Item of the Week, like me! Please, allow me to introduce Tara Robertson Pottery. She's got some really great pieces, including these little pigs.


Intriguing, no? Is it just me, or do these guys have an expression on their face that says something like "Ah Munna Eat Choo!"

Handmade with Love

Since I work at BYU, I receive a copy of "YNews" regularly to my inbox. Most days I skim over the articles and throw it away. But the last issue I got had something that stood out to me. This article talks about how the Harold B. Lee Library had scanned 575 diaries from their special collections and have posted them to the Internet. The part that stood out to me was this picture of Hyrum Smith's diary.

The caption under this picture read, "Lucy Mack Smith hand-decorated this diary for her missionary son, Hyrum." I actually got a little emotional when I read that (which, for any of you who do not know me, is not normal). I felt a connection to this woman. This diary said so much to me about the kind of mother and woman she was. She took something mundane and made it beautiful. She added this beauty to remind her son of her love and support. She was just like missionary moms today, who make things like scrapbooks and packages for their sons and daughters. I tend to think of handmade items from long-ago as being made out of necessity, and though that was part of it, there was more to it. They were made out of love, just as all handmade gifts are. I finished my handmade Christmas cards* today. Sorry they will be a little late, but remember, they were made with love, just for you, from me. Merry Christmas!

* For any of you who's address I may not have (this means you, MarySue!) please send me an email with your address, so you can get a little handmade love! angelajewell (at) gmail (dot) com

Up and Down

I watched "North and South" last night. It's a BBC miniseries, and I had seen the first episode with my mom and sister about six months ago, but had to leave while they watched the other three episodes. I borrowed it from my friend a few days ago, and finally had some time to sit down and watch it. All four hours of it. No wonder I don't have my cards sent out or my neighbor gifts made! It was so good! I highly recommend it. While I was watching it the girl I borrowed it from stopped by with her husband to drop off their neighbor gift (everyone else is on the ball but me!). When I told her what I was watching she said her husband refers to it as "Up and Down". Silly boys. Brian actually watched quite a bit of it with me, and I'm pretty sure he liked it.

C is for Cookie

I really like this recipe/idea from Elise. These might make good neighbor gifts. Yes, it's true. I haven't made neighbor gifts yet. I'm seriously behind this year. I haven't even sent out my Christmas cards yet! It'll happen, you just might get it a little after Christmas. I thought I'd help extend the celebration and festivities for you this year.

Merry Christmas to You!

Don't worry, I set up my decorations and took these pictures over a week ago (probably more like two weeks ago). I'm just now getting around to posting about it. The tree is real, I made the banner last year, and thank you, mom, for the cute little village.

An Experiment Gone Terribly Right

In my "About Me" at the bottom of the page, I mention that I like to make food, but I don't think I've ever posted about food yet! Silly me. Fortunately, I have a patient husband who lets me experiment and orders pizza when an experiment turns out not-so-good. On Saturday I had an experiment that turned out oh-so-right, so I thought I'd share. For some reason, I had never tried cooking pork before. All the other delicious parts of the pig, (ham, bacon, sausage) yes, but not pork, so I decided to give it a try. I bought a couple pieces of pork tenderloin (which always makes me think of this commercial, "You can't tell us what to do, Lord Chicken Breast!") and had a go. It turned out so tasty that it was all eaten before I could take any pictures. You'll just have to make it yourself to see what it looks like.



Apple Glazed Pork Loin



Ingredients:

2 Tbsp oil

1 apple, peeled and cut into bite-sized dice (I used a Macintosh)

1 sweet onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 pieces pork loin

salt and pepper to taste



Combine oil, apple, onion, garlic, and nutmeg in frying pan over medium heat. Saute until apple pieces are soft enough to mash with spoon. Salt and pepper both sides of of the meat and move the saute to the sides of the pan. Place pork in pan so meat has direct contact with the pan, covering top side of meat with the saute. Cook about 10 minutes on that side, then move the saute to the side of the pan again, and turn the meat over, putting the saute back on top. Cook another 10 minutes, or until meat is cooked all the way through. Both sides should have nice carmelization. I suppose you could, but we didn't eat the saute, it was just to flavor the meat, and boy did it! Very tasty and a nice change from the usual. Let me know if you try it!

