Dinner Ideas #1

I have really had to become creative in my dinner cooking lately because of my Husbands work schedule, he works through dinner hours 4 nights a week.  I want him to be able to eat a homemade meal that is both healthy and delicious when he takes it the next day in his lunch box. I have been trying to come up with different dinner ideas so that we aren't eating the same things over and over again and to expand my cooking skills. One dish if have come up with is a chicken curry dish:

(Forgive my picture, my camera is out of

 batteries and had to use my cell phone)

This dish is so simple and hardly takes any time to make and the ingredients are so versatile you can please the entire family.  This is how I made this dish:

Chicken Curry

2-4 Chicken Breasts cut into bite sized chunks

Rice (any kind of rice will work I used Brown)

Curry Sauce (Any Bottle of Curry Sauce will work, I Purchase mine from 

WinCo or Target, or you could make your own)

Naan Bread for Dipping (WinCo or Target, or make your own)

4 Tbsp Oil (I use Olive Oil, but whatever you cook with will probably work)

Optional Ingredients:

Zucchini 

Crock Neck Squash

Celery

Carrots

Tomatoes

Other Vegetables

Cook the rice following box instructions.  Preheat oven to Broil at 350 degrees. Slice your veggies, Warm a sauté pan and when pan is warm add 2 Tbsp oil. add the veggies and slightly brown them while rice is cooking, when they start to get soft set aside in a bowl or pan, cover.  In the same pan warm more oil and sauté the chicken chunks until cooked throughly.  Add the bottle of sauce and the vegetables to the chicken and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes.  While the chicken mixture is simmering place the Naan Bread on a sheet pan and warm on both sides in the preheated oven.  To plate: spoon the rice onto a plate, cover it with the chicken and sauce mixture and a slice of Naan on the side. Enjoy!

I bet you could also make this dish in a crock pot by pouring the sauce and chicken in the pot and cook through out the day for 6 hours on low, or 3-4 on high and adding the veggies at a later time.  If any of you try this please let me know how it turns out.

What I Know to be True

I honestly don't know how many people read this blog and usually only use it to post about my crafts and ideas but I want to post a little more about me and my beliefs. This past week I have had a lot of feelings and thoughts passing through my mind and wanted to share what I know and not sit idle.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I believe in God the Eternal Father and in his son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost. I have been a member my entire life, I grew up learning of Christ and his teachings, but have come to know for myself through long hours of prayer and study that all I have been taught is true. I know that this Earth was created under the direction of Heavenly Father by Jesus Christ so that we as sons and daughters of God could be born and gain physical bodies. I know that Adam and Eve were placed on this Earth by our Heavenly Father and were the first Earthly parents. I know that Jesus Christ was born to this Earth, and he preformed many miracles and taught the Gospel to all who would listen and believe. I know that he suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane so that I and all who would repent could be relieved of our sins so that we can again return and live with God in Heaven after we leave this Earthly life. I know that he was crucified for me and was resurrected three days later. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ and was translated by Joseph Smith Jr. I know that he is was called of God at the age of 14 to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this Earth in its entirety and that he translated the Book of Mormon through the guidance of the Holy Ghost. I know that since the Gospel was restored there has been a living Prophet to lead the Church and to be the mouth piece of Heavenly Father. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is the living Prophet on the Earth at this time. I know that his Counselor's and the Twelve Apostle's are called and guided by Heavenly Father. I know that the words they speak are true and are not words of men but are given to them through countless hours of prayer and are inspired by the Holy Ghost. I know that the teachings in the Temple are true and that when married I was sealed to my husband, Kyle, for Time and all Eternity. I know that our Family, the living, the dead and those who are yet to be born will live together in the presence of God for Eternity. I know that Christ lives and loves me, I know that I am a Daughter of God and his spirit will be with me as I strive to be an example of him in my daily life.

I am not trying to force my beliefs on anyone. I am not a spokeswoman for the Church but am simply a member stating my beliefs. We are all given the right to chose for ourselves, that is part of why we are here on this Earth is to learn all things for ourselves. I try my hardest not to judge others because of the their beliefs, and pray that others will have the same courtesy to me and those who believe the same as I. If you would like to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its doctrines click here.

