I've been Cheating..

Greetings peeps!

Yes... It's true. I've been cheating on my yarn stash with bird seed beads! I've always had an interest in jewelry making and now I have the chance to fulfill a dream if you will. In college I had the opportunity to take a jewelry making class. However the teacher was a pill and quite frankly, a know it all bitch. Just sayin... So although I was enrolled, I did drop the class and haven't had a chance to learn again until now.

You are now looking at my very first beading project.

This little one inch square took FOUR AND A HALF HRS!!!! What the what?? I had no idea how tedious this would be. Your saying to yourself, 'But they are tiny little beads you fool!' Yes, yes I know all that, but geez. I will chalk it up to me being a beginner and not really knowing what I'm doing. It was the same way when I first started to learn crochet. I thought it would take me at least a month to make a scarf and now it takes only a few days. :)

I actually do enjoy doing the beading though. It's rather relaxing and I look forward to finishing this project, which will be transformed into a bracelet. Yay for me! I figured I'd make it easy on myself and buy a kit so that I would have everything I need. Here's what came in it.

You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them, but in any case it came with a ton of beads, scissors, glue, a loom, a bead scooper, stopper beads, thread, a beading needle, and my teacher actually gave me the thread holder. So this is it and I'm on my way! Wish me luck because I have the feeling I'm gonna need it.

***Peace***

A. Sparkle

So...... I've been a bit lazy, but not really.

Greetings peoples!

Welp, let's just point out the obvious.. We haven't talked since the beginning of last month. My bad.... My world has consisted around travel, visits with family, watching a lot of Adventure Time (gotta love Finn & Jake), a little bit of stress (more like a lot), turning my living room into a crochet sweat shop, some custom scarf orders, making other items for my Etsy shop, doing research for said shop, learning how to do some beading projects, and........ well yeah that's it! I'd say that's enough right?? 

I'm exhausted right now just thinking about all of it! So anyway, I thought I'd share with pictures what I've been working on and stuff like that. 

The Gray on Grey Project

It's hard taking good pictures of your creations when you don't have a model, so please forgive these less than gorgeous photos. :o) I made this scarf for a handsome fellow who requested a gray scarf. I really dig stripes for any occasion really, so I gave him Grey on Gray. I was pretty happy with the results, and I got a nice hug to boot! Oh and the kermit green glove I have on... Those are my crafting gloves. You crafting addicts know what I'm talking about. Sometimes you gotta have them so your hands don't fall off to the ground. It's not conducive to being productive when you have no hands.. 

   

 Fun Times at IKEA

My old mattress was a horribly noisy, blue monster that would wake you up in the middle of the night and make you to do gymnastics, causing your back to feel like you were 88 yrs old when you woke up for work the next day. So yes it was time for a new one. IKEA was my go to for a memory foam mattress that wasn't too pricey. I didn't even have to promise over my first born son or daughter. I a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y loooooooove my new mattress! I got to pick it out from the racks and everything. It came rolled up like a sleeping bag and then fluffed up to be the magical wonderfulness that I now rest on nightly. While I was at IKEA I saw this cute kid nomming away on his mommy's purse. :)

 The Fall is Here Scarf

Pay no attention to the cheesy Instagram border on this photo. You know how it is when you're experimenting. Speaking of which, are you on Instagram too?? Addictive, am I right?? Anyways, this is the first official scarf I've made for the shop for this Fall. I dig it. A lot... Blues & greens will be in this season and this scarf is super sooooooooft!! Who doesn't love a soft non-itchy scarf right?

UGA or Falcons Fanatic Scarf

So I did another custom order for a client in her favorite sports teams colors. How fun is that right? I loved being able to experiment with the design by using double crochet and criss-cross double crochet to make textured squares. Fun times!

Triplicity 

Triplicity is the newest sparkle baby addition in my Etsy store! I fell in love with about 6 sets of colors, before putting them all back and settling on this one. How pretty are these?? I really do adore this wash cloth and face scrubbies, and I can't wait to give them a good home! I really need to make a set for myself now, now that these are finished. I gave a set of wash cloths similar to these to my new neighbor as a housewarming gift and they went over very well.

So that's it for now. I'm currently working on a new cowl in green, the next project will be hats that I'm donating to cancer patients, & then in the middle of that I'm learning very slowly might I add, how to make beaded necklaces and bracelets. Hopefully I'll be up to par for Spring and can offer some sparkle beaded babies at that time. Yay!

Before I forget, if you're on Twitter or Facebook you can follow me there as well!

FB: https://www.facebook.com/EclecticOasisCrochetArt

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ASparkleThe1

Enjoy your Sunday!

**Peace**

A. Sparkle

Hell Yes! It's Sushi Thursday.. Bento Box Edition.

Greetings friends!

That's right!?! Two blog posts in one week! For some reason or another, most everyone at my job was in a crappy mood today. Maybe it was because it's a short work week, and everybody knows that short work weeks take much longer than your run of the mill 5 day week. It's like because you got to skip a day, the week is supposed to feel like you only worked two days instead of four, but working four days feels like five days anyway! 