Odd Etsy Item of the Week

Can't quite figure out what to get that person who has everything? Well, I'm willing to wager that person doesn't have a set of plushie Golden Girls Dolls

Or maybe your special someone is more of a reality show fan? Then there is always a plushie Dog the Bounty Hunter

Not into reality shows either, huh? More of an action fan? Well nothing says action like Mr. T!

Not into the Mr. T bling? You can't go wrong with a little Walker Texas Ranger! And as an added bonus, a little Chuck Norris Plushie is the perfect gift for any Huckabee fan.

This weeks Etsy oddities brought to you by Kezzaroo.

TasteSpotting

So, maybe this site isn't new to any of you, but Joy posted about TasteSpotting on her site, and I'm surfing away! Mouthwatering pictures of delicious sounding food from all over the globe. If you know me, you know why this particular one jumped out to me.

I've never made a souffle, but I might be tempted to try it when it's made in a grapefruit rind! Who knew such things could be accomplished? And this pumpkin gnocchi sounds fun too!

I've made gnocchi several times (it's not as hard as you might think!), but I've never thought to add to the dough like that. Oh, the possibilities! And since it's right about brunch time, this Quiche is sounding particularly tasty.

Welcome to December

Well, it finally happened. We got our first real snow storm Friday night and all day Saturday. I don't deny that the snow is pretty, but only through the window from inside my heated home. However, I might be persuaded to venture out into the wet stuff if I had a pair of these


Pretty cute, huh? I saw them while looking through the Sunday ad's. They're a screaming deal for only $18 big ones. Do you think I could get away with wearing them to work?

Etsy Oddity of the Week

Okay, this one isn't so much odd, as awesome! These are images of screen printed shirts created by Ikyoto. But you have to read the descriptions to fully appreciate the awesomeness. Apparently all the images are from a vintage Japanese science textbook, depicting various scientific phenomena.

Iron Oxidation

Ph Equation

Water Evaporation

Cool, eh?

Tag, Anyone?

I've been tagged! So here goes...

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1- I saw Andrea Bocelli perform a free live concert under the stars in the main piazza in Sienna, Italy. Yeah, that was pretty cool. On that same trip I lived in an apartment in Florence for a month, where I ate gelato about once a day, became friends with Kat (we're basically related), pretended I was Fraulein Maria in the hills of Switzerland, experienced modern ballet at the Paris Opera House, sang along to Moma Mia on the West End, and came to know the awesomeness that is H&M. Gotta love study abroad's!

2- I wrote a thesis. As far as I am aware, this is not typical for an undergrad, but Art History majors at BYU write a thesis to get their BA. Mine compared the work of Hugo Van Der Goes and Michellangelo da Caravaggio, suggesting that Van Der Goes influenced Caravaggio, specifically focusing on these two paintings.

Van Der Goes, The Lamentation of Christ

Caravaggio's Entombment

3- I currently work at BYU in the purchasing department (oh, it's as boring as it sounds); however, I am not a BYU employee. I am actually a church employee. Translation: I don't get tuition benefits. Lame! But the good news is, I can use the locker room. I just have yet to do it.

4- I have a weird, slightly OCD tendency when I am eating. I have to chew an even amount on both sides of my mouth. For example, I was just eating some delicious nerds, so I poured a handful out on my desk, and selected two at a time that were the same color and of similar size, and chewed one on either side of my mouth simultaneously. There was an odd number of nerds in the handful, so I put one back.

5- I have never had my ears pierced. Initially this was because I was not allowed to have them pierced until I moved out/went to college. By the time I was old enough to do it, I didn't care anymore, so I just never did it. My three older sisters all had theirs pierced as soon as they moved out, and my dad joked that they were out of the will. Maybe, someday, we'll find out he wasn't joking...

