12/5/2009
Deliciously Decadent Sea Glass Necklaces
8/17/2009
Herbed Squash with Snap Peas and Dill
6/24/2009
Chicken and Goast Cheese
6/11/2009
Roasty Potatoes
5/30/2009
Sweet, petite and sparkly!
4/12/2009
Sweet Spring Charm Necklaces
3/30/2009
It's *finally* here!!!
3/28/2009
Friendly Forest Creatures
9/23/2008
Yummy pink milk glass...my new obsession!
4/17/2008
Lovely Lilacs
2/19/2008
We're home!
1/22/2008
::aloha::
11/23/2007
Here turkey...turkey...turkey...
11/17/2007
Art Fair
10/23/2007
Hi all!
9/24/2007
It's a bird...It's a Plane...It's.......
8/12/2007
Quiet Time
8/5/2007
Funky Vintage Button Rings
7/20/2007
Hi!!!
7/17/2007
Well hello there!!
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Date: 12/5/2009
Title: Deliciously Decadent Sea Glass Necklaces
I had the wonderful opportunity to head up to the Bay Area and visit my sister on Market Street at her sweet little craft booth. She has come up with the most AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL necklaces I have ever seen. They are called "Sea Glass Bouquet Necklaces" and she uses gorgeous pearls, gemstones and genuine natural sea glass in her pieces.
She has several different styles on her website as well as some little beauties currently available at her shows.
Date: 8/17/2009
Title: Herbed Squash with Snap Peas and Dill
Herbed Squash with Snap Peas and Dill
This was a recipe I tried after receiving a lovely bag of yellow and green beans from the farm. I also threw in a summer squash and an onion just for fun!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 pound washed and cut up green beans or snap peas
- 1 large onion chopped relatively small
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 medium size summer squash (or whatever squash you have on hand), chopped
- 1 Tbs. Dill (we LIKE dill, but you can use less)
- 1 tsp. Paprika
- Olive Oil or cooking spray
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Spray the bottom of a decent size skillet (or use a Tbs. of olive oil and coat the bottom of the pan). Add all veggies and stir around a bit. Add dill, paprika, salt and pepper and stir to coat. Heat until a bit soft, but not squishy. We like our veggies a bit crunchier, but you can cook it as long as you need to get the desired "doneness" for your veggies. I cooked ours for about 10 minutes on medium/low heat, stirring frequently.
The boys actually ate this up like crazy before devouring the rest of the raw snap peas. Yumm!!
Enjoy!
Date: 6/24/2009
Title: Chicken and Goast Cheese
My hubby, the dear that he is, doesn't love food like I do. Food doesn't give him joy...usually...but this recipe DID! He loved it; I can't tell you how rare that is.
4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1/2 large log of goat cheese, leave out for an hour before using so it's not so hard
4 - 8 cloves of roasted garlic, minced (we use a whole head sometimes...we like garlic)
1/2 onion chopped finely
Thyme
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Pine nuts (optional)
Mix goat cheese, garlic, rosemary, thyme, onion, and a bit of salt and pepper together well. You can add toasty pine nuts if you're feeling fancy. Set aside. You can do this the day before if you'd like. Just store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until about an hour before you need it...then sit it out to warm up a bit.
Place a chicken breast between two heavy-duty pieces of plastic wrap (or in a heavy plastic bag). Pound with a mallet until it's quite flat (try not to rip it). Spoon 1/4 of the goat cheese mixture onto the chicken. Roll up and place seam side down in the pan. I used a stoneware pan, but I'm sure a regular pan would work as well, just be sure to spray it so the chicken does not stick. Repeat with remaining chicken.
Bake covered at 350 degrees for about 40-50 minutes until chicken is done and juices run clear. Slice into pretty medallions or just dig in with a fork and knife. We paired it with the roasty potatoes, some squash and a salad. YUMM!!!! Enjoy...
Date: 6/11/2009
Title: Roasty Potatoes
Okay, so we're trying something new at our house. We are cooking healthy meals in bulk and freezing individual portions so that when life gets crazy, we always have a healthy and hearty home-cooked meal waiting for us. Today we tried roasty potatoes and goat cheese & garlic chicken (I'll share the goat cheese & chicken recipe later).
YUMM!!! I found some recipes online and tweaked them to fit what sounded good to us. I didn't think about taking a picture, I'll have to do that next time.
We were so lucky enough to have all of our herbs and potatoes come from our garden or the local farm. It was so fun to use everything that had just come out of the ground!
Enjoy!!
Roasty Potatoes:
Potatoes (we used russett, any kind will work I bet)
Olive Oil
Thyme
Rosemary
Salt
Onion
Garlic
I didn't measure anything. I never really do unless necessary. The amount of seasoning and olive oil you need will depend on the number of potatoes you have.
Wash the potatoes well (we used 4 medium potatoes). Cut them into wedges. Put them in a bowl and coat them with a little bit of olive oil. Sprinkle on a dash of salt, some powdered rosemary (we powder ours because I hate woody rosemary in my teeth!) and thyme. Cut up the onion and garlic (we used 1/2 large onion and 4 cloves chopped garlic). Toss everything together.
