My First Blog Award !

I'll be posting my planned post on Consignment Selling a little later today but, in the meantime, I'm excited! My friend over at Flight Fancy has given me my first blogging award -- the Kreativ Blogger Award!!

It still amazes me that folks who were total strangers before reading my blog actually show interest in what I have to say and keep coming back for more!!

Okay, now there are rules to receiveing award.

In order to accept and keep the award, you must list 7 things that you love and then pass the award on to 7 people whose blogs you think are interesting and "Kreativ" and let them know they've also won the award! You can then copy the picture of the award and put it on your sideboard to let everybody know that you, too, are Kreativ.

I love:

1. My Spouse - He's a sweet guy, not overly demanding, and physically, emotionally and financially supportive. best of all - he loves me "just the way I am!"

2. My family, both inlaws and "outlaws", and friends ("friends" are the family we choose for ourselves!)

3. Snuggling up with a good book - I mean complete with a cozy afghan and a tasty beverage to accompany that riveting tale!

4. Cooking and trying new recipes

5. Designing and creating - especially children's items, no matter whether I'm working with paints, fabric, paper or whatever;

6. Festivals and outdoor "events" - I love spending my weekends perched in my bag chair, enjoying good music and entertainment, fun foods and the general hub-bub of such events. We try to get to as many of these as possible.

7. BBQ - I mean true wood-smoked, slow cooked BBQ. Hubby and I are certified BBQ judges for a reaon. We get to try the "best of the best" when judging. (Events ususally include a pretty good festival, too!)

Now, I'm passing this award on to:

Anji at http://anjigallanos.blogspot.com/

Ilena at http://haveyouseenmydragon.blogspot.com/

Kitty at http://kittywrinkle.blogspot.com/

Elsie at http://namaste-elsiee.blogspot.com/

Angela at http://picklesonpizza.blogspot.com/

Erin at http://erinbowe.blogspot.com/

and

Penny at http://doodlesanddreams-penny.blogspot.com/

Okay, gang, let's see what y'all love ! ! ! (That award is going to look real sweet on your sidebar.)

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See y'all a little later with my consignment advice!

Spring is coming!!!!

My backyard this morning!

Yep! Spring is coming! Or so they say. You could’ve fooled me today. This is what I woke up to this morning.


Let me preface all this with the words: “I DON”T DO WINTER.“ (At least not by choice.) We’ve been lucky this year. Normal snowfall for a total season around here is about 22” and this year has been extremely short on snow. (I LOVE this fact!) The deepest snow we’ve had (till today) was only about 4 ½ inches and we happened to be traveling then and missed it. Then we had a 2 ½ “ snowfall. Again, we were away. (We were in South Carolina where we also had snow though it was only a dusting there and disappeared before lunch time.) There have been a few morning dustings (like yesterday) and one ‘sweepable” inch or two, but nothing big. At the moment, this looks like about 6 inches and I think it may be over. It will hang around for a few days as we will be fairly cold and well below freezing.


Can we hope this is the end - for the season? I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I want green grass, daffodils, hyacinths and WARM sunshine. I’m ready for Spring. Bring it on!

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I’m working on putting together several blogs about new craft sales sites (Yes, there are more. They seem to be multiplying like rabbits!) I had hoped to run a long article about consignment sales today but it had some rough edges so I’ll hold off a day or two while I refine it. It’s a normal Monday here so I’m trying to do the usual laundry, housework, sorting through weekend e-mails that need answers, and more day-to-day business. As usual, I’m doing some major cooking for the week. (YES! I have an oven these days! It’s nothing fancy but I love it.)


Today’s effort is Pulled Pork. This is how I do it:


PULLED PORK

This will take a long time to cook (1 ½ hrs/lb) and prepare but it’s well worth it and goes a very long way! It freezes wonderfully. Traditionally prepared on an outdoor wood or charcoal smoker, I’ve adapted this for indoor cooking in the oven.

Ingredients:
Pork shoulder or butt
**I always use a pork shoulder but you can use butt with the same results.
Dry rub of your choice
Vinegar based BBQ sauce of your choice

· Season the meat generously on all sides, massaging the spices into the meat. (I use my own barbecue rub but you can use whatever seasonings you like. You could use a straight Southwest seasoning or dry barbecue powder right from the bottle, or possibly combine some chili powder with garlic powder and a little brown sugar. For the less daring, you could do a nice job with a little salt and pepper. Go fairly light on the salt as pork has a naturally salty flavor.)
· Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
· Allow the meat to sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before cooking.
· Preheat oven to 235 ° .
· Place a small rack in the bottom of a roasting pan. Add ½” of water to the bottom of the pan. Place the meat, fat side down, on the rack. Place on lowest shelf in the oven, uncovered. After two hours, turn the meat fat side up and return to the oven.
· About 2/3 of the way through the cooking time (allow 1-1 ½ hrs. cooking time per pound), generously spritz the meat with apple cider or apple juice. Check the internal temperature of the meat. Continue checking the temperature and spritzing approx. every hour at this point. (The cider - or juice - will add moisture and a fruity background flavor during cooking.)
· When done, meat should have an internal temperature of 195° . (Cooking the meat beyond the USDA recommended 160° renders out the fat and tenderizes the meat.)
· When done, remove the roaster from the oven and allow to cool for 15-30 minutes. At this point, you should be able to handle the warm meat.
· Begin pulling, or shredding, the meat with your hands or with two large forks. The bones should pull out cleanly. Any fat left in the meat will pull out in clumps to be discarded while you are pulling the pork.
· As you pull, place the shredded meat in a large bowl or pan, add a vinegar based sauce of your choice to the meat and toss. Do not add so much liquid as to make meat soggy, you simply want to keep it moist.