6- If not for the miracles of modern orthodontia, I would have some seriously heinous teeth. I first started going to the Orthodontist when I was 5 years old, because I had an under bite (translation: my top teeth were behind my bottom teeth when I bit down). In the interim years I have had 5 or 6 different retainers (I lost count). The best was the one I had in fourth grade: the year they first told me I could customize. It was hot pink, glow in the dark, and had a picture of a kitty on it. Seriously stylin'. I've also had 4 oral surgeries. One was to attach a gold chain between my braces and an adult I-tooth that was coming in at an angle. The other three were all related to my implant. That's right, folks, I have a fake tooth. Fortunately, though, through it all, I was never subjected to head gear.

Well, there you go, pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about me and then some. That was tough! And now I'm going to subject Abby, Austin, Emily, Katherine, Katrina, and Nancy to it!

Great Quote

I really liked the quote on Marta's blog today, and wanted to share.

Fall Leaves and Family Trees

Last week we got a note on our door saying the HOA was coming to paint our door on Thursday, and someone needed to be home between 10:00am and 4:00pm to unlock the door so they could take it off the hinges and paint it. Kind of a ridiculous span of hours, but, hey, I get my door painted. So I would have to stay home from work. Shucks. But I would have to plan on staying home all day, so I did a little shopping Wednesday night at JoAnn's and Michael's, and bought supplies for projects to keep me busy. First I worked on a fall leaf garland to go in the front room. I cut the leaves from different colors of felt. Then I used metallic gold thread to sew "veins". Then I sewed them to brown rickrack. (The spool said it was 6ft long, but it was definitely only 5' 6", so that's why it looks a little short for the space). Then I tied the bows, attached the bells, and hung it all up with push-pins.

The picture below is of the tower I created to act as a tripod so I could get a halfway decent picture of the garland. It was all for you, Nancy, since I know you expect great things from me now, and I wouldn't want to disappoint!

After I was done with that I started working on my wire family tree. I got the branches formed and bound. I still haven't gotten pictures yet, so this project is sitting in unfinished limbo until then.

By the end of the day the door painters never came. Brian called, and apparently they had some trouble getting the paint (whatever that means), so they're coming this week sometime. Pretty ridiculous, huh? He told them they'd have to work around us this time, since they didn't feel the need to tell us before I took a paid day off work. But, hey, at least I was productive on my day off.

Odd Etsy Item of the Week

Dear Austin-


I know you do not usually elect to wear dresses, particularly those made primarily of animal print, but I was thinking, perhaps, for this little number, you would make a noted exception.


This bit of Etsy Oddity magic brought to you by HotPinkPistol.

Gobble, Gobble

Well, it's November, and that means my three Halloween decorations came down, and my one Thanksgiving decoration went up.

I got this guy on my trip to Gardner Village with my Mom and my sister. But it seemed a little sad to only have one Thanksgiving decoration so I decided to make a wall hanging (which included a late night run to Roberts, where I ran into Karla!). I wanted a font that was tall and skinny, with serifs and high-situated cross-bars on the "H" and "A". I couldn't find one to fit that description, so the letters are free hand. I drew the pumpkin from one of my glitter pumpkins (those are still up, I guess they count as a Thanksgiving decoration too!), and the acorns were purely from my imagination. I like the way it turned out, but it feels a little insubstantial just hanging on the wall. I think I might frame it or something. Any suggestions? It still seems a little sparce in the front room, so I'm thinking I'll make one of these felt leaf garlands. I'll keep you posted.

*Sorry for the less than stellar photography. The light is best during the day when I'm at work...

More Eye Candy

Okay, I know I just posted like two minutes ago, but I had to share this...

Because they are my favorite flower. Have a good weekend!

found via beachbungalow8

Oooooh, Aaahhh!

I found this lovely porcelain wear via Design*Sponge and had to share:

Aren't they pretty? It's a company called Mud Australia, and they are of course, located in Australia, but it looks like they sell their products all over the world. They come in a variety of colors. It says they sell them in a place called Cielo Home in Paradise Valley. Any of you AZ people heard of it? I might have to check it out when I'm down for Thanksgiving.