I, on the other hand was looking forward to Food Adventure #28, known as 'Hell yes! It's sushi Thursday!' Keep in mind that I've only had sushi at the most like 2 other times than this, so I am by no means a pro. However I was still excited to try something new. Me and a co-struggler went to this quaint place called Kazu and had sushi on our lunch break.

It's one of those places that you're not totally sure about, but since it's kinda small you know that Grandma or Auntie is in the back making the meals and everything is gonna be alright. The kool thing about Kazu is that they have both Chinese & Japanese food all in the same restaurant. There were so many options to chose from and I loved it!

I decided to go with the deliciousness that is the Bento Box! But first came the egg roll appetizer on a cute little platter. Now if you like Chinese food, you know that all egg rolls are not created equal............... I am a total carnivore, so normally I like a little pork in mine, but this had none and was still superb!   

Next was the great Bento Box!!! Gotta love a lot of choices right!? It came with crab rangoon, yummy red sauce, 4 California rolls, a hellava lot of fried rice, and teriyaki chicken with onions bathed in soy sauce!! To die for.. Total repeat performance...

I don't know if it was because we were the only ones in there, but the staff was very sweet and nice, and the food came quickly as well. Seeing as in they aren't too far away from me in general, I will be going back to grace them with my presence and hard earned duckets in the near future!

I think the next time I go, I will mix it up and stick to all sushi and get the full sushi experience. Did you have a food adventure today too? Let me know!

*Peace*

A. Sparkle

And Then There were Enchiladas!

Greetings friends!

I've been on a healthy food kick lately if you didn't know. I'm finding that I really do love to cook. A lot of times when I come home I want to take the easy (lazy) way out and just make a sandwich or eat some hotdogs. However, now that I can no longer deny that I am a full fledged grown up that can tell children to go sit down somewhere and they actually listen, I figured that it's time to woman up about cooking. 

I've always generally enjoyed cooking or baking, I was just lazy about it. I mean... who wants to stand in the kitchen for an hour or possibly more to cook a meal when you can just go down to your friendly Micky D's? Well, now I do. I want to stand in the kitchen and make a healthy tasty meal that I prepared with loving care for myself. It's a wondrous things to follow a recipe and it actually turn out tasty and yet it's healthy!

Right now I'm really in love with Skinny Taste recipes, because not only are the recipes yummy, it includes the calorie/points/blah blah blah for whatever 'diet' program you're following. I decided Monday was enchilada night and I figured some yellow rice would go nicely with it.

Top left we have chicken and seasonings cooking up in the skillet, top right is the tomato sauce that you throw together (I added in some Sriracha which I'm newly obsessed about), bottom left is the yellow rice (Zantarain's), and bottom right are the rolled tomato basil tortillas, stuffed with chicken mix, and covered with tomato sauce and a fiesta blend cheese.

The yummy baked gooey goodness that is enchiladas!!

My baking dish wasn't quite wide enough so the ends of the tortillas were turned up. It didn't affect the taste of the enchiladas at all though. I also topped them with some low fat sour cream. SO GOoOoOoD!!

Thursday will be food adventure #28! I'm going to eat sushi for only like the 2nd time in  my entire life. I have no idea what to get other than California rolls. I hear that all 'rolls' are pretty good. I don't know though... Any suggestions??

~Peace~

A. Sparkle

THE Sparkle Baby...

Greetings!

Well.. I don't know about you, but my Labor day weekend has just been good overall thus far! Things may be looking up for me more than I expected and I like it. I like it a lot. :)

Anyhoo, I wanted to share with you what I've been working on lately. My friends let me introduce to you one of the most favorite things I've made so far.

THE Sparkle Baby.

I consider all of my work to me my little sparkle babies, but this here clutch purse is the ultimate sparkle. It has little gold sparkle flecks to prove it.

See!!!

It's a great accessory for a fancy dinner date, or even just a great accompaniment for an outfit you want to dress up. I really need to make one for myself, because I am just itching to take this one for a spin around town. It's the type of purse that gives you that extra self confidence when you step out of the house because you know that you are sophisticated and shitty sharp!

As I often do, I was trolling on YouTube for new stitches to try out and use and came across this beautiful criss-cross stitch. I fell in love immediately....

Considering the fact that I don't like carrying a purse where pens can poke through and change can get lost, this purse is lined with a soft cotton fabric and a sturdy interfacing to give it stability. Everything was done by hand, so you know it has extra sparkle love in it! :)

I will also have a matching necklace and bullion bracelet available soon as well, so be on the look out.

Until the next time.....

**Peace**

A. Sparkle

Just One of Dem Days....

Greetings peoples,

I'm just gonna say the thing that you're not supposed to say......

I kinda feel guilty about it... but..

Sometimes I just need to be alone.

This whole week has been like this song, minus the relationship nonsense of it all.

 The thing is is that, I don't want to be totally alone. I just want people to give me some space. That's all I'm asking for... and again I'm gonna say another thing that you're not supposed to say.

Wrapped up in my blanket of hostility, I just really don't care right now about what's going on with you.

When you think about it, I'm actually saving you from subjecting yourself to my hostility, which has nothing to do with you whatsoever. So in a sense... I'm caring about you, without caring about what's going on with you.

