tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18954741613065064192024-03-13T16:54:49.188-04:00FishPrincessDesigns Welcome Friends!Sea Glass Jewelry Inspired by Nature, Hand Made by Me and other favorite other thingsfishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-85706931327377338842013-11-01T19:44:00.002-04:002013-11-01T19:44:41.434-04:00Shelling on Sanibel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2BY-Suas2R4/UnQRcq6ezJI/AAAAAAAABcU/3P8QzYSOIe0/s1600/103_5526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2BY-Suas2R4/UnQRcq6ezJI/AAAAAAAABcU/3P8QzYSOIe0/s320/103_5526.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
It's been a while since I've last posted, but it doesn't mean I've forgotten about you. I've been doing lots of things. Sometimes life gets so busy it's hard to take the time to sit down and put things pen to paper, so to speak!<br />
<br />
This lovely photo was taken from Fort Myers Beach, Florida looking towards Sanibel Island. It was a great vacation for me. I spent some of the time shelling on the islands and looking for sea glass. I didn't find any sea glass, but found lots of wonderful shells. I hope to get drilling soon and using them in some of my creations!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B1_Sle5pfJE/UnQ6--hG4cI/AAAAAAAABck/ypmHST2pUks/s1600/103_5564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B1_Sle5pfJE/UnQ6--hG4cI/AAAAAAAABck/ypmHST2pUks/s320/103_5564.JPG" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few of the shells I collected.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-57543170548192168662013-05-19T12:42:00.000-04:002013-05-19T12:56:36.634-04:00Time in the garden<div class="justquote">
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. -Mohandas K. Gandhi </span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> It's always amazing to me how gardening is a metaphor for life. Spring always brings new beginnings, new desires, new dreams. I seemed to have ignored my blog, just as I put away the fruits of my past gardens. Allowing the blog to lay dormant over the winter, and now that springtime is in full glory here in Michigan my thoughts have returned to it just as I have tended to my spring time garden. It's not to say I haven't been busy-so many new <a href="http://www.fishprincessdesigns.com/" target="_blank">sea glass designs</a>-I'll share them with you soon! But, in the mean time here's a few pictures of my just planted garden. We went to the plant sale on <a href="http://www.belleisleconservancy.org/" target="_blank">Belle Isle</a> this Saturday-I love supporting the agroscience students. They grow a wide variety of plants-including tons of heirloom tomato varieties.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Y4HZTBu9tc/UZj-dtomdoI/AAAAAAAABbY/7lqNC65vhcQ/s1600/103_4618-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Y4HZTBu9tc/UZj-dtomdoI/AAAAAAAABbY/7lqNC65vhcQ/s320/103_4618-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Plant sale at Belle Isle</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nhf4mSNCYQo/UZj-fENYX3I/AAAAAAAABbg/-rwjJXmfTpE/s1600/103_4620-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nhf4mSNCYQo/UZj-fENYX3I/AAAAAAAABbg/-rwjJXmfTpE/s320/103_4620-001.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> A few of the plants on the deck-I hope we can move them when we get the deck refinished!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J4YM_CdMFhQ/UZj-h-aljAI/AAAAAAAABbo/BNsKnvs8_Fs/s1600/103_4627-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J4YM_CdMFhQ/UZj-h-aljAI/AAAAAAAABbo/BNsKnvs8_Fs/s320/103_4627-001.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">My 3 year old blueberry bush-I think we will have enough blueberries for a pie this year, that is if I can keep the birds out!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uPQClIXfMnE/UZj-jzY3X7I/AAAAAAAABbw/0_-b3snu5fk/s1600/103_4623-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uPQClIXfMnE/UZj-jzY3X7I/AAAAAAAABbw/0_-b3snu5fk/s320/103_4623-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This might not be the garden of my dreams-but in my little spot I have tomatoes, peppers, beans and herbs-enough to keep me happy.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hh6zzOBRlOs/UZj-mgl8-JI/AAAAAAAABb4/1KS84E6o9Nw/s1600/103_4625-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hh6zzOBRlOs/UZj-mgl8-JI/AAAAAAAABb4/1KS84E6o9Nw/s320/103_4625-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">You just can't feed the body-you have to feed your soul too.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-58786921809775557202012-09-12T20:01:00.001-04:002012-09-12T20:01:15.566-04:00Bridesmaid earringsOr what do you make for your daughters wedding?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsY_aTNUlFU/UFEgcPWufVI/AAAAAAAABZ8/Dwmg3bB3qO4/s1600/103_4048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsY_aTNUlFU/UFEgcPWufVI/AAAAAAAABZ8/Dwmg3bB3qO4/s320/103_4048.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It's been a busy summer! My daughter is getting married September 22, and I'm just starting her bridal jewelry! It's been challenging, her tastes run different from mine. Now that's a suprise-lol! She's going with a brass and filigree theme-I'm more of a sterling silver and clean line gal. Her fall colored theme of golden yellows, burnt orange, and copper tones make brass findings a natural choice. Here's a peek at how the earrings-or at least one of them will look.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2rY8xHnzn5Q/UFEhzOoi1qI/AAAAAAAABaE/eg8JTG7JeOg/s1600/103_4046-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2rY8xHnzn5Q/UFEhzOoi1qI/AAAAAAAABaE/eg8JTG7JeOg/s320/103_4046-001.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Now only 13 more of these to go, plus three little pairs for the flower girls, 7 necklaces, and the brides jewelry...Oh and mine too! I do have 10 days....<br />
fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-38049186506866315922012-08-17T16:07:00.002-04:002012-08-17T16:07:36.855-04:00So what did you do this summer?Well it's been another while since I've posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy! I've finally decided to create my own website-and Phew...It's been a lot of work!. My "official" launch isn't until next Friday, August 24th. But I thought I'd let you in on a sneak peek of my theme.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xHHt6s1ykmU/UC6jeYI-efI/AAAAAAAABZo/K6Rt3kj0IVo/s1600/card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" mda="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xHHt6s1ykmU/UC6jeYI-efI/AAAAAAAABZo/K6Rt3kj0IVo/s320/card.jpg" width="185" /></a></div>
You wouldn't believe how much work there is involved in switching to you own website-all new business cards, banners, stickers. Not to mention uploading pictures, writing description, designing a logo,formatting a new site-a lot of work for sure. I'm pretty pleased with what I've accomplished so far. All this and getting read for my craft shows and my daughter's upcoming wedding...I really have been busy this summer!<br />
<br />
All for now,<br />
Felicia<br />
fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-80120274036703883152012-02-01T10:51:00.000-05:002012-02-01T10:51:07.343-05:00Pin it and win it!Just when you're feeling like nothing is going your way. BAM! Something good comes along! Life's funny that way. My <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/FishPrincessDesigns">artfire studio </a> has been just languishing in January, I've been working hard on promoting, spending way to much time on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/FishPrincessDesigns">Facebook</a>, but I haven't been able to shake the January doldrums. Maybe it's the weather, or economy. Anyway, I haven't worried about it too much. I figure time has a way of evening out things-just like in life. At least I been busy taking some new soldering classes and being able to create a lot of new items!<br />
<br />
Well Artfire started a new promotion-Pin it and win it. What's Pin it? Well If you haven't heard about <a href="http://pinterest.com/about/">Pinterest</a> yet you will soon. Think of it as a virtual scrapbook-anything you can see online you can pin, recipes, inspirations, pets, people, places, things, flowers, wedding ideas, cookies, holidays, Valentines, Christmas ,New Years, Easter, ......Oh it does get crazy and addictive! See how easy it is to get side-tracked...Well Artfire has jumped on to the Pinterest bandwagon to. To get Artfire members using Pintrest, that came up with a promotion, first Artfire members would tweet or post on facebook an item from their studio that they would like Artfire to promote, then Artfire would randomly select one of those items and put it on the Artfire pin board. Members of Pinterest would (hopefully) repin the item and at the end of the week Artfire would buy it for one of the repinners. So have I confused and lost you? The details can be seen in this forum posting. "<a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=forums&op=view_topic&tid=53229">Pin it and win it</a>!".<br />
<br />
