It's all over...

It is so sad the day after Christmas, realizing that the holidays are over. It is time for family and friends visiting to return home and in two days it is back to work...and back to normal life. So sad. I had a wonderful Christmas with my family and wish it could have lasted just a litte bit longer. Now, I am faced with some major cleaning and organizing! Thankfully, I LOVE to clean and organize. :-) I know, I'm weird.

My Etsy shop is on hiatus for the time being (just for a couple of weeks). I want to reconcile all of my records for the year (in anticipation of tax time), organize my inventory and work on some new ideas I have for my jewelry in the upcoming year. I will still be making new pieces though and will be posting regulary to show you what I have been up to...so stay tuned!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and hope you get a chance to rest before normal life resumes!

Ornament Gazing...

So last night I did what I had been looking forward to all day...I sat in front of a fire with a glass of wine with friends and just hung out, looked at the tree, talked about past holidays and just got really excited about Christmas. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is decorating the tree and pulling out the handmade ornaments from the 80's and ones acquired along the way. Here are a few of my favorites!

But the ornament gazing is over...and I am about to get started on start checking things off of my to do list for the day! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

A TYPICAL EVENING

I walked into my studio today with three custom orders to begin working on and a bangle to make. After seeing the shape my studio was in, I reailzed I needed to prioritize. The bangle was for a sale that I already made, so it was top priority (a few of my items are made to order) and getting that finished and packed up to mail was my main goal for the evening. I am one of those people that have to have everything pretty much straightened up around the house before I can relax and get started on things that need to be done {I know, I am a little weird}. Last night I walked into my studio and realized that it had been quite awhile since I had straightened up in there. Was there a hurricane that had rolled through Atlanta that I wasn't aware of?

This is how my studio looked when I got ready to work....my desk....

My workbench...

I mean there is just stuff everywhere...I don't even have enough room to write on anything...

so the first task was to clean...

Ok...things are somewhat organized and I can work now! On to making the bangle. The first step is to cut the low dome Sterling Silver wire and stamp it with my signature 'mb' stamp, as well as a .925 stamp, which indicates that the piece is made of sterling silver.

Next I shape the wire and file the ends to so they are flush and ready to solder together....

Once the seams are flush, it is time to solder...

Once the bangle has been solder, quenched (cooled off) and pickled (to remove the oxidation), it is time to shape the bangle on a mandrel with a leather mallet...and then hammer to give it that great texture...

Once the bangle has been shaped and hammered, it is all ready to be put in the tumbler to get polished! The tumbler is filled with steel shot, dishwashing liquid and water.

I leave the bangle in the tumbler for just over an hour to give it an amazing shine...

and voila...the bangle is done!

My task is complete and the order is packed and ready to go! The same customer also bought my

'First Chill Necklace'...one of my favorites.

Thank you Cindy...I hope you LOVE them!

Ok..going to bed now! :)

Laughing is good...

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself."

~Ethel Barrymore

POTATO CHEESE SOUP

So I have never posted a recipe before, but I absolutely love to cook and thought it would be a good idea to start sharing recipes! It is a cold day here in Atlanta...it even snowed here a little this morning! One of my favorite things to cook on days like this is soup. Nothing can warm you up and make you feel cozy like homemade soup can! This Potato Cheese Soup came out so, so good and I think you will love it!

Ingredients

3 large russet potatoes

2 tablespoons finely minced celery

1 tablespoon finely minced onion

1 tablespoon grated carrot

2 cups chicken stock or chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

2 slices bacon, cooked and drained

1 tablespoon chopped green onion

Directions

-Peel potatoes and chop into bite-size pieces.

-Make sure vegetables are minced into very small pieces- carrot should be grated, not shredded.

-In a large saucepan, combine vegetables with chicken stock, salt, and vinegar over medium heat.

-Bring to a boil, then turn down heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

-In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and milk.

-Remove saucepan with vegetables from heat and add flour and milk mixture.

-Return pan back to heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes or until soup has thickened.

-Add 1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese to soup and simmer until melted.

-By now the potatoes should be tender and falling apart.

-If not, continue cooking until soup is as thick as you like it.

*I love creamy, thick soup...but this next step is optional!

-Remove 1/2 of the potatoes from the pot with a ladel and set aside in medium bowl. Using an emulsion blender, puree soup in pot until you’ve reached the desired consistency. If you don’t have an emulsion blender, let the soup cool for about 30 minutes and, working in two or three batches, puree some of the soup in a conventional blender until smooth. Place pureed soup in a bowl and puree the remainder in the pot

-put remaining potatos back into the pot and stir

-To serve, divide soup into 2 bowls.

-Divide remaining 1 tablespoons of Monterrey Jack and Cheddar cheeses and sprinkle on the soup.

-Crumble bacon and sprinkle evenly over the cheese.

-Top off each bowl of soup with chopped green onion.

YUM..this soup is SO good. If you try it, I would love to hear how it came out!