No, I don't care..... that your dog threw up on you...

 That you bought that new dress you've been eyeballing...

How you can't stand your new boss...

or even how your kids got in a fight at school today.

So level with me o'sweet blogosphere.... Do you ever just need time to be in your own headspace? Without the weight of the world/other peoples problems on your shoulders?? I mean, let's just be real about it shall we.. It takes a lot of effort to sit and listen to people talk about themselves all the day is long. Am I wrong here?

A. Sparkle

Food Adventure # 27 or Something Like That...

Greetings Friends!

I don't really know if it's my 27th food adventure or not, but I guesstimated... 27 sounds like a good number right? Yeah, I thought so too..

I was coming back from mattress shopping on Saturday when I decided it was time for another food adventure. Speaking of mattresses... can I just say that memory foam is really the only acceptable way to go.  And if your fine as hell, friendly neighborhood mattress salesman doesn't tell you how to properly test out a mattress to see if it will work for you, then just walk out and go to another place. So I got to ogle eye candy at the mattress store and then go for a delicious Vietnamese sammach here at the yellow shop pictured below.

I must admit that although I had been wanting to try this place for quite some time, I was intimidated for months on end, because I had no idea what a Vietnamese sammach would be like or what it entailed. I'm very glad I gave it a chance though. The smell alone will carry you by your nose to come in and have a taste.

I was charmed from the first step I took inside this place. It's very warm and inviting, with great art hanging on the walls (which I always appreciate), there were games to sit down and play if you so chose, and Q who made my sammach treated me like family. She was really quite delightful. The type of person who has such good energy that you felt like you just got a really good hug without actually getting one.

There are maybe 2-3 tables in there to sit down at so that you may enjoy your bahn-mi sammach, while the wonderful aroma of food swirls around you.

I had the Lemongrass chicken bahn mi and it was awesome! Besides the chicken, there were pickled cucumbers & carrots, cilantro, and some sort of spicy chili Thai sauce that was on there. I forget what she called it, but it was red and seemed to have this sweet and spicy thing going on making my tummy do a happy dance!

It's the type of shop you can go to once a week to sit and relax in and have wonderful good times. The prices of bahn mi's are very reasonable. I would've taken a picture of said bahn mi, but.... it was all gone before I realized what had happened. lol! So.. if you find yourself in the East Atlanta Village, go visit Q and try one of her bahn mi!!

***Peace

A. Sparkle

Nobody Told Me...

Greetings!

Nobody told me..... that it would be so hard to build an empire and take over the world! But I digress... I went balls to the walls making necklaces and bracelets over weekend and it felt damn good. I've been so focused  (in otherwords stressed) on the business side of things, that I hadn't given myself any time to create new sparkle babies. I think my poor yarn stash was feeling neglected!

But not anymore! I've picked some bright and beautiful colors for the summer and I'm very excited about them. So I made a few 'Dope Ropes' which are my new lines of necklaces, bracelets, and many many many many bangles.

Dope Ropes

The many many many many bangles

The Bracelets

There is much more, but I figured I'd give you just a smattering of what's to come! Some bracelets and bangles are already photographed and are for sale in my Etsy Shop, so run and check it out! I'm geeked about the new additions and I have personally tested and worn my own stuff, so I can tell you with all honesty that they are not itchy and will not make you hot despite the fact that it's yarn! So that's all for now kiddies!

\\Peace//

A. Sparkle 

Bracelets & Little 5 Points

Greetings!

I'm proud to present my newest sale! I decided that it was high time I made something for myself to just bop around town in, right? I like the side effects of self promotion, because someone spotted it and wanted one too.

Of course I was happy to make her one too! Another satisfied customer.

Thought I'd share a food adventure with you too. Since we're both jewelry whores, me and my friend, Stacie D went to Little 5 Points to acquire some new things. L5P is the spot to find the new new! While we were there, we stopped in OMG Taco. I've never been, but always wanted to go and I'm glad we did. 

Although I didn't dig the high tables, (because I'm a shorty doo wop) the atmosphere was good , the food was slammin', and the guy taking the order was cute. 

You can't complain about cute guys.. :)

Omg Fries! Very good. Could possibly be addictive. Has cheese, lettuce, chicken, and Omg sauce.

So that's it. More pictures coming tomorrow of new products.

Antiques, Pot Pie, and Limeade Oh My!

Hello world!

Thought I'd throw you a few of my weekend adventures today! I just recently found out the goodness of a nearby antique market. It's only open once a month and it just so happened that el parentas were visiting, so me and the mama had to take advantage of it! There were actually two different locations, so we only scratched the tip of the iceberg by going to one. When I tell you they had everything that you could possibly ever think you even wanted........ Some overpriced, some not, but you will run into that anywhere.

Later that evening we got a little creative in the kitchen with a cheeseburger pot pie. 

Turns out pretty, right? It's very easy.. Just lean ground beef, ketchup, onions, sharp cheddar cheese, & pie shells. You really can't go wrong!

Especially when you have limeade to go with it. :) 

Very good weekend indeed! Did you have any adventures?

***Peace***

A. Sparkle