Scarborough Seashells

Finished, sold and for sale!

2012-01-24T17:40:00.000-05:00

Just finished a batch of pendants- the first is available now in my Etsy shop

These are sold,

but I'm working on more!

All you need is love...

2012-01-19T08:00:00.007-05:00

Inspired by the LOVE sign in the city of brotherly love

I created this Valentine's mantel for less than $20

I used 12" solid wood letters on sale for $2.99 each at Joann, leftover spray paint and some strips of a clementine crate stapled onto the back to hold the pieces together.

Add to that a couple of picture hanger hooks from the junk drawer and a $7 bouquet of tulips split up into several clear glass vases I already owned.

The bunting is simply card stock and yarn, both pulled from my craft stash.

I don't usually "do" Valentine's day. I often feel like so many of the decorations I see in stores are frilly, sparkly and too pink for me. But I'm digging the color red lately so I figured why the heck not? Red is so very Valentine's and the pop against the white brick and turquoise chair lets me feel like my house still maintains it's vibe (i.e. not getting too foo-foo)

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

Oh, and a BIG OL' HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my girl Lexi!

Giveaway Winner!

2012-01-17T17:06:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone, sorry I've been so busy I forgot to announce the winner of the bangle bracelet giveaway! I used random.org and our winner is...

Commenter number 10- Lavender Dreamer who said:
"What beautiful jewelry! I just hopped over from Kim's! We decided, since no one was coming to visit....that we would pack a picnic and spend the day on the beach on Christmas day! I think we've started a new tradition! We would love to do it every year! ♥"

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated!

Work In Progress Wednesday for January 11th

2012-01-11T16:03:00.000-05:00

Just finished the soldering process on these beauties- most are for two different clients, the top one will go into my Etsy shop.

Tomorrow I have to set the glass in all of these and get them polished up. I'll do some glamour shots on Friday!

Speaking of Friday, there's still time to enter the giveaway

for one of my sterling silver bangles!

Happy New Year, Works in Progress, Where the heck have I been? And a Giveaway!

2012-01-04T08:00:00.018-05:00

Hello everybody! Sorry I've been AWOL for so long- autumn was just insane with, well, life! Birthdays, holidays, craft shows, custom work, new clients, etc and something had to give, so I gave myself a break from blogging.

We've celebrated Thanksgiving

Watched sunrises

And sunsets

We've done craft shows

We've celebrated Christmas and New Years

(looking for the pickle)

and also my 36th birthday (dinner at a Japanese steakhouse followed by a movie, with a pit stop to the photo booth in the lobby)- just to name a few!

Today I'm back to work making new pendants

And it just so happens that my Work in Progress Wednesday post is also my 300th blog post. So to celebrate that milestone (as well as all the others that I've passed in the last few months) I'm doing a giveaway. It's been a long time since I've sent one of my readers a piece of jewelry in a giveaway, so I thought now would be the perfect time!

If you'd like a chance to win one of my new bangles, read on! They are sterling silver, hand forged by me, featuring a sterling silver sand dollar or scallop shell charm.

They are a standard 8.5 inch (large) size but I do have a few that are smaller, so if you win and need the smaller size, just let me know!

Here's the lowdown on entering to win:

1. As usual, leave a comment telling me a recent milestone you've celebrated.
2. For 1 additional entry, tweet about this giveaway and report back here with a separate comment linking to said tweet.
3. For a 3rd chance to enter, blog about this giveaway or post it to your sidebar. Again, come back here and leave a separate comment linking to your blog.

That's up to 3 chances to win! Deadline for entry is Friday the 13th of January (eek!) at Midnight, ET

Aidan's Birthday Cake

2011-10-21T15:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA for so long, it's crazy busy around here. Today Aidan turned 8 and I just finished his cake. We're going to a local science/toy store to have a LEGO zip line party so I made him a LEGO cake. Thought I would share a photo with you all!

Work in Progress Wednesday, a plethora of pendants and earrings!

2011-09-28T15:43:00.000-04:00

On deck this week- pendants and earrings, mostly of the seashell variety.

