Crock Pot Chicken!!!

I know it has been a little while since I posted a crock pot recipe, but its not because I haven't cooked in it. It's because I keep forgetting to take the pictures of the stages.... well I forgot again today. I know I love pictures (food porn) and I promise to do better but the recipe is what you really need anyway right? This recipe is a super moist chicken that is a staple in my weekly meal plan. It is super simple and I mean anyone can do this.

1- Whole Chicken (I get the free range when they go on discount)
1- Seasoning (salt, Pepper, lemon pepper, or anything else you want to through on it)
Cook on low for 4-6 hours
I use a liner for this and it makes clean up a snap.

That's is all!!! NO LIQUID goes into the crock pot either. The beauty of this is that you can season it up anyway you want and you can even put the chicken in frozen. This is the only way to go when you are cooking a whole chicken. I also have been known to put potatoes quartered and corn on the cob in there together a one pot meal. If you do the potatoes put them on the bottom and they will cook in the seasonings/juices of the chicken. After I remove all the chicken off the bone I then put the bones some veggies (celery, onion and carrots) back in the crock pot fill it almost to the top with water turn it on low overnight then you have chicken stock to can or freeze for later.

Hooters Challenge

Artisan Whimsy is hosting a hooters owl challenge for jewelry designers! It allows everyone to create their own original designs using an owl in the design. I purchased this cute little owl and had never used it so what perfect timing. I wasn't able to get the best pictures but here it is. Please go over and vote for it starting 10/28 midnight- 10/30 midnight.

While you are there voting stop by and join Artisan Whimsey it is a great place to learn and get to know other jewelry designers. On this piece I just loved the bright colors on his little (feathers) and everyone who knows me knows I LOVE COLOR!! So I thought it was a great place to use the bright class beads I bought from the bead show.

Photo's how do they impact your online sells??

A Picture is worth a thousand words is an understatement when you are trying to sell your handmade pieces online. You have to have very good pictures in order to capture the detail of your work. It has to grab the person and say take me home, its not like you can pick it up and hold it or try it on. So the quality of picture is extremely important if you are trying to sell online. I had tried my hardest to get some what I thought was pretty good photos of my work, but I still am not getting the sales I think I should. So I reached out to a friend who is a professional photographer and she took a few pieces to photo. Oh MY!!! I think they look awesome and really pop I believe this will be eye catching to buyers.

What do you think?? How do you photo your pieces to make them speak to people?? I haven't posted this to my etsy shop but I am hoping that it will drive some sells. Please feel free to leave comments on what tips you have for online sells.

Creative Inspirations

Where do you find creative inspiration for your pieces?? I look around and it is everywhere, I am a member of a few great Facebook groups Polymer Clay Creative Group and Bead Soup. I love to see other peoples work it inspires some of my pieces. I wondered onto Marian Ertzog blog M's Place and man was I inspired by several of her pieces. Please go over and check it out she has a great tutorial on using clothes line as a necklace.

I have really found a love for polymer clay. I love being able form something from nothing and how it takes on a life of its own. So after reading in Marian's blog about how she used regular household items to create molds or to add texture. So on my lunch break I wondered around the hardware store looking for different items to add texture. I came across some door knobs with very interesting detail so at only $1.15 each I thought why not try it out. So this is what I came up with, I am not finished but you can get the idea.

So where do you get inspiration for your next piece?? Pinterest is another great place to find inspiration so if you aren't following me yet just click on the link and you can see my inspirations.

Bead Show Mania!!

    

I went to my first ever bead show today and I was so overwhelmed, by the amount of beads and how many beautiful colors. I would have loved to load them all up and take them home. Why doesn't money grow on trees?? The good news though is that this show is twice a year, and they have a bead society that meets once a month!!! How cool is that?? I am so going to have to check that out it is an hour drive but I think it might just be worth it.

                                        Beautiful Freshwater pearls and they were 50% OFF!!!

                                    Very unique beads that were hand painted from South Africa.

I can't wait to get in the studio and get to work with my new beads. 

Craft Room Storage

So this is my not so organized Craft Room, (I think better with chaos)I have struggled with finding interesting and cost effective ways to store all of my parts and pieces. I thought it would be a great idea to show my area and if you would like to use the comment section to let us know your ideas. I have found using boxes like the one below are sometimes sold in the hardware dept. it is a great way to go. I found that storage that's not actually created for crafting are cheaper. I really enjoy recycling as many items as possible. Example the muffin tins I am using to hold the beads I am currently working with.