Pillow Make Over

Wow! I never would have thought moving, quitting my job, and starting school would have put me so far behind with everything. With the move I decided I would really decorate our new place because its worthy of looking great and we are finally allowed to do what we want. I was lucky enough to get a sewing machine and decided to start with an easy project: PILLOWS!!

This is what our lonely couch and pillows looked like before:

Just simple plain $5 pillows we got from Walmart almost a year ago. (Yes I took these pictures on the kitchen counter it was the only space that had good light at the time)

This is what I turned them into:

I searched around the blog world until I had enough ideas to put together what I wanted to do. I also remembered my basic sewing class from 7th grade and started from there. I wanted to be able to remove the pillowcases so if they got dirty I could wash them. I made one mistake though I forgot to pre-wash my fabric. Being new to sewing and everything I guess thats only one mistake on the path to many. I have been able to complete a few more makeover projects for me and for others so keep an eye for them.

New Project Update Coming soon...

I have been very busy learning how to use my new sewing machine. I haven't really sewn anything since I was in JR High, and that was quite a few years ago so its been quite an adventure. In high school I helped my friend Leslie on a few of her projects and picked up a few tips and tricks from her and her wonderful mother but the sewing world is totally new to me. I have never had to pick out my own fabric, thread, and find patterns to follow. I will hopefully get pictures up soon about my "beginning" projects because with the move my camera is still in a box somewhere and so all the pictures are on my phone and I haven't quite figured out how to get them off it and put here on blogger. So please be patient with me. My list of projects and ideas just keep growing though because I have a new apartment that needs a lot of love to feel more like home, so hopefully I will have more things to post and write about in the near future.

New Watch Bands

I finally was able to make some more watch bands! I love making these. Watch bands are so simple to make, yet they are so versatile! These are just handful of ones I have just posted on Facebook so click here to see them all! Let me know what you think!

Tile Pictures (Finally!)

Well I was finally able to get some decent pictures of the tiles I have been working on lately. I thought I would share them with you all:

The words Live, Laugh and Love are cut in a forest green tile, the other words are in black.

This tile the words and the leaf design are cut in a dark brown vinyl.

For this tile the word Faith and Beyond are cut in black, the others in the forest green.

These are just the basics that I have done, I have lots more ideas, the only thing holding me back right now is the color selection of vinyl that I have access to right now. I hope in the near future I will be able to get some more so that I can work on some bright springy/summery tiles. I am also trying to come up with a saying that I want to use on a wall in my living room and one for the kitchen. When I get some more done I will post pictures of them too.

P.S. Keep an eye out for photos of some watch bands I have been working on. :o)

Valentines Day Sale

Wow!! I have really neglected posting about what jewelry and crafts I have been making. It seems I have spent a lot of time researching ideas, reading other blogs, and expanding the list of projects that I will someday do.

So as a quick note to you all I am currently having a sale on any jewelry items that you purchase from EveryDay Jewelry. So for every item that includes the colors pink or red you will receive 10% OFF EACH ITEM!! Keep in mind that this includes items that are finished and featured onFacebook but also includes any custom order pieces. This sale includes earrings, bracelets, watchbands, and necklaces. This sale will end on February 8th so that all items can be made and shipped in time for the holiday. So if you want to just spoil yourself because your worth it or to give as a gift to a loved one think of EveryDay Jewelry and save some money for Valentines Day!

MD Designs is being Featured!!

My good friends sister-in-law has a great blog that helps people who are trying to implement the BabyWise series into their child rearing. She has started a new series where every week she is going to do a product review of a baby product that one of her readers has made. Well, this week she is going to feature Melanie's baby leg warmer kits. Woo hoo!
Click here for a direct link to the post and you can enter for a chance to win a free kit plus there will be a special discount if you mention that you saw my stuff on her site. It starts this Saturday so be sure to check it out for a chance to win. Hurry while the getting is still good! Melanie is very talented. I have purchased a kit from her before and it was adorable!