I'm attempting to make my first pair of post style earrings instead of my usual dangles. Wish me luck!

Fancy and Finished and For Sale!

2011-09-21T12:18:00.001-04:00

This little guy is now available in my Etsy shop.

I'm loving this new design!

Work in progress Wednesday v2.0

2011-09-07T13:00:00.002-04:00

Now that the kiddos are gone all day at school, I am trying to get back to work full-force. Today I'm fulfilling a pendant order for a local retail shop.

And the little seahorse in the bottom left corner is going to go to Etsy when he's finished.

More photos later this week!

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Back to school, etsy and other blah blah

2011-09-06T15:26:00.001-04:00

Well between Hurricane (Tropical Storm) Irene, loss of electricity for several days and school starting last week, it's been chaotic around here to say the least.

Last Wednesday Aidan started second grade and Avery went in for his Kindergarten orientation.

On Thursday, I put my baby on the "big kid bus" for his first full day of school. Aidan was so cute. "Come on, Avery, I'll show you what to do" taking him by the hand...

With the kids off to school and several hours all to myself each day now, I have begun a real and true full time work schedule for myself. Difficult for a WAHM.

Today I shut down my website and in the process moved another 30 some odd items over to my new Etsy shop.

I also listed some items to my original Etsy shop. (now the proud wearer of my domain name www.scarboroughseashells.com)

I was supposed to start running again today. I had been running 4 miles a day, about 5 times a week. Then I broke my toe. And, well, that ended that. I've been two months without a run.

So I had it all planned out. To start with, I will run Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays immediately after the kids get on the bus and I'll be back home and ready to work by 10:00. This morning I woke up, suited up with my new sneaks

and came out to the kitchen to see it was torrentially raining. And it's supposed to do it ALL WEEK LONG.

I guess there's no harm in waiting another week, right? Ugh.

In other news, I saw a great tutorial for making these little felt flowers to put together a wreath today.

photo courtesy of Home Stories A to Z
I'm going to make one for my fireplace mantel that should stretch me through until Christmas time.

It's now entering the 3:00 hour- which is my draggin hour.

photo courtesy of Corporate Wellness Magazine
I could just crawl into bed and sleep til dinner. What do you do to stay awake when the mid afternoon drags hit you?

National Grid finally found us!

2011-08-30T15:41:00.001-04:00

Hopefully we'll have electricity tonight! Camping out at home is only fun for so many days!

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Thankful for running water.

2011-08-30T09:52:00.001-04:00

Still no electricity, but at least with water I am able to percolate some coffee on the grill and use our solar shower to keep everyone clean.

The kids asked when we were going camping when they saw me take out this stuff. I told them we already were! :)

Maybe we'll pitch one of the tents tonight if the power is still out...

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In anticipation

2011-08-27T14:17:00.001-04:00

We are packing up and moving to higher ground. Due to our proximity to the water, we're in a mandatory evacuation area and have to be out by 10am tomorrow morning.

So we picked every last veggie we could see

moved all the plants and furniture into the garage

and took some farewell shots of our 2011 garden as it may well be ruined when we come home on Monday.

Stay safe everyone!

I give you my heart

2011-08-18T13:31:00.000-04:00

Finished and listed to my Etsy shop

Handcut sterling silver heart with genuine red sea glass bezel set to one side

Honkin big sea glass, seaside cliffs and cairns, oh my!

2011-08-17T18:28:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday we took our annual (this is our second year and we plan to do it again next year, so that makes it "annual" now right?) trip out to Block Island, RI with the motorcycles.

A gorgeous day riding around the island and stopping at the beaches to wade, look for sea glass and relax.

I was lucky enough to find the first piece of glass

We stopped at the breath taking Mohegan Bluffs on the south side of the island

In the 16th century the island natives, the Niantic chased the invading Mohegan tribe off the bluffs, nearly 200 feet to their deaths. Climbing up and down the bluffs today is made possible by way of a 144 step staircase built into the side.

At the base of the bluffs, there are cairns (man made rock stack formations) everywhere.

Some were simply amazing.