For the first item in this promotion my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/FishPrincessDesigns/2948429">Sea Glass Bracelet</a> was chosen! Not too bad, considering I only tweeted it and posted about it once. It is my lucky day!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5I-91_sy2qk/TyleRd-HwrI/AAAAAAAABZA/Wn-o9QjPHLE/s1600/--30000--20943_product_463823633_thumb_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" sda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5I-91_sy2qk/TyleRd-HwrI/AAAAAAAABZA/Wn-o9QjPHLE/s320/--30000--20943_product_463823633_thumb_large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"></div>So if you are on Pinterest here's the link to the <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/169166529722892987/">Artfire board</a>. Maybe you'll be the lucky person that wins this! Anyway, be sure to check out Pinterest. it's fun, and oh yeah...it gives you another excuse to stay up to 3 in morning!fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-79575740914353116122012-01-21T19:31:00.000-05:002012-01-21T19:31:11.082-05:00This is what I learned this week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MdxtzsTi9Kg/TxtWYkLvHrI/AAAAAAAABYg/mJWPz1EhKxA/s1600/103_3373.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MdxtzsTi9Kg/TxtWYkLvHrI/AAAAAAAABYg/mJWPz1EhKxA/s200/103_3373.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RGJ3fnJFqOA/TxtWel6cWhI/AAAAAAAABYo/pdwOMETUMpo/s1600/103_3375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RGJ3fnJFqOA/TxtWel6cWhI/AAAAAAAABYo/pdwOMETUMpo/s200/103_3375.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I learned a new wire wrapping technique this week. This is the first wire wrapped pendant I've made. I think it came out pretty well! The stone is a faceted smoky topaz. I think it looks pretty good with the copper wire. I was happy to take a class locally at <a href="http://www.armstrongtoolsupply.com/">Armstrong Tool and Supply.</a> If you need jeweler's tools or supplies you might want to check them out. Don and his staff are the greatest to work with. They specialize in all sorts of tools and in addition to jewelers' bench tool and supplies they carry casting equipment, mold materials, sheet metals, boxes, display items, silver chain, silver findings, and Sterling Silver sheet and wire in a variety of sizes.<br />
<br />
I can't wait to get my order of wire in hand. I'm thinking about using some mixed metals in my next few pendants! I originally took this class so that I could wrap some of my sea glass pieces that I have. I can't wait to get started!fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-75779230494043146072012-01-19T14:49:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:49:04.170-05:00Complimentary Colors<style>
#widgetcont p{ padding:0; margin:0; } .title_brown, .title_brown a, .title_brown a:link, .title_brown a:active, .title_brown a:visited, .title_brown a:hover { color:#dfa754; font-weight:bold; }
.title_charc, .title_charc a, .title_charc a:link, .title_charc a:active, .title_charc a:visited, .title_charc a:hover { color:#333333; font-weight:bold; }
</style><br />
<div id="widgetcont" style="background: url(http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/widget-bg-med-white.png) no-repeat; height: 531px; margin: 0px auto; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 308px;"><div align="center" class="title_charc" style="font-weight: bold; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 94px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=32617">Complimentary col...</a></div><div style="float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 9px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 16px; text-align: center; width: 140px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=32617"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--120000--111769_product_663545407_thumb_crop.jpg" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></a></div><div style="float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 9px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 16px; text-align: center; width: 140px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=32617"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--90000--72965_product_616062145_thumb_crop.jpg" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></a></div><div style="float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 9px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 16px; text-align: center; width: 140px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=32617"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--90000--77790_product_1398700273_thumb_crop.jpg" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></a></div><div style="float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 9px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 16px; text-align: center; width: 140px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=32617"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--60000--59861_product_2118779545_thumb_crop.jpg" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></a></div><br />
<div style="float: left; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 14px; text-align: left; width: 200px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=32617"><img alt="View This Entire Collection" height="43" src="http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/view-collection-button.png" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;" title="View This Entire Collection" width="154" /></a><br />
<a class="title_charc" href="http://www.artfire.com/users/BlueShedCrafts" style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal;" title="Curated By: BlueShedCrafts">Curated By: BlueShedCrafts</a></div><div style="float: left; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 25px; text-align: right; width: 80px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/"><img alt="Buy and Sell Handmade on ArtFire.com" height="24" src="http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/artfire-logo-dark.png" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;" title="Buy and Sell Handmade on ArtFire.com" width="69" /></a><br />
<a class="title_charc" href="http://www.artfire.com/" style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold;">ArtFire.com</a></div></div><div style="clear: both; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/fine_art">Fine Art Paintings</a></div><div align="left" style="clear: both; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"></div><div align="left" style="clear: both; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My sea glass earrings have been featured in this collection today. Actually I've been having my items show up quite a few times this week in collections on Artfire. That makes me very happy! I hope you will take a look at some of the artisans that have been featured. BE sure to look for the sea urchins!</span></div>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-36876837102028394682012-01-08T12:01:00.000-05:002012-01-08T12:01:31.340-05:00I've been busy making earrings!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mpm3em1afJI/TwnLCnkgVhI/AAAAAAAABWQ/AsUxInftZ-s/s1600/103_3071-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mpm3em1afJI/TwnLCnkgVhI/AAAAAAAABWQ/AsUxInftZ-s/s320/103_3071-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I thought I'd get busy and add a few new pairs of earrings to my studio, so I sat down the other day and started making earrings. And when I stopped I had over 24 pairs of earrings! I really like this style of pearl earring. It's simple and elegant. I was lucky to find a great bunch of pearls at one of my favorite local jewelry suppliers. If you're in the Berkley, Michigan area you have to stop into <a href="http://www.munrocrafts.com/">Munro's </a>I just love to pick out my materials in person. Sometimes you find new shades of pearls, or great new stones. I find all sorts of new and exciting items. I know that after the big gem shows in Tuscon, I'll be able to see lots of new things. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hBMhpstCgnI/TwnAm6KyanI/AAAAAAAABWA/lXV57HPaRu8/s1600/pearl+collage+1-8-2012+small+size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hBMhpstCgnI/TwnAm6KyanI/AAAAAAAABWA/lXV57HPaRu8/s320/pearl+collage+1-8-2012+small+size.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>How often do you get to sit down and just create? I treasure the time when I'm all alone at home-and that's not often and can just sit down and make new pieces. Sometimes it hard to carve out time in our lives. But, all things in balance.<br />
<br />
How do you create time for yourself?fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-70269095004184162342011-12-20T23:02:00.002-05:002011-12-21T06:58:14.306-05:00Pierogi Recipes from my kitchen to yours<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IbwB1sgLUoY/TvFIrOuOhVI/AAAAAAAABVE/55QBZ5yP-8U/s1600/103_3011-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IbwB1sgLUoY/TvFIrOuOhVI/AAAAAAAABVE/55QBZ5yP-8U/s320/103_3011-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Pierogi making partners 2011</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I want to share my family's pierogi recipe with all of you. It wouldn't be Christmas in my house without that favorite traditional Polish food, the pierogi. For those of you who don't know what a pierogi is, think of it as a large, stuffed dumpling. In our family we made 3 kinds of pierogi, potato-cheese pierogi, sauerkraut pierogi and plum pierogi. The dough is the same for all of the pierogi-only the pierogi filling recipe changes. <br />
