This Little Light of Mine Treasury

Another great treasury ... this one with my glass votive:

'This little light of mine' by katebrooks1

These amazing items represent the light within each of us to shine.Find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/Piecesofhome

Copper Lace Glass V... NevenaArtGlass $119.00	Rainy Lights 40 x 3... MilenART $418.00	Tuxedo Twin: 1 Smal... mahoganybludes... $18.00	Pittsburgh ACEO dig... bromley2 $10.00
Orchid Opalart Glas... RoseMarysGlass... $18.00	Paper House Light -... hutchstudio $60.00	Moonlit night - pr... stelado $20.00	Pink Tourmaline nat... DanPickedMiner... $115.75
Black Ballerina Dan... ElizabethRosen... $235.00	Moon and Stars Baby... JeannaSadorra $45.00	13mmx18mm Oval Vint... Nikia $4.25	Digital painting Pr... theartofstacy $15.00
The Moon at night n... HConwayPhotogr... $30.00	Living Wall Art: Ai... Plantzilla $30.50	Bright Eyes - Fine ... Maximonstertje $21.63	Plywood Lamp shade InvenioCrafts $45.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Rustic Valentine Gift Treasury

Here's a beautiful treasury that includes my stoneware baking dish! I'm using this new format that shows the whole treasury at once ... hope it works!

'Rustic Valentine Gift' by DevikaBox

#5 Discover my jewellery shops :)DevikaBox: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DevikaBox?ref=pr_shop_moreDevikaFelt: http://www.etsy.com/people/DevikaFelt?ref=si_prHave a lovely day!

Grey /Gray Cocktail... EllaGajewska $60.00	Sunflower Study 02 dorndorf $30.00	Deer Belt Buckle - ... bmused $20.00	Oval white sapphire... EidelPrecious $1000.00
Steampunk Art PRINT... theFiligree $10.00	Leaf Leaves FLower ... sweetharvey $18.00	Coin frame purse ma... RedGirlDesign $25.00	Decorative pillow c... ClassicByNatur... $38.00
Photo of Northern I... EndaCavanagh $45.00	Silver hoops floral... FiliGraceJewel... $55.00	Felted scarf ruffle... galafilc $63.00	SALE Fabric Flow... JoannaJKW $5.50
Small Concrete Cand... roughfusion $25.00	Stoneware Baking Di... RoseMarysClay $30.00	Large Makeup Bag - ... LilachOren $24.00	Guinea-Feather curi... GBILOBA $15.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Enameled Gingko Leaf Earrings

Another day in enameling? Or maybe it's time to cut those grape vines and shape a few into wreathes? My gardener promised to dig a hole and plant the new citrus tree my son gave me for Christmas, so that's crossed off the list! Whatever I choose to do, it's a beautiful day in Southern California, and I'm so lucky to live here. I wonder if any of those people from Wisconsin who came for the Rose Bowl game are still here!

I finished my two sets of enameled gingko leaf earrings and spent the last few hours photographing, editing and posting them on Etsy. It really takes a lot of time, five photos of each piece. My records show I have taken photos of 129 items ... can you image how many photos that is? I take at least a dozen of each item and pick the best five to post on Etsy. AND that is only for RoseMarysGlassArt. For my clay shop I have photographed 81 items! My poor eyes ....

Here are the enameled earrings:

Red Enameled Heart Necklaces

Today I listed my first two enameled pieces on Etsy. Kind of exciting, that's for sure!

More Torch Enameling

Hope the holidays were wonderful for you. The neighbor children are still home on their Christmas vacation, so I guess it's not over yet. The year started out with the belt on my vacuum breaking. I could not for the life of me get it on that little wheel, so I drove to Oreck in Burbank where a young man happily and quickly fixed the problem. Then when I got home the freezer's ice cube dispenser would not work. I'll get the book out today and if it doesn't have a suggestion, I'll have to learn to open the freezer door for ice!

Other than those two minor problems, our torch enameling is producing great results. I forgot to take photos of my friend's latest pieces, but maybe can do that in a day or so. The process takes more time than it should since I have only one trivet. It is used when there is enamel on both sides ... And waiting for the piece to cool while the next piece anxiously awaits its turn has been frustrating. But that problem will be solved today or tomorrow with more trivets. A new book I have shows firing the small pieces on a mandrel instead of a trivet, but I have not tried that yet. Any torch enamelers out there? I'd love to hear from you! Sometimes balancing an irregular shape on the three points of the trivet is challenging and I've lost several coats of enamel powder this week.

Here are a few of my latest pieces. I love the red heart pendants! They are 1" x 1-1/4", and I'll be adding them to my Etsy glass shop soon for Valentine's Day. The green gingko leaves were a challenge, but they finally turned out well. The shapes had problems on the trivet! I like the gingko leaves on the left -- the right ones look more like butterflies, so I'll have to alter my pattern (or toss it). The round pieces on the left side have enamel sifted through a mesh. That added an interesting design element and should be great with other colors. Hope to do more today ... as well as work on some dichroic pendants ... thin out my rhubarb patch as the leaves are resting on my lawn ... cut back my grape vines ... dig a hole and plant the new citrus tree I got for Christmas ... There are not enough hours in the day!

Bologna Sandwich

This is so funny! You have to click on this link and read the pages and pages of comments on the bologna sandwich recipe. I grew up on a farm in Michigan, and at all funerals and weddings you would find sandwiches made with ground up chunk bologna mixed with mayo and sweet relish. They were really good, a poor man's ham salad.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,169,145181-224202,00.html

Baking Bread on New Year's Day!

New Year's Day is far from being over, but it has been a lot of fun so far. I started enameling early in the morning and also started preparing myself mentally to make bread. There was a recipe on The Driven Cook blog a few days ago that sounded sooo easy. You can find the website and the actual post under "Sites I Like". This is a French bread recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking and makes two baguettes.

4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. salt
2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups warm water (105-115 deg. F.)

I added the flour, salt and yeast to my KitchenAid mixing bowl. Stir them together. Then make a well in the mixture and slowly add the warm water. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed for 12 minutes. And be sure to have the mixer in the locked position! Remove the dough and oil the bowl. Add the dough and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours. Cover with a clean towel.

Here's the dough before rising:

After rising!

Punch the dough down and bring the edges of the dough to the center. Cut in half and form two baguettes. Roll the dough away from you on a very lightly floured surface until long and thin. Place on an oiled pan and let rise for an hour, covered with a towel, until almost doubled in size.

After the second rising, I slit the dough with a razor blade.

Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F. Place a baking pan on the bottom of the oven with 1 cup of water -- the water creates steam and results in a chewy crust. Boy, is that right! All these years and I never knew that simple trick!

Bake the bread on the center rack 400 deg. F. for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 deg. F. and bake another 30 minutes. Turn oven off and crack the oven door for another 5 minutes.

Then the blog said, "Wait until bread has cooled before slicing."  Yeah, sure! I ate those little slices quickly with a nice glass of riesling. Sooo good.

Bracelet Fastening Helper

When you get frustrated at not being able to fasten that bracelet, here's a site with a handmade tool that Judy Markwell shares:
http://site.the-beading-emporium.com/Tutorials/bracelethelper.pdf