Then on the west side of the island I found an uber piece of turquoise. And at the exact moment that I yelled out to Ed to come look at the color I found he calls out to me "does it look anything like this?" and walks up behind me with a teal chunk (and I do mean chunk) of insulator glass.

Holy freakin smokes! There's a reason I married this guy. This just might be it.

We win for the best glass found this weekend. ;)

Made. New sea glass starfish bracelet

2011-08-16T20:01:00.000-04:00

Hand forged sterling silver cuff bracelet with a piece of genuine cobalt blue sea glass nestled within the center of a handcut sterling silver starfish

Be still my heart... work in progress Wednesday

2011-08-10T16:43:00.001-04:00

I've got a ton of work on my bench this week, but the most exciting is this pendant I'm designing.

My mom gifted me the glass yesterday. I was immediately inspired to turn it into a heart.

It's almost finished and I can't wait to see it all shiny and ready to wear!

I've opened a new Etsy shop filled with craft supplies!

2011-08-09T15:11:00.000-04:00

I have so many craft shells and beach themed supplies I decided it was time for them to have their own shop!

A smattering of what you'll find:

Click the logo or the link above to come check it out!

Mmmmmmm, Breakfast for Mama.

2011-08-07T13:08:00.001-04:00

I am the only person in this house who will each a poached egg. I am also the only person madly in love with Hollandaise sauce- I know, right?

Because of these simple facts, I have NEVER made either at home and have always saved my indulgences for going out to breakfast. This morning I decided to treat myself and give it a shot. And of course being the blogger that I am, I had to document my experience. :)

I did some recipe hunting, read over the directions really carefully in each one and then took my favorite ingredients from each of the variations and combined them together to create my own version.

Mama's Eggs Benedict Florentine

Ingredients:
2 eggs (for poaching)
1 generous handful of fresh baby spinach
4 baby bella mushrooms, chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic (1 clove)
salt and pepper

For the Hollandaise:
1 separated egg yolk
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp fresh chopped parsley (plus more for garnish if you wish)
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp water
a dash of hot sauce
salt and pepper
1/2 stick melted butter*
*this makes enough Hollandaise to do 4 eggs (serve two people) so it's really not all THAT much butter per person and I never said this was a diet breakfast anyway. :)

The first thing to do is saute the mushrooms, spinach and garlic until the spinach begins to wilt. To do this, heat a small pan to medium, and drizzle with olive oil. When the spinach just begins to soften but is still bright green, remove it from the heat, sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside; 2-3 minutes. (I move it to a back burner so it was still in a warm area)

Next we're going to poach the eggs.
I've seen this technique on a lot of cooking shows lately -and since the few times in my life (years ago!) that I've actually ever poached eggs was the traditional way in water and vinegar and I've wound up with long, trailing, ugly looking egg white tentacles- I decided I'd give this method a shot. I love it and will never go back!

Heat a pot of water (at least 3 inches of water to cover the eggs) to a boil. While the water is heating, get out some plastic sandwich baggies (the fold over kind, not the zip kind) or a sheet of plastic wrap. Place the baggie down into a small ramekin or bowl and lightly coat with cooking spray. Crack 1 egg into each baggie and then tie securely closed.

Immerse the eggs into the boiling water and cook 3-4 minutes (depending on how runny you like your egg). Once the eggs are done, remove them with a slotted spoon, but keep them in the baggies until you're ready to serve. I set them on a tea towel and covered them over to help keep them warm.

A tip I saw on Brunch @ Bobby's was that in restaurants, they do this to help keep the eggs warm without overcooking the yolk. Then they immerse it back into the water for just a moment to warm it through again before serving. I didn't need to do that last step, because my sauce came together pretty quickly and the eggs were still hot.

Okay, on to our Hollandaise Sauce. This was probably the thing I was most nervous about. But I just made sure to focus on what I was doing and be very very disciplined about each step. The result was a smooth and decadent sauce that held together beautifully. I am so proud!

In a clean, dry glass or stainless steel bowl, combine your egg yolk, mustard, water, lemon juice, parsley and hot sauce. DO NOT add any butter.