<br />
Pierogi dough:<br />
4 cups white flour<br />
4 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks<br />
1/4 tsp. salt<br />
1 cup sour cream<br />
<br />
Measure flour into a large bowl. Add eggs, salt and sour cream. Mix together. I use a mixer just to get the dough started and then hand knead to finish. You don't want to overwork the dough or it will be tough. The dough will begin to form a ball as you knead the dough. If the dough is sticky, add a little additional flour and knead a bit more. Cover with a towel and let rest about 10 minutes.<br />
<br />
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface-a counter or kitchen table is a great place to use. I roll the dough about 1/4 thick and then cut dough in circles with a lightly floured glass or biscuit cutter. I then roll the circles out again to about 1/8 inch think and a slightly oval shape.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnNV5pj-Sbk/TvFZdz9TUII/AAAAAAAABVM/yVyZeYo9GKM/s1600/103_3009-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnNV5pj-Sbk/TvFZdz9TUII/AAAAAAAABVM/yVyZeYo9GKM/s320/103_3009-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Put the filling in the center of your dough. Fold over and seal the edges. Here's a tip save the water from your potaoes and use the starchy water on your fingertip to run around the inner edges of the dough. Pinch and crimp well to seal the edges.<br />
<br />
Drop into a pot of boiling salted water until the pierogi float. About 5-7 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. To prevent the pierogi from sticking to each other butter the boiled pierogi and stack between sheets of waxed paper.<br />
<br />
To serve the pierogi, saute in butter until they just start to brown. As Aunt Sophie always said to me, don't let them get brown! Serve with sour cream. Smacznego!<br />
<br />
Pierogi Filling Recipes:<br />
<div style="color: #0b5394;">Potato-Cheese Pierogi Filling</div><br />
2 lbs peeled potatoes-about 6 cups-boiled, mashed and cooled.<br />
1 cup of minced onion<br />
1/4 cup butter <br />
1 lb <a href="http://www.andrulischeese.com/">farmers cheese</a> if you can't find farmers cheese in you market, you can use 2 lbs cottage cheese that has been well drained in a cheese cloth.<br />
salt and pepper.<br />
<br />
Saute the minced onion in butter until soft and lightly golden. Add to mashed potatoes, mix in farmers cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Use about 2 Tablespoons of filling to each pierogi.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s2S7j-H9GfY/TvFZsC289EI/AAAAAAAABVU/xmjAMD9l6Qc/s1600/103_3010-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s2S7j-H9GfY/TvFZsC289EI/AAAAAAAABVU/xmjAMD9l6Qc/s320/103_3010-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay-I used 10 lbs of potatoes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">Sauerkraut Pierogi Filling</span>:<br />
<br />
1 large can or jar of <a href="http://www.vlasic.com/">sauerkraut</a><br />
1 oz dried Polish mushrooms (you can substitute any <a href="http://www.groceries-express.com/WebPages/7229100006%20Kirsch%20Mushroom%20Co..html">dried mushrooms</a>)<br />
1 cup minced onion<br />
1/4 cup butter<br />
<br />
Rinse and drain sauerkraut. you can chop it if you like it finer. Simmer dried mushrooms in water until soft-about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse well to remove any grit. Chop until finely minced. Saute chopped onions in butter until light golden yellow. Combine all ingredients together. Use about 2 tablespoons of filling per pierogi.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;">Plum Pierogi Recipe: </span><br />
1 large can of plums.<br />
<br />
Drain plums. Remove pits from plums. Use 1 plum per pierogi. My Aunt Kay would dip the boiled pierogi into butter and then into fine white bread crumbs and then saute them in butter.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #0b5394;">Sweet Cheese Pierogi Filling Recipe: </div><div style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">1 lb farmers cheese</span></div><div style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">1/4 cup sugar</span></div><div style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">1tsp. vanilla extract</span></div><div style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">1 egg</span></div><div style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">1/4 tsp. salt</span></div><div style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">1 tsp. grated orange rind</span></div><div style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></div><div style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">Mix together ingredients. If you can't find farmers cheese, you can substitute 2 lbs of small curd cottage cheese that has been pressed through a cheesecloth to make a dry cottage cheese. Use about 2 tablespoons of filling per pierogi.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I'd like to thank my brother Adam, who compiled a recipe book of our family's traditional family recipes. Thanks to his hard work, those memories, stories and recipes are preserved for future generations of our family.</span></div>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-88300934930390356602011-12-04T17:11:00.002-05:002011-12-06T09:23:05.545-05:00How to remove tarnish from silver naturallyHave you ever wondered how to remove tarnish from silver without using chemicals? I don't have anything horrible against commercial tarnish removers, I just try to subscribe to a philosophy of living a simpler, more natural life. <br />
<br />
You can easily remove tarnish from silver using a few ordinary items that can be found in your kitchen. All you need to remove tarnish from sterling silver are: aluminum foil, baking soda and some hot water. That's it! Take a look at this tarnished sterling silver that I had in my studio: <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mn8bsmAYqZw/TtvqXPeYOUI/AAAAAAAABUc/ROYFiZBjH40/s1600/103_2951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mn8bsmAYqZw/TtvqXPeYOUI/AAAAAAAABUc/ROYFiZBjH40/s320/103_2951.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Pretty ugly-right?<br />
<br />
Here's the same sterling silver beads and ear wires afterwards :<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3ioPw3SMcI/TtvrHsn_9TI/AAAAAAAABUk/7O34VI4DcSk/s1600/103_2967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3ioPw3SMcI/TtvrHsn_9TI/AAAAAAAABUk/7O34VI4DcSk/s320/103_2967.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Amazing isn't it? What a difference. In less than a minute the sterling silver went from unusable to bright and shiny as new! Here's the steps to remove the tarnish.<br />
<br />
1. Place a piece of aluminum foil in a shallow dish. I used a glass cake dish, but a shallow bowl or plastic container would work just fine. Just line it with the foil.<br />
2. Put in your tarnished silver. Add about 2-3 teaspoons of baking soda.<br />
3. Cover with very hot water.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H2g9FblZOmw/TtvtPAoh7NI/AAAAAAAABU0/UzBDLU5jjEk/s1600/103_2962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H2g9FblZOmw/TtvtPAoh7NI/AAAAAAAABU0/UzBDLU5jjEk/s320/103_2962.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n0BbYpIFvaY/TtvtVuyDpeI/AAAAAAAABU8/2nmAXFRuuPU/s1600/103_2964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n0BbYpIFvaY/TtvtVuyDpeI/AAAAAAAABU8/2nmAXFRuuPU/s320/103_2964.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The water will foam up a little -it's the action of the baking soda. I shake around the container a few times. If all the tarnish doesn't come off right away, you can repeat this a couple of times. I use a fresh piece of foil each time I repeat the process.<br />
<br />
Finally just rinse and dry. Your sterling will be bright and shiny. This works just as great on your tarnished jewelry too! The only caution is using this on dyed pearls and stones-you might want to test this first to be sure you don't lose any color. I have used this on my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/fishprincessdesigns/2981812/purple_blister_pearl_and_fresh_water_pearl_necklace/handmade/jewelry/necklaces">dyed stones and pearls</a> without any trouble, I just use warm water and don't let the pearls and stones soak to long, and dry them promptly.<br />
<br />
Please let me <a href="http://www.facebook.com/FishPrincessDesigns?sk=wall">know</a> if you have tried to clean your silver with this method. I'd love to hear about your results.<br />
<br />
If you share this natural method of cleaning your silver, please cite my blog. I hope you will share my tipsand leave me a comment!<br />
<br />
Thanks Friends!<br />
Feliciafishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-66097625125048099352011-11-30T20:48:00.000-05:002011-11-30T20:48:52.026-05:00It's time for a beach getaway<style>
#widgetcont p{ padding:0; margin:0; } .title_brown, .title_brown a, .title_brown a:link, .title_brown a:active, .title_brown a:visited, .title_brown a:hover { color:#dfa754; font-weight:bold; }
.title_charc, .title_charc a, .title_charc a:link, .title_charc a:active, .title_charc a:visited, .title_charc a:hover { color:#333333; font-weight:bold; }
</style><br />
<div id="widgetcont" style="background: url(http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/widget-bg-med-white.png) no-repeat; height: 531px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 0 0 0 0; width: 308px;"><div class="title_charc" style="font-weight: bold; padding: 94px 0 5px 0; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=30686">Its time for a be...</a></div><div style="float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0; padding: 16px 0 0 9.5px; text-align: center; width: 140px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=30686"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--90000--80603_product_549510130_thumb_crop.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 0; padding: 0;" /></a></div><div style="float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0; padding: 16px 0 0 9.5px; text-align: center; width: 140px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=30686"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--30000--28719_product_1623624803_thumb_crop.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 0; padding: 0;" /></a></div><div style="float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0; padding: 16px 0 0 9.5px; text-align: center; width: 140px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=30686"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--30000--6178_product_1288124873_thumb_crop.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 0; padding: 0;" /></a></div><div style="float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0; padding: 16px 0 0 9.5px; text-align: center; width: 140px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=30686"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--60000--34484_product_743731581_thumb_crop.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 0; padding: 0;" /></a></div><br />
<div style="float: left; padding: 14px 0 0 7px; text-align: left; width: 200px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=30686"><img alt="View This Entire Collection" height="43" src="http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/view-collection-button.png" style="border: none;" title="View This Entire Collection" width="154" /></a><br />
<a class="title_charc" href="http://www.artfire.com/users/FishPrincessDesigns" style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal;" title="Curated By: FishPrincessDesigns">Curated By: FishPrincessD...</a></div><div style="float: left; padding: 25px 10px 0 0; text-align: right; width: 80px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/"><img alt="Buy and Sell Handmade on ArtFire.com" height="24" src="http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/artfire-logo-dark.png" style="border: none;" title="Buy and Sell Handmade on ArtFire.com" width="69" /></a><br />
<a class="title_charc" href="http://www.artfire.com/" style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold;">ArtFire.com</a></div></div><div style="clear: both; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=gift_hub">Handmade Gifts</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">I hope you will check out some great ideas for a beach get away on my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=30686">ArtFire Collection. </a></div></div>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-80561870285903884562011-11-21T06:57:00.000-05:002011-11-21T06:57:53.953-05:00Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 6 Jewelry Designers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F81KQ7YuWAM/Tso7FGoV9wI/AAAAAAAABSw/8UCms3x48OU/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F81KQ7YuWAM/Tso7FGoV9wI/AAAAAAAABSw/8UCms3x48OU/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-6.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Today is the day that I'm part of the <a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_21.html?spref=fb">Holiday Shopping Event!</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1wGlNPQXwME/Tso7nRMnclI/AAAAAAAABS4/eqrLZT0PUrE/s1600/fishprincessdesigns-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1wGlNPQXwME/Tso7nRMnclI/AAAAAAAABS4/eqrLZT0PUrE/s200/fishprincessdesigns-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QVtYEsb35_c/Tso7surY3rI/AAAAAAAABTA/LS5Wq32N9l4/s1600/fishprincessdesigns-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QVtYEsb35_c/Tso7surY3rI/AAAAAAAABTA/LS5Wq32N9l4/s200/fishprincessdesigns-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I hope you will have a chance to check out all the artisans in this<a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_21.html?spref=fb"> Holiday Shopping Event</a>. To celebrate my addition today I'm offering a special offer: Free Shipping to the US and Canada. It's for today only and all you have to do is enter the coupon code FREESHIPPING when you checking out and paying for your items!<br />
So be sure to check out my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/FishPrincessDesigns">studio</a>.<br />
<br />
Happy shopping everyone!fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-88828908795842732352011-11-20T09:22:00.000-05:002011-11-20T09:22:41.451-05:00Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 5 MIxed Media and Personalized Gift Artisans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LQRUa7x3Kko/TskJBjhs-pI/AAAAAAAABR4/RKHm71FQ8Y4/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LQRUa7x3Kko/TskJBjhs-pI/AAAAAAAABR4/RKHm71FQ8Y4/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-5.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Happy Holiday shopping everyone! Today's artisans are mixed media and personalized gift artisans. The holidays are the perfect time for personalized gifts. Be sure to order soon, to allow the time for your custom pieces to be done. These ladies are seriously multi-talented and can make you great gifts for any occasion and anyone on your gift list! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's an example from </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><a href="http://www.taylorjunegifts.artfire.com/">Christy Carroll of Taylor June Gifts</a>:</b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jQfysA13w6g/TskKqRpd3MI/AAAAAAAABSA/HW6CGrK_r3k/s1600/Christy-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jQfysA13w6g/TskKqRpd3MI/AAAAAAAABSA/HW6CGrK_r3k/s320/Christy-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sometimes talent does run in the family. Y</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: small;">esterday you met Kae's daughter, Yasuko. Yasuko originally started her online shops to promote her mother's work. Kae, born and raised in Japan, has been a Japanese Calligrapher for over 40 years. She creates beautiful calligraphy artworks, Shodo and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: small;">Sumi-e paintings.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nIAmGJLFZx0/TskL7oidPvI/AAAAAAAABSQ/Og7kcwjOahQ/s1600/Kae-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nIAmGJLFZx0/TskL7oidPvI/AAAAAAAABSQ/Og7kcwjOahQ/s200/Kae-4.jpg" width="150" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This piece is very lovely:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RSQCoYGuFv4/TskMYrNGACI/AAAAAAAABSo/FYHnhEaB5xA/s1600/Kae-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RSQCoYGuFv4/TskMYrNGACI/AAAAAAAABSo/FYHnhEaB5xA/s200/Kae-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;">I hope you are keeping up with all the Days on the <a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_20.html?spref=fb">Shopping Event</a>. Just a heads up, tomorrow I'll be one of the featured jewelry artisans. I hope you'll stop buy and take a look!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b>Happy Holiday Shopping!</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-38010093590930176182011-11-19T08:56:00.000-05:002011-11-19T08:56:51.923-05:00Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 4 Quilters and Seamstresses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lh0sI5A0SRc/TsexDXa9oaI/AAAAAAAABQ4/_AJ3VDI9cco/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lh0sI5A0SRc/TsexDXa9oaI/AAAAAAAABQ4/_AJ3VDI9cco/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-4.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We're off to another great day of shopping today! Today's featured craftspeople all are make sewn items. Whether you love the look of hand made quilts like this one by <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/SieberDesigns">Sieber Designs</a>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QLPfoaKt-zE/TseyUq-B5hI/AAAAAAAABRA/UURhG4mHjIE/s1600/Aviva-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I0CGcICa8Qc/TsezYEFv-XI/AAAAAAAABRg/Mqna1RDzQU4/s1600/Aviva-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I0CGcICa8Qc/TsezYEFv-XI/AAAAAAAABRg/Mqna1RDzQU4/s200/Aviva-2.jpg" width="200" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Or perhaps you're in the mood for a new purse? Just like shoes, you can never have too many purses! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GzK2VfYiWck/Tsez2_Mv9JI/AAAAAAAABRw/iumMYFwrOoQ/s1600/Yasuko-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GzK2VfYiWck/Tsez2_Mv9JI/AAAAAAAABRw/iumMYFwrOoQ/s200/Yasuko-2.jpg" width="200" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love the vibrant colors in this bag by Yasuko of <a href="http://www.kaeartworks.artfire.com/">KaeArtworks</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are more crafts people to meet on the event <a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_19.html?spref=fb">blog</a>. We've got a week to go, so I hope you are checking back in every day. I have to say Debi has put in a lot of work, selecting and doing all the write-ups and promoting. Just think about it, if every person bought just ONE item handmade this year, what an impact it would be. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In these economic times, wouldn't it feel great to support local crafts people and artisans? I know I'm going to be shopping hand made this year. I hope you will join me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vKi_ILUNiLw/TsezNDBgNUI/AAAAAAAABRY/MhJ0uMTgOkI/s1600/Yasuko-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-32168685932905765922011-11-18T12:16:00.001-05:002011-11-18T12:17:47.887-05:00Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 3-Jewelry Designers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LBvuSE38m-k/TsaPUFSutKI/AAAAAAAABQo/J1nNCuWFhE4/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LBvuSE38m-k/TsaPUFSutKI/AAAAAAAABQo/J1nNCuWFhE4/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-3.jpg" /></a></div>I hope everyone is enjoying the <a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_18.html?spref=fb">Handmade Holiday Shopping Event</a>. <br />
Today's featured artisans are Jewelry Designers, but wait where am I? Not to worry, my turn will be coming up soon! Can you believe all the different things that are available out there?<br />
<br />
<br />
This <span style="font-family: Times;">kumihimo braided </span>necklace really caught my eye.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VQIH-3QHHcs/TsaQYvR9gYI/AAAAAAAABQw/epKfv6BJTB0/s1600/Kim-Stewart-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VQIH-3QHHcs/TsaQYvR9gYI/AAAAAAAABQw/epKfv6BJTB0/s320/Kim-Stewart-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> It's from the Etsy shop of <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ndjewelry">Kim Stewart</a>. I've tried <span style="font-family: Times;">kumihimo braiding-it's not that easy. Her necklace is very well done.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times;">I hope you've had as much fun looking at some of these talented artisans. I can hardly wait for tomorrow. I think I need to start buying some items. Be sure to let me know if you have taken a look at the <a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_18.html?spref=fb">shopping event</a>. I hope you have liked it on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Exploring-Handmade-Online-Holiday-Shopping-Event/237085573012249?ref=pb">Facebook</a>.</span>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-80966388968496462892011-11-17T06:54:00.003-05:002011-11-18T12:18:17.166-05:00Exploring Handmade Holiday Shopping Event-Day 2 Crocheting and Knitting Artisans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k8mg9LpuDBI/TsT2OSransI/AAAAAAAABQQ/6WUOEU8zJbY/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k8mg9LpuDBI/TsT2OSransI/AAAAAAAABQQ/6WUOEU8zJbY/s1600/exploring-handmade-graphic-welcome-to-day-2.jpg" /></a></div>I hope you had fun exploring the lampwork artisans on Day One of this <a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_17.html?spref=fb">Holiday Shopping Event!</a> Today's featured artisans of Textile Artisans-also known as Knitters and Crocheters! We're having so much fun showcasing craftspeople and bringing you a handmade shopping experience.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fmhMYBTt3Qw/TsT4DKQ1CpI/AAAAAAAABQY/tdrp6stF0bo/s1600/Rabbits+new+colours.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fmhMYBTt3Qw/TsT4DKQ1CpI/AAAAAAAABQY/tdrp6stF0bo/s320/Rabbits+new+colours.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qSF0xa8kCEA/TsT44PFsM8I/AAAAAAAABQg/bgkhXmWgmeU/s1600/PA222108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qSF0xa8kCEA/TsT44PFsM8I/AAAAAAAABQg/bgkhXmWgmeU/s320/PA222108.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's just a sample of what 's in store for you!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Shopping handmade does so many things, first you're dealing directly with the artisan or crafter. You get to meet and find out a little about who created your purchase. If you need customization, they right there to help you out. Also, small craftspeople tend to continue to spend and buy in their local communities. I know that when I source my materials, I try to shop local.<br />
<br />
You can follow the <a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_17.html?spref=fb">Holiday Shopping Event </a>on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Exploring-Handmade-Online-Holiday-Shopping-Event/237085573012249">Facebook</a> to hear about the latest shopping news.<br />
<br />
I'd love to hear your comments!<br />
<br />
Happy Shopping!fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-85054589914410530302011-11-16T10:38:00.000-05:002011-11-16T12:19:59.120-05:00Exploring Handmade ~ Holiday Shopping Event ~ Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a8w19xKYMhw/TsPZOd0HVCI/AAAAAAAABQA/HRxc3C4zxbo/s1600/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping-event-graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="256" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a8w19xKYMhw/TsPZOd0HVCI/AAAAAAAABQA/HRxc3C4zxbo/s320/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping-event-graphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://blog.designs-by-debi.com/2011/11/exploring-handmade-holiday-shopping_16.html#links"> Exploring Handmade ~ Holiday Shopping Event ~ Day 1</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Here's a way to explore a myriad of gift selections for the Holiday period. From today until November 28th over 75 Artisans will be showcasing some special gifts for the Holidays. Think about it, no driving to the mall, no hassling with parking, You don't even have to get out of your pajamas to shop!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: red;">Occupy Wall Street this Holiday Season AND Get Great Gifts</span></strong></div>
<br />
Need gifts for loved ones? Want to send Congress, Wall Street and Corporate America a message loud and clear? Want to do both at the same time<br />
I'm sure everyone's heard about the "Occupy Wall Street" movement and others like it around the world. Well, I'm hoping to start an Occupy Wall Street movement of my own to aid in global economic recovery... yup, BIG dreams :) How, you ask?<br />
Well, we know Congress, Wall Street and Corporate America are NOT going to get us out of this mess. That's for sure. It's SMALL businesses like mine and those of other artisans and entrepreneurs that are going to do it.<br />
We're all doing more with less so make the most of your hard-earned dollars this holiday season...let them do TRIPLE duty!! No matter what gift-giving holiday you're celebrating, you can Occupy Wall Street AND help our economy by shopping with handcraft artisans online and locally.<br />
When you buy from individual designers, artists and other crafts people, you're supporting small businesses. You're supporting the business of the individual designer AND all the businesses...usually small businesses...that they do business with. And growing these small businesses is what will get our economy back on track and be instrumental in keeping it there! This applies in any country around the globe.<br />
<br />
AND at the same time, you'll get truly unique and precious gifts for your family and friends that will make your holidays more meaningful. It's a win-win-WIN :) And I'm going to help you!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-38PQ6VBuy0o/TsPnis19J7I/AAAAAAAABQI/XWhqV9kTtus/s1600/DSC_0005_5920.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-38PQ6VBuy0o/TsPnis19J7I/AAAAAAAABQI/XWhqV9kTtus/s1600/DSC_0005_5920.jpeg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Todays featured artisans are lampwork bead makers. Oh their work is so pretty! This is just a sample of one of todays featured artisans.<br />
<br />
I'll be part of this unique shopping experience too! I'm not sure what day my work will be featured, so keep checking back and as soon as I know I'll let you know to! To find out more about this <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Exploring-Handmade-Online-Holiday-Shopping-Event/237085573012249">event</a> and to get all the current info-like this on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Exploring-Handmade-Online-Holiday-Shopping-Event/237085573012249">FaceBook</a>! I'm asking all my followers to pass this on to their friends.<br />