At our house, I usually serve it this way with additional sweet bbq sauce and hot sauce on the table so it can be seasoned to personal taste.


So, go out there and be creative today! Cook something delicious or paint something pretty, whatever floats your boat. But, enjoy!

I've been tagged !!

As most of you realize, I don't usually blog on weekends although I do usually read quite a few over these two days. (I follow about seventy of you which can be quite time-consuming but thoroughly enjoyable!)


Well, I sat down tonight and found Christina at http://theclaymuse.blogspot.com/ had tagged me in a photo blogpsphere game of tag. In this one, you must post your 4th picture file on your computer and blog about it. You then tag 4 others to follow suit. (Please bear with me, I haven't really accomplished this linking procedure real well, so I hope I do something useable here.)




Okay, here's my 4th picture! This is The Big Guy taken at the River City Roundup in Omaha in October 2007. We had just finished judging the BBQ contest and were wandering around checking out some of the other exhibits and displays.



This event used to be held at the Aksarben facility but has since been moved to the Quest Center in downtown Omaha. Quest is a fantastic facility and very accessible although we definitely ran into problems that morning as most of the roads had been closed down to allow the rodeo parade to take place at the same time we needed to be checking in for the judging.


(For those who live anywhere near Omaha, there are two HUGE craft shows held at this facility each year - one in July and the other is the first or second weekend in November. Really great stuff and reasonably priced!)



Well, back to the pic. The family had met up with us after the judging and he stole our little niece's hat just to tease! She doesn't rattle easily and was happy to share but definitely wanted to pose for her own modeling of the hat Daddy had just bought her. (The girl has good taste. The first hat she chose had a price tag of about $400!!) Daddy convinced her she looked better in this one. Did I mention she's gullible? Flattery will get him everywhere with her!

We weren't able to judge that contest in 2008 as The Big Guy was still recovering from knee replacement and was not up to the 22 hour drive (one way!) Maybe this year. We'll see.

Okay, now to tag four of my lucky friends.... I choose:

Janet at http://folkartbycampbelljane.blogspot.com/

and

Sweet Tea at http://sweetteainapinkglass.blogspot.com/

and

Rose at Life,Love, Yarn ( http://roses7184.blogspot.com/ )

and finally

Violet at A Little Bit of Violette (http://vivalaviolette.blogspot.com/ )

I'm looking forward to seeing your 4th pictures.

Quick, name 5 things that make YOU smile.

Yesterday, Rose, over at Life, Love, Yarn posted "5 Things That Make Me Smile" and encouraged the rest of us to do the same. (http://roses7184.blogspot.com/)

Once I got to giving it some thought, I had trouble limiting my list to only 5. Know what? Thinking about what makes you smile actually makes you smile and smiling, well, that leads to feeling good.


What better way to enter the weekend than starting a chain of smiles!!!


Here's my list:


#1 - Fun Times With Family

I can't help but smile when the family gathers over good food and lots of talk. In our case, talk leads right into hearty laughter. Some of my best memories are of just sitting around the table chatting and giggling with the family!!

# 2 - It has to be CHOCOLATE!

Yep, chocolate in most forms makes

me smile. (No, I didn't just copy Rose's answer of chocolate.) It really is one of the best ways to make me smile!

#3 - Balloons always make me smile.

I love balloons in all shapes and sizes. They can be one on a string from the Dollar Store or the kind you climb into a basket and ride in. I think they are beautiful! We took these pics last Memorial Day in Simpsonville, SC at the annual Freedom Festival. I had never seen that many balloons in one spot! It was a gorgeous day and we spent hours just watching the balloons come and go.

#4 - Picnics in the park...

We have a great park near our home that overlooks the point where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Susquehanna River. It is an absolutely beautiful view and very relaxing. We love to take our lunch (or sometimes dinner) and our books and just settle in to watch the herons, seagulls, ducks and boats glide by. Just gotta' smile at these moments!!!

#5 - Parades

I love a good parade. How can you keep from smiling at all the great sights? There's not just the floats and bands and such but the ohhs and ahhs and looks on all the little children watching it all roll by can't be beat to coax a smile out of you!