Put potato and herb mixture on a baking sheet or in a baking pan (we used a pizza stone), try to make it one layer. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for about 50 minutes or so. The potatoes will be tender inside and a bit crispy on the outside. Add a bit of extra salt if needed.
You can dip these in catsup or BBQ or whatever if you'd like. Ours didn't last long enough to dip...we just ate them right out of the pan!
Date: 5/30/2009
Title: Sweet, petite and sparkly!
What fun I had today. I haven't made something for my wonderful and amazing grandma in far too long. She is very petite and adores teenie tiny jewelry. So I used some itsy bitsy sparkly faceted amethyst and wrapped it with tiny pink pearls. I think it turned out just lovely for her. I had fun with some of my beautiful spring flowers in the pictures as well. 
Date: 4/12/2009
Title: Sweet Spring Charm Necklaces
Sweet and lovely little
charm necklaces - just in time for spring! I have had such fun
choosing each of these charms for their personality. Each can be adorned with your choice of oodles of fabulous
accent drop charms. Here are a few of my favorites:
Sicilia Songbird Charm Necklace
Dorris Dove Charm Necklace
Orville the Owl Charm Necklace
My Family Tree Charm Necklace
Henrietta Hummingbird Charm Necklace
Betty in Her Garden Charm Necklace
Date: 3/30/2009
Title: It's *finally* here!!!
After 10 months I have finally put together another newsletter.
Thank you for everyone who sent me emails and little reminders that you LOVE the newsletter. So here ya go:
http://www.julesjewelry.com/a-bit-of-whimsy-newsletter.htm
Did you win one of the contests? Go check it out to find out. :)
Date: 3/28/2009
Title: Friendly Forest Creatures
Our 8 year old has started his own magnet business. He really finds some wonderful things to create his magnets! Here are some of my favorite magnets that he has...teenie tiny friendly forest creatures.
Date: 9/23/2008
Title: Yummy pink milk glass...my new obsession!
My current obsession is vintage PINK milk glass. Oh, I am just in love! The only piece I have so far is a beautiful Jeanette Pink Milk Glass Lombardi Bowl. It is stunning! I just love it.
Here it is in all of its yummy glory:
I am on the lookout for more fabulous pink milk glass pieces, and I would just adore to add to my collection! If you know of a great place to find such wonderful vintage goodies drop me a note.
Date: 4/17/2008
Title: Lovely Lilacs
I just adore spring. All of the tiny buds popping open into sprays of color and teenie buds bursting forth into great green leaves. Our trees are all beautiful and full and our flowers are looking fabulous. We replanted our front walk with stocks (gorgeous and smell great) along with blue star creeper and other fun pink and purple flowers. The boys and I also planted over 100 bulbs...we are awaiting their little peeking heads!
Here is one of my gorgeous purple lilacs! *Ü*
Date: 2/19/2008
Title: We're home!
Wel...after a glorious month on Oahu we're home! I just wanted to pop in and say hello. I had a free minute...I just made my three boys (ages 4, 7 and 38 - hubby) lie down for a rest. It seems that being home gave everyone the grumpy gus bug! :)
I have some really wonderful new products to introduce soon. I'll post pictures and details later. How fun! From the woven Kauai strawberry charm to the very sweet "My First Pearl" necklace line it's too much fun for words!
See you soon. I'm back to work!
Date: 1/22/2008
Title: ::aloha::
I am writing to you from the gorgeous beach of Hau'ula Oahu, Hawaii. *DEEP SIGH* It is simply beautiful here. To wake up and look out the giant windows and watch the sun rise...it doesn't get much better than this! I have Hawaiian music playing and all of the doors and windows open, the breeze is in a word, heavenly.
We walked on the beach this morning and the boys played in the water. I have been collecting bits of sea glass and beautiful shells each day when we walk. We are going to visit Wiamia falls and swim next week. Later this week, we will be visiting the Polynesian cultural center for a bit of school thrown in. What's more fun than a Lu'au as part of school!! :)
We have driven around the island quite a bit. We visited the North Shore, Turtle Bay and Pipeline a couple of days ago. We are planning on going back when we have more time to spend there playing.
The food is NOT what I expected. I had planned on eating nothing but lovely fresh produce and nuts and such. It seems that everything here is deep fried and covered in salt!! YIKES! So much for losing weight on this trip. ;) I have been enjoying fresh coconuts out of our backyard and lovely pineapples from a little "shack" down the road. We have been eating macadamia nuts by the handful...unfortunately they don't offer raw macadamia nuts over here! Even the macadamia nut farm only offers roasted. Oh well... We drove all over looking for the Farmer's Market on Sunday, but found out it hadn't been at that location for years. :) Oops!!! Next week we may drive to Honolulu for the market.
*another big breath of fresh sea air* It's just so gorgeous, there are honestly no words to describe it. The wind is constant and the rains come every morning and night to clean everything nicely.
The air is salty and sweet at the same time. Life is gooooooood. Aloha! I'll send another update when I feel like sitting at the window looking at the ocean. Pictures to come later as well.
Sending you island breezes...
Date: 11/23/2007
Title: Here turkey...turkey...turkey...