<br />
Happy shopping!fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-42063208724557838112011-11-13T10:42:00.001-05:002011-11-13T11:49:58.782-05:00Is there such a thing as work life balance?I've had my shop active on <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/FishPrincessDesigns">Artfire</a> for a while. Admittedly, I really haven't put much effort into it in the last few months. It got to be a bit overwhelming. I really enjoy creating my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/fishprincessdesigns/2948429/seafoam_green_sea_glass__bracelet_with_fresh_water_pearls_and_crystals/handmade/jewelry/bracelets">jewelry</a>, but I'm not good at marketing it. Do you really expect people to be beating down door with sales if you don't try to get some exposure? Yes, I've had sales. Mostly I think I've been found through searches. So I decided it was time to figure out what I wanted to do for my business and how much time and energy I wanted to put into this. Since I have a full time career outside of Artfire, work life balance is something I really struggle with. Do you feel this way too? Life seems to tug at me in all directions at once!<br />
<br />
After laying "dormant" for a a while-was my last post really in July?I decided it was time to try to figure out how I could fit in my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/fishprincessdesigns/2981724/abalone_paua_shell_necklace_with_sterling_silver_rondelles/handmade/jewelry/necklaces">jewelry</a> business in with the rest of my life. One of the first things I came to realize is that when we try to allocate X amount of time to everything we do, life gets in the way! Work life balance needs to be just that. It doesn't mean that I have to have a rigid schedule everyday. Life happens.<br />
<br />
I decided to sit down and figure out what it is I REALLY want to do. And I came to the conclusion that I really do enjoy making jewelry. In fact, I want to further my craft. I took a beginning solder class and I want to pursue that further. As far as business is concerned, I've decide that it is something I like to do. I'm going to work a bit harder to promote my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/FishPrincessDesigns">studio</a>, and to get onto a schedule and habit of posting new items and blogging and promoting.<br />
<br />
Do you have have any suggestions on how you balance your time? I'd love to hear about your challenges.<br />
<br />
In the mean time, have a wonderful day! <br />
<br />fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-31546746712212758032011-07-05T08:02:00.000-04:002011-07-05T08:02:48.298-04:00Frozen Key Lime Pie<b><span style="color: lime;">Easy, No Bake Frozen Key Lime Pie</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FN3dFHoBY-U/ThL9E8AKFnI/AAAAAAAABP4/wbAP-_16Qdw/s1600/limepie2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FN3dFHoBY-U/ThL9E8AKFnI/AAAAAAAABP4/wbAP-_16Qdw/s320/limepie2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sGTxxewC9Gs/ThL9KGwxYXI/AAAAAAAABP8/7z4pY-TMnCs/s1600/limepie3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sGTxxewC9Gs/ThL9KGwxYXI/AAAAAAAABP8/7z4pY-TMnCs/s320/limepie3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><span style="color: lime;"> </span><br />
</b><br />
A super simple summer dessert. This key lime pie has no raw eggs in the recipe. Cool and tangy with a zesty lime flavor. Perfect for a hot summer day!<br />
<br />
<b>Ingredients:</b><br />
1 8 oz container Cool Whip-thawed<br />
1/2 c key lime juice<br />
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk<br />
<br />
1 prepared Graham cracker crust<br />
<br />
2 limes<br />
1 cup heavy whipping cream<br />
2 Tblsp confectioners sugar<br />
<br />
<b>Directions:</b><br />
In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together lime juice and sweetened condensed milk. Gently fold in Cool Whip, mix until well blended. Pour mixture into a 9-inch prepared graham cracker crust. Freeze 3-4 hours or overnight until firm.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
Zest 1 of the limes, and slice the other lime thinly for garnish. In a chilled bowl, Mix whipping cream until thickened. Add the confectioners sugar and lime zest. whip until the cream is thickened and stiff. Garnish the pie with the whipping cream and lime slices.<br />
<br />
Serves 8<br />
<br />
This is a super easy no fail recipe. It's always a hit at summer cook outs. Light and full of lime flavor. I prefer to use key lime juice, but regular lime juice can be substituted. I hope you enjoy this!fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-67556220499720845832011-05-19T20:30:00.000-04:002011-05-19T20:30:23.452-04:00Industrial Revolution. I think you need to join me.My new studio home on the web is a wonderful place called <a href="http://www.artfire.com/">Artfire</a>.I've been so happy to join a talented group of artisans and craftsmen. <a href="http://www.artfire.com/">Artfire</a> has been having a promotion in which they feature a daily Collection curated by a member-and in today's <a href="http://artfire.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=98fbd55a1d5bdaf9e1d296c27&id=22fb810cf8">email</a>...what a surprise! My collection, <a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582">Industrial Revolution</a>, was chosen! I enjoy making the collections, not only do I get to showcase some very talented artisans, I get to see many types of craftwork that I would not normally look for.<br />
<br />
And don't forget-if you use my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/users/FishPrincessDesigns/sell-crafts">referral code</a> to join up you can get your third month free! How great is that!<br />
<br />
<br />
<style>#widgetcont p{ padding:0; margin:0; } .title_brown, .title_brown a, .title_brown a:link, .title_brown a:active, .title_brown a:visited, .title_brown a:hover { color:#dfa754; font-weight:bold; }
.title_charc, .title_charc a, .title_charc a:link, .title_charc a:active, .title_charc a:visited, .title_charc a:hover { color:#333333; font-weight:bold; }</style><div id="widgetcont" style="background:url(http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/widget-bg-ltall-white.png) no-repeat; width:484px; height:806px; margin:0 auto; padding:0 0 0 0;"><p class="title_charc" style="font-weight:bold; padding:100px 0 5px 0; text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582">industrial revolution</a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--90000--82760_product_1082637654_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--120000--91608_product_46910215_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--90000--87066_product_1214751693_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--30000--15446_product_1677831908_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--90000--69225_product_1459117339_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--120000--106513_product_647634759_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--30000--5158_product_893006607_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--60000--46185_product_826085582_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--30000--8604_product_358080476_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--90000--82918_product_796946141_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--30000--29628_product_1134082901_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><p style="width:140px; height:140px; text-align:center; float:left; padding:10px 0 0 15.5px; margin:0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img style="padding:0;margin:0;border:none;" src="http://static.artfire.com/admin/product_images/thumbs/--60000--38160_product_1833504852_thumb_crop.jpg" /></a></p><br style="clear:both;" /><p style="width:350px; float:left; text-align:left; padding:4px 0 0 15px;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=20582"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/view-collection-button.png" width="154" height="43" alt="View This Entire Collection" title="View This Entire Collection" style="border:none;" /></a><br /> <a class="title_charc" title="Curated By: FishPrincessDesigns" style="font-size:11px; font-weight:normal;" href="http://www.artfire.com/users/FishPrincessDesigns">Curated By: FishPrincessD...</a></p><p style="width:85px; float:left; text-align:right; padding:15px 15px 0 0;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com"><img src="http://static.artfire.com/modules/my_collections/images/artfire-logo-dark.png" width="69" height="24" alt="Buy and Sell Handmade on ArtFire.com" title="Buy and Sell Handmade on ArtFire.com" style="border:none;" /></a><br /><a class="title_charc" style="font-size:11px; font-weight:bold;" href="http://www.artfire.com">ArtFire.com</a></p></div><div style="clear:both; text-align:center; font-size:12px; font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=gift_hub">Unique Gifts</a></div><br />
So need five great reasons to join me?<br />
Here's my top five:<br />
<br />