Create a double boiler by filling a pot smaller than your bowl with water and get the water to simmering. Be sure your mixing bowl doesn't touch the water below. Whisk the yolk mixture consistantly until it begins to look creamy and pale yellow in color; about 4 minutes.

Remove the yolk mix from the heat and SLOWLY, repeat SLOWLY begin to add your melted butter to it. Like not more than a teaspoon at a time, whisking constantly. If you add too much butter too fast, you're sauce will "break" which means you'll wind up with a yolk mixture sitting seperate in the bowl from an oily buttery looking mixture. The two won't emulsify and you'll have to start over.

As you add the butter, you'll note the sauce taking on a bit more vibrancy in color and a glossy shine, as well as thickening up a bit- but not becoming dense or clumpy looking. Salt and pepper to taste.

Don't rush this process and you should be rewarded with the awesomeness that is Hollandaise Sauce.

Finally, assemble everything atop some toast or english muffin (I only had wheat bread on hand) and dig in!

Works in Progress Wednesday. The late edition.

2011-08-03T23:22:00.002-04:00

It's barely still Wednesday in this time zone. I've been crazy busy working all day and most of the night. Here are some of the new pendants, earrings and bracelets I've started on:

PS- Valerie, your earrings are in this mess!

Grilled Pizza. Yummy.

2011-08-02T15:52:00.000-04:00

I have been making this all summer long. It couldn't be easier (or more economical) Obviously you can change this up any way you like to suit your family's tastes. You can also make your own dough if you're so inspired. Typically I'm not so inspired. Read: Lazy.

Anyway, here we go!
Ingredients:

store bought whole wheat pizza dough (1 lb size)
flour for dusting
olive oil
2-3 whole heads of garlic
fresh mozzarella (1/2 lb)
grated cheddar cheese, about 1 cup
fresh tomatoes, sliced
fresh basil*
salt and pepper

I've always had trouble with the premade doughs- getting them to rise properly and then getting them to stretch large enough to make a pizza. I'd roll them out and they'd snap right back like an elastic band and I'd wind up with some thick dough frisbee type thing, not a thin cripsy pizza crust. After much messing and many so-so pizzas, I think I've finally discovered a method that works for me (so far) every time.

Place the dough in a small bowl and drizzle it with a little olive oil to prevent sticking and crusting. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or cloth napkin.

Set it on the counter at room temp for about an hour.

If you're following my recipe for the pizza toppings, while your dough is rising, preheat your oven to 450 and prep your garlic. Slice the tops off your garlic heads, drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap them tightly in foil and roast in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Once the dough has had it's hour to rise, remove the towel and literally punch the dough down to remove the air. Recover it and let it sit another 30 minutes or so.

While the dough is in those last 30 minutes of resting, I prep my other ingredients (shred my cheese, slice my veggies, etc). The garlic should be out of the oven by now and cool enough to handle. Squeeze the cloves out of their skins (should come right out) and into a bowl.

Drizzle with about a tbsp of olive oil (+/-) and sprinkle with a touch more salt and pepper. Mash up the cloves with a fork until you have a nice garlic paste to spread on your dough. (I am making a sauceless pizza)

Preheat your grill to high. Clean the grates well and then using a basting brush or a clean kitchen rag lightly brush over the grates with olive oil.

Rolling out your dough: For ease in transfer, I roll out my dough on a large cutting board that I can carry right out to the grill.

Dust the board with a pinch of flour and also dust your rolling pin. Roll the dough out in several directions, adding additional small pinches of flour as needed to prevent sticking. I also periodically flip the dough over while rolling to help keep the circular shape. They don't have to be perfect, they just need to be basically round enough to resemble pizza and thin enough so you don't end up with a dense, bready mass instead of a nice crust.

Carefully transfer the dough to the grill (If you're making a large pizza, I find the assistance of two big spatulas helpful for getting the dough off the cutting board and onto my grill) An alternate option is to cut the dough into smaller portions and make mini pizzas- much easier to move the dough around.