Lanyards

One of my aunts came to me and asked to make her a lanyard that was fun and pretty. I didn't quite know how to tackle this task, I had never made a lanyard and the thought to make one had never crossed my mind. I decided I would try my best and ended up with this as the result:

Sorry its not the best photo but its the best my dinky little camera could do. I really loved these beads from the moment I purchased them and am supper happy with the way they look all together. This next photo is just a close up on a smaller area:

I may actually start making a few of these to sell...especially one for myself. I am tired of wearing my ugly black rope lanyard and want something "fun and pretty" for myself. :0)

New Ideas

I had a friend ask me about a month ago to make her a necklace of a mixture of colors, I was having such a hard time coming up with an idea. I made three different versions of the first idea I had and didn't like it at all. Needless to say I took those apart and tried to start again, although it wasn't very easy. I have come to find that its easier to be creative when I don't have anything in mind and can just sit and do what I feel like at the time. Needless to say it was a couple of weeks before anything marvelous came to mind, this is what I came up with:
I really like how it turned out!! I chose the colors she wanted and some beautiful silver chain and started to wound wire through the beads and around the chain. This took a long time to do compared to other styles of jewelry I have done but I believe the beautiful look is well worth the work! I like doing it so much that I decided to make a bracelet following the same guidelines. I love the bracelet even more!!!

Teresa's Necklace

I made this necklace awhile ago and never really was happy with the way it looked. I saw one like it in a designer catalogue and decided I would try to make one like it.

I ran into so many problems when making it, trying to ge the beads to lay right, getting the chain not to twist funny. I finally got it finished and still didn't like the way it looked. So I decided to take it apart and use the beads and chain elsewhere, but left the picture up on facebook just incase someone liked it and I would have chance to try again. That chance came a couple of weeks ago when my Aunt Teresa said she would like a necklace in this style but with black beads. This is what I came up with:

Sorry this picture is not the best, but I believe it does it justice. I really like how this black version turned out, a lot better than the green version. The best part was she like it too.

More Wire Jewelry

A few days ago I blogged about some wire earrings that I made. Staying with the same theme I decided to see what it would look like to make if I took the basic design of the bent wire and added bigger beads to make a bracelet. I decided to go for it and this is what I came up with:

I love how it turned out. The greatest part was I finally used these beautiful blue beads for something I really liked. I had made a couple of different pieces of jewelry with them before I decided to use them in this bracelet and ended up taking the others apart. I found them at Michaels on sale for a great price but just couldn't figure out what to do with them. So, all in all I am very pleased with how this bracelet turned out. I like it so much that I decided to try and make a pair of earrings to match. I am still trying to figure out if I like them, they are a bit different from what I have made in the past, still cute, but different. Here they are:

So I need your opinions to help me figure out if these should stay or if I should try something new with them? I really value your opinions and learn from what I have done to try and make what is better and more beautiful. Thanks for supporting me in my little adventure.

Cancer and Jewelry

I had never really thought about cancer as being something that could be used as inspiration for things in everyday life. When my Mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in July I thought and thought about things I could do to help. My sisters and I decided that I would make a bracelet that as sisters we could wear everyday to show our support to our Mom. Before I had even gotten our bracelts completely made we had over 20 orders from people who wanted to purchase a bracelet to. This both thrilled and totally surprised me, its crazy to think of the support that people give as they rally around the you in troubling times. These are a couple of designs that I came up with:

My sister Stephanie had this great idea that because so many people wanted to help out by buying a bracelet that we could donate some of the proceeds to our Mom to help purchase her wig. Before we knew it we had the entire wig paid for and purchased! I was so happy with all that was pulling together. My Mom then had this idea that since everyone was going to have a bracelet she wanted all us girls to have something special, shared only by the six of us, so we decided to make watches. I thought this was a wonderful idea but had never made a watch band before. So my sisters helped me figure out what beads to use. They wanted it chunky and full of pink and silver. So I sat down and this is what I came up with:

I really like how the turned out. They are nice and chunky and after 5 trips to many craft stores they really came to life. I hope you like them. I am going to dabble in making more watch bands so keep looking back to see whats new. :o)

Purple Creations

I sometimes find that after I made a few pieces of jewelry out of the same color beads I always have left over beads that don't match. At first this really frustrated me and so when I would go shopping I would try to find more of the same, and eventually I was tired of working with the same beads over and over again. So I decided to combine all the leftover purple bead I had acquired and was rather suprised at how it turned out:

I learned that even the odds and ends of everything can create something beautiful. After my Mom had her surgery I decided to give it to her a a gift. She loves purple and I figured this would be the perfect piece for her cause she could wear it with all different purples. This next photo is of a necklace I made for one of my friends at work. She also wears a lot of purple but loves the accents of silver. So I decided to take a spin off a couple of other necklaces I had made and came up with this:

Sorry that the photo is not the best but you get the jist of what it should look like. I have really loved learning how to make different types and styles of jewelry.