1. A fabulous group of quality artisans. I used to sell on Etsy and always felt I was competing with resellers and millions of other pieces of jewelry. Here on Artfire you notice the difference in quality as soon as you start browsing.<br />
<br />
2. Reasonable usage fees- low monthly fees and you can list as much as you want-no more paying relisting fees just to get your product higher in the searches.<br />
<br />
3. A commitment to the artisan members by the staff. I can't say how important this is. I think Artfire is continually working on its site and giving us all the tools we can use. The staff is quick to help out and answer questions and give suggestions. A great help to those of us how are fairly new to online selling. They listen to their community and implement many of our suggestions.<br />
<br />
4. Feeding our items into the search engines-If you're a seller you know how important it is to be "found".<br />
<br />
5.You'll make friendships with many talented artisans. If you need some help you can just give a shout out and someone will give you a hand. <br />
<br />
I hope you will think about joining me on <a href="http://www.artfire.com/users/FishPrincessDesigns/sell-crafts">Artfire.</a> I can't wait to see your studio.fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-61790169864418525602011-04-03T16:48:00.002-04:002011-04-03T16:50:01.875-04:00Working my way through the 45 Day Success Guide-Week Three<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ot1X9Jh7NEE/TZjZkrisPVI/AAAAAAAABJo/dpEk1lSHaj8/s320/sea+glass+earring+collage+04-03-11.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
Well it's been a bit over a month that I've had my <a href="http://www.artfire.com/users/FishPrincessDesigns">Artfire Studio</a> up and running. I'm still working at my own pace on the <a href="http://www.artfire.com/users/45dayguide/blog/c/week-three">Artfire 45 Day Success guide</a>. I've been taking my time to set-up my shop, join some guilds and do a bit more in the way of promotion. Here's some of what I've been working on:<br />
<ul><li>Day 15-Setting up your SEO testing. SEO? anything like REO? What the heck is SEO and how do test it? SEO means <b>s</b>earch <b>e</b>ngine <b>o</b>ptimization. In other words, it's how people find you in search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines. Each search engine has it's own way of ranking your listings. It's usually a combination of your product title and description. By testing different ways to write your descriptions you can help determine what descriptions work best for you. I try to vary my titles-especially when I list similar items. Today I listed 13 pairs of <a href="http://www.artfire.com/users/FishPrincessDesigns">sea glass earrings</a>. In some of the listings I started off with the words "sea glass" in others "beach glass" in others I started out with other descriptions. This way I hope to capture the attention of people searching using different terms.</li>
<li>Day 16-Has you listing some of your prior work. I listed some things I've listed when I was on Etsy, but that I haven't listed yet on Artfire. Many times people will list things from their art or craft shows or prior sold items.</li>
<li>Day 17-Meet the staff. The staff often posts in the forums-hey it's nice to know that frittering away some of their day hanging out with us too! Tony, one of the co-founders is usually checking in daily. If you have a problem just ask. I had an issue come up this week with my studio announcement and they we right on top of it. Good work!</li>
<li>Day 18-It's a work day. Hey it's fly fishing season for me around here. I think I'm heading to the stream. Work can wait. The trout won't.</li>
<li>Day 19-Setting up your Rapid Cart and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/FishPrincessDesigns">Facebook</a> Kiosk. If you look to the right side of my blog you'll see a Rapid Cart feature. I've got it set up to view 6 random items from my studio. The cool thing about it is, that instead of just linking to my studio, you can actually purchase something without navigating away! I haven't had any on try it yet. But for my type of blog, which brings in a lot of people looking for things likes recipes or tutorials, I'm hoping it will be a nice feature. The same thing goes for the Facebook Kiosk-it's a check-out application on your business page.</li>
<li>Day 20-<a href="http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=forums&op=view_topic&tid=1840">More SEO</a>-by now you should be starting to get more comfortable with writing titles and descriptions. The one thing to remember is that your not really writing nice flowery titles naming your products. Think of them as you would try to "Google" an item.I suggest searching on a couple of different search engines on how your titles show up. Here's a good example. If you search "<b>strawberry jello pretzel desert" </b>in exactly that order you'll find my recipe <b>number 1 </b>in Google-and I might as it's been in number 1 (or very close to it) since 2009! I even beat out places like cooks.com and allrecipes.com! On Bing and Yahoo it doesn't come up until page 3. It also places on the first page on Ask.com.. So you can see I'm happy most people use Google and I try to optimize my titles for Google searches. One of the things you'll notice in my posts are links. Click on my titles and the highlighted words and you 'll be taken to something I've mentioned. Did you know that having these links in your posts actually improve your credibility? I didn't. But having links in your posts increase the likelihood that you will increase your ranking in the search engines. But, don't over do it. You want to be credible without selling every word to an add or link! Don't you just hate it when you get to a post and just about every word in the post is an ad!</li>
</ul>I hope you're finding my journey interesting and helpful. I'd love to hear how some of you are doing setting up your shops and studios. If you have been around for a while, I'd love to hear your suggestions.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: georgia,bookman old style,palatino linotype,book antiqua,palatino,trebuchet ms,helvetica,garamond,sans-serif,arial,verdana,avante garde,century gothic,comic sans ms,times,times new roman,serif;">Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain. ~Author Unknown</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #4c1130; color: #674ea7; font-family: georgia,bookman old style,palatino linotype,book antiqua,palatino,trebuchet ms,helvetica,garamond,sans-serif,arial,verdana,avante garde,century gothic,comic sans ms,times,times new roman,serif;"></span><br />
<div style="color: #674ea7;"><br />
</div><br />
<span style="background-color: #4c1130;"></span>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-52847354617940281992011-03-22T20:30:00.001-04:002011-03-22T20:31:55.895-04:00Working my way through the 45 Day Success Guide-Week Two<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wB6iBhUhsxk/TYkwxaHm-YI/AAAAAAAABJI/e04YKOHXhaY/s1600/blog+collage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wB6iBhUhsxk/TYkwxaHm-YI/AAAAAAAABJI/e04YKOHXhaY/s320/blog+collage2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Well, I'm working my way through the <a href="http://www.artfire.com/users/45dayguide/blog/c/week-two">Artfire 45 Day Success Guide</a>, albeit it's going a lot more slowly than the 45 days. Like many others, my Artfire Studio isn't my only job. I have to fit it into my schedule as time permits. I check in daily-I'm hoping to see that first sale on Artfire-I usually post in the forums, check out facebook when I can and even sneak in a couple of tweets. When do I have time to create? So here's the second weeks goals:<br />
<ul><li>Day 8-Listing and Starting your blog. One of the features of Artfire is that your studio has it's own blog tab. I find this a bit redundant for those of us who already have outside blogs such as this one. I have posted a couple of articles, but I'll stick with this as my main blog. The upside is that Google seems to like blogs when it crawls for content. The goal is to post 10 more items and 3 posts in the forums.</li>
<li>Day 9-Studio Clean-Up-silly me-I thought this meant the cleaning genie was going to appear at my house and clean up my studio-A prayer answered! funny thing, that's not what Artfire had in mind. Their idea of studio clean-up is to add categories to your studio. Lucky for me I had them already in place. Oh yeah list another 10 items. Well, I'm still working on that.</li>
<li>Day 10-Work Day! Yeah a day off to create....or just catch a few extra zzzz's. This is the kind of a day I can enjoy!</li>
<li>Day 11-Social Media Set-up Day. Now I know why they gave me that day off yesterday-Artfire want to lull me into believing I was sailing right along. Yea, more like a moth drawn to a flame. Here's todays goals: Set-up a <a href="http://twitter.com/fishprincess">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/FishPrincessDesigns?sk=wall">Facebook Fan Page</a>. But if that wasn't enough How about 3 tweets and 2 Facebook posts, 3 Forum posts and just for good measure post 5 more items. Hey these people aren't fooling around! Well I may not be the most Social Media savvy person on my block, but I do manage a tweet now and then, and Facebook-I don't like to be too spammy. In fact, The fastest way to have me "unfollow" you is when I see dozens of posts from your shop. </li>