How fun! Okay, I know it's the day after Thanksgiving, but we had 4 boys ages 7, 7, 5, and 4 here today for 6 hours. How fun!!! We had a blast. One of the things we did together was a "turkey craft" (or a chicken craft as my 4yo wanted). We walked to the park and on the way collected feather colored and shaped leaves as well as pine cones.
The kiddos glued the "feathers" in between the "petals" of the pine cone with low-melt glue gun glue. Then they added googlie eyes to the head and a red leaf as a waddle. Too cute! Walk and all the craft only took about 1/2 hour. VERY fun! What a neat centerpiece for fall.
Date: 11/17/2007
Title: Art Fair
Proud *beaming* mama here. I just coordinated our local homeschool art fair, and the boys did a wonderful job! Their artistic vision was incredibly different from one another, but both pieces are just amazing.
Our littlest (4) did a wonderful acrylic picture with sparkly glitter. He called it "heavy clouds over flower fields". Our oldest (7) did a sculpture using vintage metal buttons, wire and a piece of the dead avocado tree he cut down in the back yard with his own little hacksaw.
::Just had to share::
Date: 10/23/2007
Title: Hi all!
My goodness, time just flies like mad. It's already almost November. oh my! I've been a bit behind on my newsletter but am trying to find little bits here and there to update my blog.
We just returned from Oregon where we spent a glorious two weeks with my sis and her hubby and their two newly adopted little kiddos. What fun! Chaos with 8 people, 4 adults 4 kids, in a house. But oh was it a hoot! We worked on potty training her new 3 yo and the 1 1/2 yo joined in! Woo hoo!! That was a nice surprise for my sis.
While in Oregon my sis worked on some of the most beautiful silk play capes for kids. We now have red/blue (for your favorite super hero), rosey pink and pale pink for your princess and turquoise and royal purple just for fun! Click HERE for a closer peek at these fabulous silk play capes for kiddos!
We then drove down to Sacramento to celebrate my grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary, my grandma's 78th birthday and my grandpa's 80th birthday! What a blast. We had hula dancers and Hawaiian singers for our luau.
Then my grandparents came down here for a visit. We are taking them on a little cruise to Mexico on Monday. hee hee! how fun! We found a great deal and couldn't pass it up. So we have three cabins in a row...the four of us...my parents...my grandparents.
So adios for now. I'll be back in November to let you know how the cruise went.
Date: 9/24/2007
Title: It's a bird...It's a Plane...It's.......
a super kid!!!
Do you have little ones with HUGE imaginations? Let us help them realize their dream of being a superhero, princess, pirate or magician. Beautiful hand-dyed 100% silk reversible capes are just PERFECT for your sweeties and their amazing imagination.
Click HERE for a closer peek at these fabulous silk play capes for kiddos!
Date: 8/12/2007
Title: Quiet Time
I just had to share. I have been having the ever growing feeling of the walls closing in on me. With running the home business, homeschooling and being home all but 24/7 I was going a little stir crazy. While pondering my need for quiet time (pondering time is about 2am), I decided that quiet time was just the ticket!
My kiddos don't take many naps anymore (they just turned 4 and 7), but they still get cranky in the afternoon without any down time. So I had a revelation...I have a CD for each kiddo of classical music (they LOVE it). I bought a cheap boom box/cd player for each of the boy's rooms. I put the CD on and they "rest" in their rooms QUIETLY until the CD stops playing. Then (if they are awake), they come out all rested and ready for the rest of the day.
I'm sure I'm not the first to think of it, but oh my word does it work well!! I get a little 1/2 hour or peace and quiet to do with as I wish (go to the bathroom undisturbed, read a book or just sit and gaze at the clouds blowing by). *Ü*
I just thought I'd share my sanity saver of the week!
Date: 8/5/2007
Title: Funky Vintage Button Rings
I have been hard at work...okay, who can call it work...on some new and funky vintage button ring designs. I have found some of the most beautiful, funky, intricate, jazzy buttons and beads and turned them into fun rings! You can see all of them here: Vintage Button & Funky Bead Rings I have a variety of sizes available. Some of the beads and buttons are one of a kind. However, I have multiple buttons of some of the designs and can make different sizes for you. Just drop me a note if you need a special size.
Date: 7/20/2007
Title: Hi!!!
Hi there! *Ü* What a crazy week it has been...is it Friday yet? I packaged up and shipped out 8 orders today and feel lovely that there is a bit of a break this evening.
I am getting ready for my little town's Old Towne Market tomorrow night. I will be there every Friday night for the next 7 weeks (it continues through August). You will find us on old town H Street in Lompoc, California from 5 - 7. I have quite a few new pieces on display there including some of my fabulous Vintage German Glass Button
Rings! Too much fun.
I will also be displaying many of our Whimsy Kisses items including the Apron Gift
Sets and
Tutus.
I hope to see you there!! If you mention this blog when you stop by, I'll give you a free gift just for saying hi. No purchase necessary.
Date: 7/17/2007
Title: Well hello there!!
Just testing my little blog. hee hee!!! Something new for me...welcome to the 21st Century, Jules!!
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