Photo Slideshow

So tonight I worked for hours to try and get the new slideshow that can now be viewed on Made With Love working. It was a lot harder than I think it should have been :o) But anyways after all the work I now have a Flickr account and have learned many tricks. All these pieces that can be viewed are for sale. If you see something that you like email me or send me a message and we can work out a price and shipping. If you see a style you like but in the wrong colors let me know and I will see what I can work out. Keep checking back for new items coming soon!

Earrings, Earrings, Earrings!!!

As you can tell from the heading of this post its all about earrings. I can honestly say that earrings are my all time favorite things to make. They are so versatile in color, style, length, and they look different on all people. Last year for Christmas I made a pair of earrings for each of my coworkers so about 50 pairs all together. Each was different and unique in their own way depending on the person. I love seeing my creations being enjoyed by others. When I started to experiment with bending wire my Dad found these gorgeous beads in their couch, there weren't enough to make a necklace or a bracelet so I decided to experiment and this is what I came up with:

I find them to be very elegant and beautiful, but then again I am kinda biased. When I was done with this pair i decided that I really liked the style so I made two other pairs!! Let me what you think about them. :o)

One of my Favorite Necklaces!

I made this piece of jewelry for one of my Mom's closest friends to give to her daughter for Mothers Day. It was so very dificult to give away, hopefully one day I will be able to make another one just for me.

One of the hardest things about making this necklace was the fact i kept dropping it and the beads would go everywhere!! I was working with three different strands of wire and trying to hold onto them all and threading th beads at the same time was quite an interesting experience. I love the contrast of the cream intwined with the brown wooden beads, the rugged yet elegant look. You could wear this with a variety of outfits!! I hope she enjoys this necklace!!

First Jewelry Ideas

So one of the very first pieces of jewelry I made was a necklace patterened after one that I found in a department store and thought it ridiculous as to how high the cost was. So i firgured it wouldn't be that hard to recreate to my liking. I thought it turned out ok:

Since making this necklace I have learned many new thing. What beads can and cannot be placed in the same piece, everything doesn't have to be even, what materials to use and what ones will fall apart on you. I mostly enjoy making earrings the most. These are some of the first ones that I have made:

I made these for my Aunt Heather to match her Max Muscle Store colors. I had some fun trying to figure out a way to be playful, yet still look somewhat professional. I am not quite sure thats what happened but we both liked the way they turned out.

When first making bracelets at first I was skeptical because they all looked the same. Many of the first ones made I ended up cutting them apart and reusing the beads elsewhere. Finally after many attempts and some research I decided sometimes the simple patterns can be the most beautiful. This bracelet is one that is made with simple plastic pearls, but when you get it in the right light it they look like they could be real! This is from just a handful of gold accented jewelry I have made. Personally I love silver and rarelly wear gold but I would sure wear this one.

A Year Later

So it has been a year since I decided that jewelry making was just the thing I needed to do for myself. I can't believe how fast that time as flown and how far I have come and the evolution of my ideas of the past few months. I want to thank all of you how have contributed to this dream of mine. I know I have been neglecting this blog and have decided to change it so that it motivates me a little more to update more often. I hope all of you will check back often and give me tips on how to better this site for you all. I am going to post a few photos of my favorite jewelry from the start of this habit to what it has become now along with my adventures in other the other crafty areas of my life (scrapbooking, card making, ect.). So enjoy and if you like what you see pass it on to your friends.

Renovation

So I decided to start the blog over and revamp everything. So please be patient with me and I will work as fast as I can to get everything up and going again. Thanks for everything!!