<li>Day 12-Social Media Day Two-What there's more? Actually Artfire recommends an outside blog...like here on Blogger. Well at least I've got that covered. Maybe I should tweet about it...</li>
<li>Day 13-Listing and Interacting-Hey isn't this Social Media Day 3? List 5 more items-Tweet one and feature another on Facebook. Didn't I say something about not being spammed with all those look at this item I listed today posts. Really people, I don't mind looking at all your things, but not all in one day. And make it a bit interesting for me.</li>
<li>Day 14-Work Day! thank goodness. I need to take a nap.</li>
</ul>Actually, following the <a href="http://www.artfire.com/users/45dayguide/blog/c/week-two">45 Day Success Guide </a>has done a few good things for me, it keeps me off the streets, out of the bar, neglecting my family, shot my diet all to Hell...no really, I find myself at least trying to maintain a bit of a schedule of working on my studio daily. I just need a bit more time to create and photograph my items-it isn't easy to get natural daylight at 9 pm in Michigan this time of year!<br />
<br />
So if you're new to Artfire...How goes your Week? For the rest of you lucky souls, why don't you go check out some of my latest <a href="http://www.artfire.com/users/FishPrincessDesigns">designs</a>. And how about leaving me a link to your <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/FishPrincessDesigns?sk=wall">Facebook Fan Page</a> or your <a href="http://twitter.com/fishprincess">Twitter</a> Link. I promise-I won't spam you! And for all you lurkers-Hey leave me a comment!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: georgia,bookman old style,palatino linotype,book antiqua,palatino,trebuchet ms,helvetica,garamond,sans-serif,arial,verdana,avante garde,century gothic,comic sans ms,times,times new roman,serif;"><b>Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. ~Thomas Edison</b><br />
</span>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-47331730102586215762011-03-22T07:35:00.002-04:002011-03-22T20:39:02.561-04:00It's A Handmade World: A Glimpse of Spring<a href="http://hopesanddreamsstudio.blogspot.com/2011/03/glimpse-of-spring.html#comment-form">It's A Handmade World: A Glimpse of Spring</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-csa-hvwqP6s/TYiK9YrC82I/AAAAAAAABI0/xI9ofyDkkEY/s1600/seafoam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-csa-hvwqP6s/TYiK9YrC82I/AAAAAAAABI0/xI9ofyDkkEY/s1600/seafoam.jpg" /></a></div>If your looking for some spring gifts, or just some inspiration, how about going over to the blog <a href="http://hopesanddreamsstudio.blogspot.com/2011/03/glimpse-of-spring.html#comment-form">It's a Handmade World</a>. She put together a blog post where artisans with handmade goods can post there items. This weeks theme is spring. It's quite a collection.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: georgia,bookman old style,palatino linotype,book antiqua,palatino,trebuchet ms,helvetica,garamond,sans-serif,arial,verdana,avante garde,century gothic,comic sans ms,times,times new roman,serif;">No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~Proverb</span>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-77764509280389486502011-03-18T19:34:00.000-04:002011-03-18T19:34:42.065-04:00Red Winged Blackbird<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://birdquote.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/red-winged_blackbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="http://birdquote.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/red-winged_blackbird.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">What's your harbinger of Spring? For some it's a robin, but here in Michigan we get robins that stay all winter. For me it's the first red-winged blackbird that I see.I look forward to seeing the birds and hearing their distinctive <a href="http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=25">call</a>. I got a bit curious about my favorite spring bird and found out some interesting items about him on <a href="http://spiritlodge.yuku.com/topic/4087">this entry</a>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 8pt; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">T</span><span style="font-size: small;">he blackbird has long been associated with omens and mysticism. Its color, alone, has evoked both fear and promise. Although called a blackbird, only the males are black. Females usually have a streaky, brown plumage. Not all blackbirds are black. One variety has a yellow head and throat which stands out strongly against the black plumage. The yellow and black coloring has long been associated with the Archangel Auriel. Auriel is considered the tallest of the angels, with eyes that can see across eternity. This being oversees all of nature and all of the nature spirits. Auriel has traditionally been associated with the summer season.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Another variation of the blackbird is the red-winged blackbird. This bird has a red path on its wings, with a dash of yellow as well. These colors connect this bird to the level know as Binah in the Quabalistic Tree of Life. This is the level associated with the Dark Mother and primal feminine energies. This bird has ties to all of the creative forces of nature. On the Tree of Life, black is the color for Bnah and red is the color for Geburah (Mars type of energy). Yellow or amber is the color of the path that connects the two, and it is the path of Cancer, the mother sign of the zodiac. The red-winged blackbird is thus a totem associated with the stellar energies of Cancer.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Who knew? My astrological sign is Cancer, maybe that's why I like this bird so much. Anyway, I hope you like my harbinger of spring. Do leave a comment and share with me what you consider to be a sure sign of spring. I can't wait to hear what you have to say!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: georgia,bookman old style,palatino linotype,book antiqua,palatino,trebuchet ms,helvetica,garamond,sans-serif,arial,verdana,avante garde,century gothic,comic sans ms,times,times new roman,serif;">"<span style="color: #0b5394;">It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">do</i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain"</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;"> </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Until later,</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Enjoy your day. </span></span></div>fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895474161306506419.post-40422759605453768382011-03-07T20:19:00.001-05:002011-03-21T17:10:40.107-04:00It's time for Paczki! Polish jelly filled doughnut recipe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ohgrlenA-KE/TXV-WvkiRNI/AAAAAAAABIw/7CFnSjoVtaQ/s1600/paczki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ohgrlenA-KE/TXV-WvkiRNI/AAAAAAAABIw/7CFnSjoVtaQ/s1600/paczki.jpg" /></a></div><br />
What Mardi Gras. In the Polish tradition of Fat Tuesday, we enjoy eating Paczki or Polish jelly filled doughnuts. The Lenten tradition of fasting called for using up the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit that you had in your home. My Aunt Sophie and grandmother, Babcia, would make these delicious filled doughnuts. Certainly a treat you waited for once a year! This recipe comes from my brothers collection of family recipes. I hope you enjoy it!<br />
<br />
1 package dry yeast<br />
1/4 cup lukewarm water<br />
1/3 cup butter<br />
2/3 cup sugar<br />
1 whole egg plus 3 egg yolks<br />
1 teaspoon vanilla<br />
1 teaspoon grated orange peel<br />
3/4 teaspoon salt<br />
4 cups flour<br />
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam<br />
<br />
Optional: 1/4 cup white raisins<br />
<br />
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and egg yolks. Add the yeast mixture, vanilla, orange rind and salt. Gradually add flour, and optional raisins, blend until well mixed.Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover, and set aside in warm area until the dough has doubled in size. On floured board roll out until about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into circles with a glass or biscuit cutter. Place a spoonful of raspberry jam at the center of each circle, fold in half, pinching closed sealing in the jam. Roll into ball shape. Fry in hot oil (350 degrees) or shortening until golden brown. Transfer to paper towels, to absorb excess oil. When cool, dust lightly with powdered sugar. Note: for a lighter texture, the filled and formed paczki can be set aside to rise again slightly before frying.<br />
<br />
You can also fill the paczki after frying with a cake decorating tipped bag. Try lemon curd, custard, or even prune filling for a change! Whatever filling you choose enjoy these treats today!fishprincessdesignshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00102558936176140925noreply@blogger.com3