I also have found that using baby food jars are great and usually free. Drawers are a must I purchased a 3 drawer plastic unit for around $15 to keep hammers/ polymer clay supplies/ and of course beads. I also found the colorful lamp in the corner at a yard sale and it really gives me allot of light to work in. Please feel free to tell us what products you find to be your best storage ideas.

Crock Pot Time!!!

Hey Ya'll today we are gonna be cooking in the crock pot. I wanted to take you through my process of preparing my meals and how I just throw it together. I don't know how many of you use your crock pot but there is a great little invention that are called crock pot liners. They are WONDERFUL and make the clean up a breeze.

So something you may not know about me is I am very humm..... I would say frugal. I shop the sale papers and use coupons etc. So I usually base my meals on what I find on sale that week. So since it's only the two of us I buy the family packs then come in and separate them into smaller meals. Below you will see how I take a ziploc bag separate the meat, write ( with a marker ) on the outside the recipe so then if I am at work the hubby can go directly into the freezer throw it in the crock pot and head to bed. (He works nights)

Recipe for cube steak and gravy. I found this recipe on Pinterest.com I apologize but I couldn't find the original pin to give credit for the recipe.

4- Cube steak
1- Can cream of mushroom soup
1- pkg onion soup mix
3/4- water or broth
sliced mushrooms optional

Throw it all in the crock pot on Low all day. Add mushrooms in the last hour of cooking time. We serve ours over rice, mash potatoes or egg noodles. I personally didn't add any salt to it because the mushroom soup has enough salt for us.

It will melt in your mouth it is so tender!! I hope you Enjoy!!

Fall is in the Air.....

Do you feel it?? Fall is in the air and even though I live in South Alabama and it's still in the 90s during the day. If you wake up around 6:30am and peek out the door you can feel the chill in the air. I love this time of year when the leaves begin to turn, you know that the cooler weather is on its way. Makes me want to curl up on the couch with a cup of Pumpkin Spice Coffee and read a book. Something about rainy days and cool days well and maybe even hot days that makes me lazy.

So I have been working on my Fall collection. There are just so many colors (coppers, rust, olive, burnt orange and espresso just to name a few)to choose from when you are making jewelry. I use the colors of pumpkins and leaves to inspire my work. So over the past week I have been piddlin` (Southern term :) with a little clay and thanks to Cindy Lietz and her tutorials I have been a busy little bee. Polymer clay is still new to me but let me tell ya it's addicting, so many different techniques you can use.

Just a cute pair of Easy Peasy earrings. Please feel free to leave me comments this blogging thing is new to me but let me know if you stop bye.

My latest piece of work

Just a necklace I put together.... is it just me or do you wake up and have envisioned your next piece?? As soon as I wake up I grab my notepad and sketch it out. Just to make sure I don't forget, like I do my dreams. What are you working on??

The ribbon I used is sari ribbon and the wire is from vintaj.

First Blog Post

So this is my very first blog post, I'm not sure anyone will actually care what a country girl is up to but that is to be determined. A little about me I am 31 year old married woman living in lower Alabama and have lived in Alabama my whole life. It's really a simple life not to many exciting things happen around here. I have a day job as a sales manager but my real passion in life is creating things, all kinds of things. I always have been known for being "crafty" or "creative" I have dabbled in just about everything you can imagine from ceramics to candle making you name it I have probably done it. I get this from my mom she has always been a crafty person we always see thangs and say "I believe I can make that." My latest love in the craft arena is making mixed media jewelry, I have always had a unique style and like things that you won't see everywhere. That's what brought me to making jewelry I love the one of a kind handmade things. Then people started saying I love this and that are you going to sell your pieces etc. so I opened up a storefront on etsy.com.

I don't have any human children yet but I have 4 spoiled rotten fur babies that I should be able to claim as tax deductions because they cost so much but I won't get into all that today. Oh yeah and one last thing about me I have small obsession with the crock pot, yup you read it right the crock pot. I use mine humm... About 2-4 times weekly I think it is one of the best inventions ever. So if you want to hang out with a crock pot lovin, jewelry makin southern gal then follow my blog.