Odd Etsy Item of the Week

This week odd Etsy items come to us from Kniffin Pottery. These lovely tiles are also available in maroon and hunter green.

Jaker's Jack-O-Lanters

Happy Halloween. Here's a pic of the family's pumpkins. And don't ask me how I got the picture to look like we're actually sending out the bat signal. Sometimes things just work out the way they're supposed to.

Can you guess which one is Brian's?

Blueprint Discount

Just in case any of you were thinking about subscribing to Blueprint Magazine, Hostest with the Mostest is having a promotion where you can subscribe for just $10.00 a year. Not too shabby...
Check it out here.

Window Shopping

Abby was talking about liking things because she felt like she should, and she got me thinking. Sometimes I like things that I would never own, not because of they're necessarily out of my price range, but because they just aren't something I would own. Does that make sense? Anyway, here's a list of some things I like. Some of them I do own, some of them I would own, some of them I would not own, and some of them are not really things anyone would "own".

These measuring cups, because they're clever.
This mirror, even though I do not have a vanity.
This and That to go in my red kitchen.
This shirt, because you know you've all thought it.
This chandelier, because who wouldn't want to spend $90,000 on a light fixture?
This Mecca of deliciousness, because they're opening one in the U.T. tomorrow!
This album, because it's what's playing non-stop on my ipod/computer/car stereo, and if you're unfamiliar with him, this is a good one too.
These glasses, because painted tumblers always remind me of my grandpa's house.
This desk calendar, because it's lovely.
The guitarist in this band, because he's got mad skills.

I Have a Family Tree..

So I was surfin' (Well, yes, I am at work, but that is completely irrelevant!) trying to find a how-to on reupholstering furniture (the "why?" is another post) and I found this website. Cheesy name, but I can look past that. In my perusing I came across this project.

What a great idea! I had actually been contemplating doing something like this, but with a drawn or painted tree, instead of wire. Of course this appeals to me because, clearly, I like to work with wire. I think this could look really cool in a shadow box. The only thing I would change is to include the names of the individuals. I actually made something similar to this in high school (yes, I was a crafty nerd in high school, really, I was always a crafty nerd!). I don't still have it (unless it somehow made it's way to Mom and Dad's Lindon house), but it was a terra cotta pot that I painted. I filled the pot with floral foam, then covered that with moss. I then used some heavy gauge, but pliable, silver wire and bent them into tall curly-ques and stuck them in the floral foam to use as a picture holder. It was similar to this...but the wire wasn't wrapped around a pet rock.

So, Madre, I might be coming by to get ancester pictures...

Kashmir*

Hey folks! Sorry it's been a few days since I've bloged, considering I left those semi-disturbing soaps up as my post for several days. But now I'm giving you much better pictures to look at. Tuesday was my last day of photography class. I'm a little sad it's over. I need to take community classes more often! It was a lot of fun, and I had a great teacher. Here's a picture I took of him when we were learning some tricks with motion shots. I felt a little like a paparazzo when I took this one.
We learned a few other tricks on the last day. This one was taken in a room with the lights off (but the door to the hallway was open) and no flash. Amazing, no?

And indulge me with a little detail shot of this necklace. I love it when you can see the twisted wire in the picture. The lights were on for this one, but again, no flash. Oh, and this necklace, including the pendant bead, are made of a stone called mookite. Say it with me, people, "Moooooo-kite".

And one of the other women in the class brought a vase of roses to take pictures of, and we found a dead fly in one of them. Random, but I thought this picture turned out pretty cool.

And on the recent projects front, I've been making some baby braceletts lately. They're fun, quick, and easy. Here's some I made for new baby Allie.

And a few more I made for Brian's cousin's baby, Jaylee. She's not a newborn, so these ones are a little bigger than the one's for Allie. I put in the shot with the quarter to show you how tiny they are. I also made some recently for forth-coming baby Maughn, but I had a brain lapse and failed to take any pictures before I sent them to mother-to-be.

*The song I was listening to when I wrote the post.