Allow the dough to cook for about 1-2 minutes, then flip and give it another 1-2 minutes. You may get some giant air pockets during this process. Just puncture them with the corner of your spatula and you're good to go!

Remove the dough from the grill and bring it back inside for topping- this is a lot of fun for the kids- When I have patience, I make the mini pizzas and let them pick out their own toppings and arrange them however they'd like. Today I am tired and hungry after a long day at the beach (I know poor me, right?) and so I opted to just make two large pizzas with basic ingredients that everyone in my house likes.

Use a spoon to scoop and spread your garlic paste across your grilled dough. Top your pizza(s) with the rest of your ingredients and then return to the grill to melt the cheese.

I turn the grill to low, sometimes I even turn it off depending on how hot it's gotten. Usually it takes about 6-8 minutes for everything to get gooey and delicious looking. Or maybe I'm just really hungry, so I pull it off when I can't wait any longer!

*Note: don't top the pizza with fresh basil before cooking. It will turn dark and slimy (although still taste fine). Instead, snip or tear it into small pieces and sprinkle it over the pizza as you bring it to the table. The smell is divine!

O.M.G. Yum.

2011-07-31T08:00:00.003-04:00

I was reading the awesome blog The Victory Garden yarn & curiousities when I saw her post about Tomato Pie.

WOW. It sounded delicious.

image courtesy of Victory Garden Yarn & Curiousities

It looked even better. So I followed her link to the recipe at Country Living.

And then I made it. Actually I made two of them.

With tomatoes and basil all fresh picked from my garden.

Tomatoe-y, cheesy, gooey goodness. I am in love.

Custom sea glass ring a photo documentary of sorts

2011-07-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

First, the client asks me to view sea glass pieces in certain colors. In this case, aqua, olive green and shades of amber

She selects her color and we discuss how it will show up against the silver backing- will it be too dark? I think it looks lovely. She agrees.

The basic setting is made. We discuss optional embellishment.

But ultimately decide against it. Sometimes it looks perfect. This chunky piece of glass stands up on its own with no need for further decoration.

The ring is completed and polished to a high shine.

But we're going for an oxidized finish, so after applying some Liver of Sulphur and buffing it back, the end result is a bold and earthy looking ring.

Gratuitous glamour shots- because I love this ring so much I'm going to use it for my custom ring listing on Etsy!

Stand mixer plus hot day plus house full of kids equals cookies!

2011-07-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know why, but it seems to be a recurring theme around here that when it gets too hot to go to the beach we stay inside with the AC and make cookies!

This year instead of making up our own, we decided to pull out my BHG cookbook (a gift from my mom at my bridal shower) for a tried and true recipe.

photo courtesy of bhg website

We chose Lime Zingers, which fortunately BHG has posted on their website, so if you want to try these yummy little bites for yourself, you can!

I was gifted this (new to me) Sunbeam stand mixer about 8 months ago from a friend who never used it- who got it from her mother-in-law who picked it up "somewhere along the way". So the thing sat looking worn, filthy and unloved in my basement for ages because I didn't have the motivation to clean it up and see if it even worked.

Finally my slacker behind wandered downstairs and lugged it up and into the kitchen. Well let me just say "WOW". Once I gave it a good scrubbing, it didn't have a mark on it. It looks like it was hardly ever used!

And oh! The joy of making dough without having to use my 12 year old (also a bridal shower gift) hand mixer! I showed the kids how to slowly add the flour so we didn't make a snow storm in the house, I had one bowl to use to mix the frosting and a seperate one for the dough. All the parts are dishwasher safe and the best part- it actually works really well!

I'm so excited I decided to try it out. Oh and the cookies weren't too bad either. ;)

Work in progress Wednesday. Errr, I mean Thursday.

2011-07-28T08:00:00.002-04:00

While waiting to hear back from a client on a custom order this afternoon, I decided to play around with some wire.

What resulted was a funky little set of bangles. Each bangle has been hand forged and hammered with a different texture. I also made the little sterling "sea" charm.

This set hasn't been polished or given its oxidized finish yet, but it will tomorrow!

What do you think? I'm pretty happy with them and think I'll be selling them soon.

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