My personal favorite, it’s a multi-layer sort of vintage-exotic piece. I love it! I had four elephants total, but since I’m quite partial to symmetry I took the last one and made a very simple necklace from it for a more low-key piece.

This one was fun for me, because I linked each bead/bead set together by hand with wire wrapping. It was the first time I had done this. On the blue piece below, which I made after this one, I perfected a better technique to ensure the longevity of each link. I may go back when I have another rainy day and re-construct this one.

The very-hard-to-photograph blue piece! I loooove these blues so much! Makes me wish I had more blue hues in my wardrobe!  I also made a matching pair of earings because I had exactly two of the big glass beads left.

That’s it for my rainy-day-crafting! =D

My fiance and I are flying out to California (from NY) very soon for our wedding. Last time we flew I loaded up my Blackberry full of music with the hope that a kind flight attendant would let me listen to it. I did not find that kind flight attendant. So this time I’m prepared with my actual, handy-dandy MP3 player! Trouble is, I don’t want my headphones getting wrapped up in a jumbo knot at the bottom of my carry-on bag. So I whipped this up tonight! Aside from applying the Velcro a tad crooked,  it came out surprisingly well!

The ingredients are pretty basic, save for the carrots, fruit additive (recipe calls for prunes, I used cranberries) and molasses. Oddly enough I already had molasses for my ginger snap loving family. So I fetched some matchstick carrots and some dried cranberries.

The fats in this recipe is compromised of a tiny tablespoon of veg. oil, and applesauce, which is my favorite fat substitute!

I’ll be the first to admit the batter looks like cat barf. Chunky and moist. The chunkiness makes it REALLY easy to spoon into the 12 muffin cups. It made 12 exactly. You fill them up to the brim, and then they’ll increase in size very slightly. Pop them in at 400 degrees for 23 – 25 minutes (at least that’s what the recipe says, I pulled mine out at 21, because my oven runs a little warm).

A very lovely outcome, visually anyway. The first bite reveals quite a number of things. Number one, chop up the matchstick carrots. Yikes, they were all over the place, and I don’t think they were able to cook thoroughly. This particular part was 90% responsible for my negative first-taste. The other 10% was the blandness. I would add just a touch of white sugar or some more cranberries to sweeten them up a bit. I’ll re-do the recipe and make the proper changes. I have high hopes for a better outcome!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
• 1 cup(s) old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked
• 1/3 cup(s) nonfat (skim) milk
• 2/3 cup(s) applesauce, unsweetened
• 1/4 cup(s) packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup(s) light (mild) molasses
• 2 tablespoon(s) canola oil
• 1  large egg
• 3  medium carrots, shredded (1.5 cups)
• 1/2 cup(s) prunes, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 standard muffin-pan cups or line cups with fluted paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir in oats. In medium bowl, with fork, mix milk, applesauce, brown sugar, molasses, oil, and egg until blended; stir in carrots and prunes. Add applesauce mixture to flour mixture; stir just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).
3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin-pan cups. (Muffin cups will be full.) Bake 23 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Immediately remove muffins from pan. Serve warm, or cool on wire rack to serve later.

Outside the Toledo Zoo in Toledo, Ohio, runs a divided four lane county road that runs north and south through the city. A clean strip of bright green, manicured lawn separates the opposite lanes of speeding traffic. I wonder, as it blurs past my passenger seat window, who mows this lawn. Who risks their life driving their lawn machine through traffic in order to beautify the natural weeds of this median? Wouldn’t it be easier to let the dandelions grow sporadically through the blades of grass? Wouldn’t it be simpler to let nature grow naturally? Every few seconds we rush past a tall tree whose growth is stunted by the surrounding concrete. How long before the invasive roots tear up our smooth byway? Sighing, I let my body relax against my seat. The sport seat grabs my body and hugs my curves like the lap of a familiar relative. The speed pushes me back against it, nurturing the already intimate relationship. Human and tapesty could get no closer. I have spent many day in my fathers car, in this very seat. No other sibling of mine rides with our father like we have ridden together. We favor a comfortable silence together, lost in our thoughts, rarely mingling them together. I wonder now what thoughts crossed his path as he switched gears, putting another mile behind us and another mile ahead of us.
I remember when he first bought this car, his pride and joy of a difficult era of life. It’s a 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI, and I will remember it for the rest of my life as a symbol of freedom. We escaped the house in the early morning while darkness still covered the sky. Our whispers and steaming cups of hot liquids wafted visibly in the air as we set out in the family mini van across the country roads. We rode the hills and back roads of Ohio and found our way to the opposite corner of Indiana. We kicked up dust and gravel, trading civilization for overgrown forests and crumbling roadside barns. Near the afternoon we found the car, parked between an empty lot and a white shotgun two-story house. A rented trailer towed the vehicle behind us on the quiet ride back home to Ohio before the sun could set behind us.
We buffed and rubbed the old car, making up for years of weathered neglect. Our elbows ached from the endless repetition of spirals and circles that rubbed in the wax and polish. Long after the sun was high in the clouds and the grass dry from the morning dew, the true colors began to show. We saw the shine of 25 year old paint showing through ages of dirt and road grime, and we were satisfied.
It still gleamed today as we were heading south, our backs away from the city. We were coming from somewhere, heading toward nowhere, our heads lost in the clouds. My dad’s freckled face lifted from the tips of his lips as he announced the White Rabbit in 10th place. He shifted gears as we slipped passed a mini van, packed with sleeping children worn from a day at the Zoo. He shifted lanes in front of the van and lowered gears to pick up speed. We approached the rear of a modern sedan, edged passed them and announced the White Rabbit gaining momentum, now in 8th place. I turned my head away from the other cars and sneaked a look at my father’s face. His grin was contagious and my own hereditary freckles began to crinkle above my smile. We raced together, in and out of the traffic of County Road 25. We bumped elbows with the happy, and grinned at the hopeless. We edged our way towards first place in a nonexistence race toward nowhere. We laughed for no reason and were happy without cause. Another car behind us, we were closer to winning. I imagined what could be waiting for us in the winner’s circle. We imagined root beer floats and rental movies. He made a game out of nothing, and we cruised passed another cluster of cars. We had both lost count of our current place in the race, and instead declared ourselves the winners. We cheered and laughed and I stuck my tongue out at all the cars behind us. The other eyes staring back at me were empty and worn from years of their own personal trials. For once, we were not apart of the rest of the race, we were on our own track, our own race, our own inner harmony.

Today time and life stood still, even as we raced with traffic. There was no divorce lingering over our heads, meaning entirely different things to the both of us. There was no longer a concept of joint custody, alimony, unpaid credit cards or grocery bills. There was no longer a separate apartment, split siblings or ’somebody’s favorite’. It was just him and I, the tapestry pressed against our backs and the familiar hug of racing seats.

Enjoy!

And last, but not least, a self portrait while I was working on it.

Pogo, my darling kitty, has had a few problems with his inability to control his need to shred toilet paper. So to help him in his recovery, I made a little cover that wraps around the roll with holds on tight with a button and elastic closure.

(Awww, isn’t he adorable? Sigh…. )

So this is what I created in about an hour!

I love the black one, which turned out great! The light colored one wasn’t exactly what I was getting at, though. The seed beads were a lot more copper than they are brown, which is what I was expecting. It turned out great still!