Well, I hope thinking about my reasons to smile has brought a little smile to your face and has gotten you thinking, too. Thanks Rose, for making me smile, too.

So, tell us what brings a smile to your lips and keep the chain of smiles going.

Crafty Beginnings

Okay, I'll admit it. I do dabble all around the craft world! I've tried most, even sold quite a few but I do keep going back to the painting end of the realm. For laughs today, I took a pic of everything crafty within 20 feet of where I was sitting. Now, should I admit I was in the living room and not my craft room?

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So, how did all this start?


A few months back, someone asked how I got started “crafting” and, ultimately, selling my craftwork. I came across the answer I’d written for her the other day and thought I’d share it with all of you. This is how it all began for me:


I think it was inbred. Like a bird just knowing it has to fly. I grew up in a crafty and artistically talented family surrounded by various art supplies. My mom's supplies resembled a well-stocked craft store. As far back as I can remember, I was painting, drawing, sewing, crocheting, modeling something from clay, gluing, pasting etc.


When we were bored, Mom gave us a handful of supplies and glue or such and we went to work creating. My mother was always involved in making craft items to sell at the church bazaar (Back then the profits all went to the church from such events - space rentals had not come into fashion. People simply volunteered time and donated the creations.) As soon as I was capable, I helped in those endeavors.


By junior high, I was making bouquets of tissue paper roses with wrapped stems and silk leaves, arranged with baby's breath and wrapped in green tissue. I think that may have been my first effort at earning money from my crafts. By high school, I was sewing clothes for friends. Once I started driving, I was doing my own booth at craft shows. I always seemed to be selling something I'd made.


After college, I opened my own gift shop featuring all handmade merchandise - both my own and others on consignment. I continued doing craft shows throughout those years. After a few years, economics and the need for a steady paycheck and benefits forced me to give up my shop but I continued doing shows and personal sales.


I've always made most of the gifts I've given. In the midst of a busy career, I needed to give up doing shows but I continued to craft and design for myself and friends. I “retired” two years ago and am again selling. Over the years, the merchandise has evolved. the particular craft has changed a number of times but it has always involved designing my own creations.


So, if you are “into crafts,” what got you started?

Spring is coming - flowers are sprouting, at least in my workroom!

"Spring is in the Air" --Okay, I'll grant you, today looks like a COLD Spring, but the daffodil sprouts have broken the ground and there are actually little bumps of buds forming on the trees (if you look verrry closely)! All this made we want to paint flowers yesterday.





I sat down and started to produce some cute little "mini plaques" with catchy sayings and lots of little flowers, hearts and stars to adorn them. I got a little carried away and had turned out at least thirty of these little pieces before taking a break. I'll be adding them to my shop a few at a time over the next week or so.




The first three are garden themed and I plan to list these in the shop later today. Sized at 4"x4" and 5"x3", they'll fit just about anywhere!






At $5 each, these are great for just a little touch of cheer to hang in a small place. I like to keep one near the sink and another near the computer to brighten my day while I work. They make fantastic little "token" gifts for aunts, teachers, neighbors, etc. - anybody whose day can use a little sunshine. They're very lightweight and can even be hung on a bulletin board using a push pin.


***As a "mini special," I'm offering free S & H on these little guys.

THINK SPRING, Y'ALL !!!!!

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http://www.handmadeology.biz/

I"ve been promising to tell you about Handmadeology. Today's the day. Let me start by saying, there's a lot of information on this site and it will take you a while to go through it. I'm still checking it out and learning something new each time I stop in.

The creation of Timothy Adam, "Handmadeology: The Science of Handmade" is designed for anyone looking to sell handmade goods online. If you are new to selling online, Tim can take you by the hand and guide you step-by-step with easy to follow instructions and suggestions to get you up and running in an efficient and, hopefully, successful way. If you've been out there marketing online for a while, Tim has a myriad of suggestions and tips for refining your site, finetuning your promotional efforts and optimizing your sales.

Many of us are familiar with Timothy Adam from his great helpful and informative comments in the various craft related forums and the tutorials he's known for creating. For those who have never stumbled upon his words of wisdom, he's a metal artist who makes his living selling online. After opening a shop on Etsy in March of 2007, Tim began a blog in July that year journaling about his online selling experiences. It quickly became the place for fellow crafters and artists to study and learn online marketing techniques.

At Handmadeology, Tim has created a central directory of dozens of tutorials for dealing with Etsy, Artfire, Twitter, Facebook, etc. If you don't take time to check it out, you are limiting yourself and your sales.

WARNING: Have a comfy seat and a beverage handy. You'll want to stay awhile when you stop in to look at this site!

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So, go out there and be creative today!!!

It's Mardi Gras!!!!

It's Mardi Gras!!!


LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER !!!!

("Let the good times roll!"



There are over 750,000 people partying in the streets of the French Quarter tonight. A little smaller crowd than usual but a crowd nonetheless. It's party time!!





So, Eat, Drink, Party, Celebrate and Enjoy!!!

See Y'all tomorrow!!!