Lab Tested Necklace

A client of mine, Mary Hooker,  placed an order today. Her friend Mark started Dogs4Diabetics and recently lost his dog Armstrong.

Armstrong was the very first diabetic alert dog and Mark’s own dog.  Since Mark works closely with Guide Dogs and testing/training Dogs4Diabetics dogs, Mary wondered if I could make my “lab tested” necklace with the text “lab tester.”  Easy enough for me to do. I  hope it softens the blow…  So sorry Mark.  R.I.P Armstrong.

 BTW Mary is the owner of Yellow Neener Photography, on location pet photos capturing the essence of your pet. (Humans not excluded.)  If you’re in need of some fab photography give her a call, email or visit her website, 925.586.2492  yellowneener@gmail.com, http://www.yellowneener.com

Need a special gift?

 Shop here

Or, if you are in town, come see all my newest art at the

Auburn Old Town Gallery in Auburn California

Mmmm! Smells Heavenly!

I had my folks over this weekend. We went wine tasting in Grass Valley and came home to the most fragrant, yummy smells coming from the crock pot. What could be more perfect than coming in from a blustery day and having dinner ready?

Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemons & Olives

I like alot of seasoning. You can use less of any of the spices.

 I also don’t salt this as the lemons & olives will add saltiness to this dish.

Browning the chicken.

Combine spices in large bowl:

• 2 teaspoons paprika

• 2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon tumeric

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

 Coat 8 chicken thighs (bone in or not, skin on or not) in seasoning

and let rest while you prep the remaining ingreds.

These are a few of my favorite things!

Prep & Gather the following:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 onion, chopped

• The peel from 1 preserved lemon, rinsed in cold water, pulp discarded, peel cut into thin strips

• 1 cup green olives, pitted

• 1/2 cup chicken stock

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1 lb mushrooms, washed & quartered

Brown the chicken on both sides (in batches) in a fry pan with a healthy amount of olive oil. Meanwhile put onion, garlic, raisins & mushrooms into your crock pot. When you are done browning the chicken place it on top of the veggies in the crock pot.  Top with lemon, olives and chicken stock. Cover and cook on high 4-6 hours or on low for 8 hours.

I served this over garlic mashed potatoes with roasted asparagus. Fantastic!

What we did while the crock pot cooked

Little Man

Woodrow

I met Cindi at the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving last year. We had to wait quite awhile in line, so got to talking. I told her about my art and it turned out she had been gifted a necklace of mine. She talked about her beloved dog, Woodrow, that at passed away. I gave her a postcard of my art.  We parted ways at the register as new friends. Many moons passed when she called me to ask me to create a cameo of her boy. She also had me design some hang “tags.” Here are images of her cameo, tags, and us when she came to the VIP event to pick up her order. I am thrilled she liked the commissions and happy to have a new friend to boot!

Cindi wearing her new bling!

Here is the front of 1 and the back of the other tag. The text for the back of the star tag read: The Dude!

Who's a good boy?!

The back side reads: DUCK DOG!

Meet Wesson!  He lives with Barry & Michelle. Wesson was my model for Michelle’s Valentine’s Day gift, a Cameo Pendant.  Notice the tiny pink tongue in the picture? I was able to get it in the cameo too!

BTW Michelle & Barry Phillips own Select Floor Care in Grass Valley. Besides having great taste and a cool puppy, they are WesternNevadaCounty’s PREMIER Carpet, Upholstery, Tile & Grout, Oriental & Area Rug, Odor Control, Carpet and Color Repair Specialists

If you need any of their services, give ‘em a call  Tell them I sent you!

(530) 477-2782 , email

Need a special gift?

Contact me ~ Shop here

Or, if you are in town, come see all my newest art at the

Auburn Old Town Gallery in Auburn California

I always work up a big appetite snow shoeing!

We love to go snow shoeing. Now that winter has finally come there is snow! And with the snows we’ve been having, it looks like we’ll be able to go a lot this year. When we go I always pack a yummy lunch. My friend Sue told me snow shoeing burns 500 calories an hour ~ and I believe it! My husband usually gets a PB & J or tuna sandwich in his lunch sack. I love big salads. Today I had a wonderful Cauliflower Waldorf salad. Here is the recipe. It is as delish as it looks!

Sue & Stacey, enjoying our treck

Cauliflower Waldorf Salad

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 C red wine vinegar

1Tbs lemon juice

1/2 C olive oil

4 C cauliflower florets, cut into small pieces

1 C chopped celery

The Boyz planning the next trip!

