Sunflowers are Growing!

In the background of this picture you can see some of our sunflowers. My husband built little boxes at the bottom of five of the fence posts last year. You can only see three in this picture. They grew a little bit higher than the post last year and were just incredibly beautiful! It rained a little bit this morning so that should help. The doggies and I had to delay our walk until about 9:00 a.m. Also in the picture is Mo-Jo. He finally got the stick away from Jazzy.

Last night, the kitchen sink got backed up so my handy husband had to go downstairs and take the pipes apart and snake them out.......messy job! The sink is fixed now and the bathroom is pretty much done.....just a few minor things.

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Listed these pretties in my shop today.

The Garden Has Grown!

I took this picture last night and you can see that my garden has grown! I need to do a little weeding some time this week as I didn't get to it over the weekend. I have some little peppers and tomatoes. It's very sunny and windy here today. I need to get down to the studio and do some jewelry designing soon!

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(¸.·´ (¸.·`*~Flamboyant Peacock
I just listed these today in my store. They have the last of the Czech button glass that I have like this. I am also getting low on the beautiful peacock dagger beads.

Free Paint, Free Chocolate

These two giveaways came to my attention: Glidden National Paint Giveaway. Get a free quart of Glidden Eggshell finish paint; you pick the color. Offer good until July 2 or while supplies last.

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Free chocolate: Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act

Just click on the links above. Just thought I would share.

Brass and Swarovski Crystal Glass Earrings

Listed these pretties in my shop today. They are called "Colored Lights".

It is supposed to reach 90 today!

Mo-Jo Pup with Mr. Raccoon

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(¸.•´ (¸.•`¤~♥I was looking in some of my old albums again and ran into these two pictures of Mo-Jo when he was a puppy. He looks so cute in these pictures! I remember that he did this all by himself. Looks like he is using Mr. Raccoon for a pillow. We still have Mr. Raccoon and he has been through the wash many times since this pic and Jazzy likes to give him a chew or two from time to time. Mo-Jo doesn't play with him anymore. Mo-Jo only likes Frisbee and balls. He will play Frisbee or ball until you walk away. I wish you could see him jump, so graceful! Maybe I'll be able to catch it with my new camera. Well today was another hot one! I thing it got up to 86. It is supposed to get up to 88 tomorrow. Landon is out with friends playing Frisbee golf.

I listed these earrings today in my shop. They have my favorite colors.

Mine!

This is an old picture of Mo-Jo and Jazzy and I laugh every time I see it! Notice Mo'Jo's arm over his new buddy...."Mine"! And Jazzy's ears are up but leaning towards the center. We have had four shepherds now and we always called this "the bonnet stage". Mo-Jo is a little over a year and Jazzy is about three months old in this picture.

Very hot again today! I did take some pictures outside but I was a drippy mess by the time I came in! I have added a SEARCH THIS BLOG near the upper right hand corner of this blog to help find something fast!

I have also been working on a Facebook for myself and shop. It has been extremely frustrating trying to figure everything out but I am picking up tips here and there. I will continue to work on it here and there. There is a link to my Facebook down along the right hand side of this blog. And here are the links that I have:

http://profile.to/katofmanycolors
http://artist.to/katofmanycolors

Mo-Jo Pic Modified in Adobe Photoshop Elements

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(¸.•´ (¸.•`¤~♥Here is a picture that I played around with in Adobe Photoshop Elements. Just click on the picture to enlarge and see the detail. We had an extremely intense thunderstorm this morning. I haven't heard or seen anything quite like it in a long time. It's supposed to reach the low 90's today and is extremely humid. I found a used tripod for my camera as my old one has lost a piece to it and the legs don't work quite right. My husband rigged it so that I can use it in the meantime. Yep! He sure is handy! Now I have to figure out what to cook for dinner and not heat up the kitchen! I think it will be red peppers, garlic and onions with red sauce and a wee bit of wine tossed over some fettuccine noodles. Sounds good to me!.•*¨`*.¸.•*¨*.¸¸.•*¨`*

•*¨*.¸¸.•*¨`*Ingredients for Tonight's Dinner.•*¨`*.¸.•*¨*.¸¸.•

1 lb Box Fettuccine Noodles
1 Large, Sweet Vidalia Onion chopped to your preference
1 Tbs Minced Garlic
3-4 Large Red Sweet Peppers chopped into bite size pieces
3-4 Large Tomatoes chopped into bite size pieces
1 Package Kielbasa (Optional...for the men in my family)
(I prefer Turkey Kielbasa if using meat.)
1/2 Jar of Red Spaghetti Sauce
Dark Balsamic Vinegar to taste - I use approx. 2-3 tablespoons
Small Amount (wee bit!) of Red Wine (Optional)
Salt/Pepper to taste

Boil water (with a few drops of olive oil) in a large pot and add the fettuccine noodles. This will take a little time so in the meantime you can get out a rather large skillet and.....

Saute the onions in a small amount of olive oil on high heat. I like them a little brown on the edges. Add the garlic at this point. If I am using Kielbasa, I add the thin slices next. Go ahead and add the balsamic vinegar and wine at this point. The peppers and tomatoes go in last with the red sauce and I simmer these for about five minutes on low. Add salt/pepper to taste.

After the above has simmered and the noodles are done and rinsed, add both together and toss in a large bowl. This dish also works well for us as there are some days when everyone is home at a different time and this heats back up nicely.

I make this dish pretty often in the Summer time as we grow our own tomatoes and peppers. I just pop out to garden and harvest them fresh and off I go.

Oh just a note....don't let my husband anywhere near this....he will eat it all gone!

Deep Forest - Sweet Lullaby

This is another one of my old favorites. I remember playing my CD when Landon was just a babe and dancing around with him and rocking him to this music in the evenings after a long day at work. We even have it on a video. I would put it on here but its in the wrong format. The other day I saw the CD case but no CD and no one knows where it is! I may have to go out and buy another copy......more good memories here.

Firestorm Earrings

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These earrings display absolutely stunning, fiery colors!
They are intensely hot!

On the home front....the counter top and sink are in but the faucets seem to be leaking. My husband purchased new washers and they are very thin. This did not take care of the problem so he needs to look up the manufacturer for more information. My husband also informed me that he is going to have to move the light switch outlet as it will be in the way of the new mirror. We both agree that somebody didn't design this just right. The outlet should have been more in the center of the wall and not so far back. Just another thing to do now!

Bathroom coming along!

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Well, the bathroom was getting it's newer sink put in today but my husband ran into a snag! The oval hole needed to be round for the new sink. So, we jumped into the car and made another trip to Habitat for Humanity again. We found a white counter top with oak trim for $5.00! It had to be cut down and my husband had to cut the center hole but like I have said before, he is so handy! We also found an oak mirror, medicine cabinet, light combo for $21.00. It does need a wee bit of repair but I am sure it will look good when my husband is done with it. I did a little cleaning on it this afternoon in between doing some custom jewelry work for a client. I really can't wait for it to all come together but it sure is looking good!

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Popular Bracelet - Summer Sale!

(¯` '•.¸ \ / ¸.•'´¯)Summer Sale ! (¯` '•.¸ \ / ¸.•'´¯)

This has turned out to be a very popular design for me. I have been offering it at a reasonable Summer sale price and have included free shipping. In the last couple of weeks, I have sold five of these. It is a beautiful and glitzy artisan designed and hand crafted bracelet with a filigree clasp and safety chain. All of the metal is brass and is nickel and lead free.

This beautiful bracelet features ten vintage (1950's) Saphiret glass stones . Each of these rare stones measures approx. 10mm x 6mm. The stones are in mint vintage condition and have never been used. It is also embellished with six vintage, German opal glass rhinestones. They display just a hint of blue. I really like this color combination!

Jazzy Pic

This started out as just a picture of Jazzy and was turned into a painting type picture with frame using different software programs. I played around with the different filters in Photoshop Elements. If you click on the picture, you can really see the brushstrokes when it is larger. I still haven't gotten around to reading my Photoshop for Dummies book!

Landon won't be home until late this evening from his camping trip. Then it's off to PE for him tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. When will he have time to clean his room? It like really needs it!

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Sneak preview of this week's Etsy

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Love Bugs

This picture is a combination of playing with the Photo Impression software that came with one of my older digital cameras and my macro lens. The leaves are the grapevines in our yard. They were a Mother's Day present years ago. My yard is full of Mother's Day presents and I love to watch them grow as my two boys have! Both are now 6'2" tall!

I have been working with the macro lens using F13 and F16 and getting better and better results. I have to use my tripod since I have longer shutter speeds for this type of photography. It's a super day outside and in the 70's. I'm off to work in the garden and tie up the tomatoes as we had some rain this week and they have shot up again!

Heart Earrings

Just listed these in my Etsy shop.
These heart stones have the prettiest colors!

Landon's last day of school was Tuesday. Today he started Summer school for PE 2 (Team Sports). He and his friends are taking phys ed in the Summer so that they have more room for academic classes during the school year. He will have gym four hours a day for the next three weeks!

Another Great Etsy Find!

This is my beautiful hand painted and colorfully beaded Spring tote that I found on Etsy from ElaUniques. I love this tote lots! It has a metallic handle that goes over my shoulder. And it has a magnetic snap closure, and one small interior pocket. I can't tell you how many compliments that I have received on this tote.........many, many! It fits my personality and I feel as if it were made just for me! I have had it since the end of March and it looks as good today as the first day that I received it. It is extremly well made and I use it daily!

ElaUniques has a wide variety of artsy bags that are beautiful and priced very reasonably.

Playing with the Macro Lens

Well, here is a sneak peak of an item that I will be listing on Etsy sometime this week. This is my second session using the macro lens and I am learning and trying to fine tune everything. There are so many settings that can affect the final picture! I am going to try working with the RAW format later this week.

Appointment Week!

This are some additional pictures that I took this last weekend with the new camera. I have been just to busy to post. Landon and I had dental appointments yesterday and tomorrow he is scheduled for his yearly physical. I have been preoccupied with the new camera and had to do research on macro lens for jewelry photography. I'm relearning what the best F-stop/film speed/ISO are for jewelry. And don't forget about manual focus, setting the white balance manually and all of that! The bathroom hasn't been painted yet but some bushes did get torn out as the outside of the house will be getting painted soon. The paint was purchased for that this last weekend. It is raining today and cool enough for me to have a hoodie on! Well, I am off to do those errands that just have to be done!