3 red apples, peel on, diced

1 C parsley, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

1/2 C crumbled feta, gorgonzola or goat cheese

1/4 C almonds, walnuts or pecans, toasted & chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

 Mix garlic, lemon juice, olive oil S&P, whisk until mixed

Mix in remaining ingredients except nuts & cheese

Allow to marinate several hours.

Dog Tired...

Just before serving mix in cheese & nuts.

Panning for gold!

When I was a kid my Mom’s company picnic was held at Frontier Village (San Jose circa 1960-1980). It was a western themed amusement park complete with gun fights, a Wells Fargo stagecoach & bank robbers. Along with the western show & rides, they also offered panning for gold! There were troughs full of rocks with water running through them.  I would feverishly swish my black plastic “mining pan” to unearth little snippets of clipped copper.  I would pocket my little vial of “gold” and swagger back to the BBQ area to show off my bounty. I HAD to hit that attraction every year.

To this day, when I pull items from my tumbler, I flash back to those company picnics of my childhood. I fish around the wet tumbling media, looking for copper snippets (jewelry), grinning like the Cheshire cat. Here are my finds for today! Now I have to grow up and go back to work, partner! Happy Trails to you:)

Need a special gift?

Contact me ~ Shop here

Or, if you are in town, come see all my newest art at the Auburn Old Town Gallery in Auburn California

Always has a smile for you!

Ashley is a puppy raiser for Southeastern Guide Dogs http://www.guidedogs.org. Puppy Raisers give of themselves tirelessly for more than a year so that these wonderful dogs may one day be provided to a visually impaired individual – all at no charge.  My heart goes out to the people like Ashley, who love & raise puppy after puppy.

I first encountered Ashley when her husband commissioned a charm bracelet with charms for each puppy she had raised. All of her puppies were special but Barkley holds a unique place in her heart.  Ashley asked me to create a custom Cameo pendant of him. She wanted a talisman to remind her of Barkley, her guardian angel. On the left  is a photo with his special smile. Below is an image of the cameo I created. Now Ashley can have Barkley with her all the time.  Blessings to you Ashley for all the good work you do!

Serious Wags, Stacey

Always there with a big smile

Need a special gift?

Contact me ~ Shop here

Or, if you are in town, come see all my newest art at the Auburn Old Town Gallery in Auburn California

I really get in to my art

I have been busily working toward my next show! It is the Contemporary Crafts Market held in San Francisco,  at Ft.Mason March 10 & 11 2012. It is my biggest show to date. I have new (to me) jewelry cases that I have stained, polished and “spiffed” up, taller tables, fire retardant table cloths (who knew I’d ever need these?) and lots of NEW ART! Here is a picture I took of my new display case chock full  of custom works (and my reflection :~o).

Here are free passes to the show.  That’ll save you $16 for 2 entries!!  Come, bring friends or, if you can’t make it, share with your peeps!  This show will be hopping with cool artists and art for every taste.  I’m Stacey Lamothe and I endorse this message!

What's NOT to like here?!

This is how I start every day, sunny! I call them “Egg-Tillas”

An old boss of mine, Kent White, turned me on to these. I have added a bit to suit my taste.  They are simple healthy and yummy!

You’ll need:

1 Egg

1 Tortilla (corn, Ezekiel, whole wheat…any!)

Fresh Spinach – a handful (optional)

Flax meal – maybe a TBS or 2 (optional)

Salsa – 1 -2 TBS

–Heat your pan, add olive (or any) oil.

–Crack your egg. Add salt, pepper, and flax meal.

–Lay the spinach leaves over the flax and top with your tortilla.

–Add a TBS of water (to steam tortilla & spinach) and quickly cover pan. Cook a couple of minutes.

–With a spatula, gently turn whole thing over. Add another TBS of water and cover until spinach is wilted to your liking.

–Plate up, top with salsa and enjoy!

This will be a bit messy but sooo worth it!

My husband likes his egg yolks broken, tilla without spinach or flax meal and with cheese. Either way, they are yummy:)

*I like my eggs yolky, If you don’t like them that way, break the yolk when you first crack it in the pan.

Gotta love a little Tilla in the morning:)

I always notice birds and look forward to spring!  While walking my dog at the park I look for nests and sometimes baby birds. From this I am inspired to create tiny replicas. This was the first set of nest earrings.

Egg Nest Earrings!

No two pairs are alike. This set has one big fat white pearl egg. They remind me of the story “Horton Hears a Who.”  I have other nests with 2 or 3 tiny pearls. Some are pale green, pale pink or champagne colored fresh water pearls.  Some are longer and dangle 1 ½”-2” or short and hang 1” like the ones above.

Need a nest?

Contact me ~ Shop here

Or, if you are in town, come see all my newest art at the Auburn Old Town Gallery in Auburn California

Pick a pair today, peep peep peep!