Amy Peters' Studio Buzz

How to Tuesday: Roasted Brussel Sprouts

A few months back someone I follow on twitter @inspiredRD suggested we should give a vegetable a try we hate.  The idea made my stomach turn. 

I have hated brussel sprouts since I was a kid.  The funny thing is my kids LOVE them.  Years ago I was in a grocery store and Kyra was begging me to get them.  The thought of steaming them and smelling the brussel sprout smell.  UGH. 

I was telling her she wouldn't like them and that yuck...mom hates them.  A little old lady walked up to me and patted me on the shoulder and said.  "Buy her the brussel sprouts sweetie".  So I did.  I steamed them and the kids loved them.  But I still wasn't eating them...EVER.

But a challenge is a challenge and I decided to try and see if I could like them. 

So...I bought a bag. 

1) Drizzle them with olive oil.

2) Sprinkle on some kosher salt. 

3) Baked them at 450 degrees until they were brown.  In our oven about 20 minutes. Then a miracle happened. 

4) I ate them, and REALLY REALLY liked them. 

Funny...just looking at the picture I want to buy some for this week's menu. 

Is there a vegetable you loathe?  Have you tried cooking it a different way?  Maybe what you hated as a kid, you could learn to love!

 

 

For me Monday: letting go of too many hats

Have you ever read the book Caps for sale?  It was a favorite of mine when I was a kid and I still read it to my kids. 

If you aren't familiar with it the story is about a cap salesman who walks around town with all of his hats on top of his head, selling his wares. After a busy day of sales he falls asleep under a tree.  While he is sleeping a band of monkeys steal all but his own personal cap.  He yells, stomps up and down to try to get the monkeys to return the caps.  Finally in frustration he throws his cap onto the ground.  The monkeys do the same thing.  And he gets his caps back.

The story is so how I've been feeling lately. I've been wearing too many hats. So often I fight and struggle when really I should just let go. 

Do you ever feel that way?  Letting go is sometime the hardest thing to do, but often the right choice.  I've been working lately at letting go of things that aren't working in my life and business.

Is there something you need to let go of?  What's holding you back from letting go? 

 

 

Blog Sugar Tickets {winner}

Yay!  The winner of our 2 blog sugar tickets is lisa @thebeadgirl.  Congratulations, I was so excited for you when random picked your number. I'll send you an email separately to get your mailing address so I can send along the tickets.

Blog Sugar Ticket Giveaway!

Yay!  Our second Blog Sugar giveaway...

This time for some extra fun.  We'll be giving away two tickets to the event, so you can bring a friend. If you don't remember from last month.  Blog sugar is a faith based blogging conference in California that we are sponsoring. 

Blog Sugar 2011 Sunday, September 25 3:00pm-10:00pm Westminster, CA

 

Let us know why you want to go to blog sugar and who you'll bring for a chance to win. 

Extra entries:  Tweet about the giveaway, Facebook about the giveaway, Blog about the giveaway.

We will let Random choose the winner on Sunday night at 9pm PST. 

 

Handmade community standing together.

Yesterday afternoon a friend of mine posted a link to another jeweler's blog.  Unfortunately as is all too common in our industry someone had knocked them off.  And this time it was allegedly a big store.   Urban Outfitters. 

This is one of the things that makes my blood boil.  It's happened to me on so many occasions and it's hurts.  Both financially as well as emotionally.  So I'm here posting about it to support her!

I don't know this jeweler personally, but I'd seen her work on Etsy a few times in treasuries and really liked her designs.

By 5pm yesterday, it was on Huffington Post. By 6pm I'd read it on eight of my friend's Facebook pages.  By 7pm it was trending on Twitter.  What a great way for other designers and artists to come out and support one another. 

In the design and art community there really is an issue with knock offs. While it doesn't seem to adversely affect larger companies because they just move on after the PR storm is over. It can wreak havoc on designers and small businesses.  I've had it happen to me on many many occasions and it's not fun.

As consumers we need to be aware.   Shopping with independent artist is a great way to support Made in the USA products and designers. Shop locally at galleries that suport made in the USA artists.  Learn about the 3/50 project and how your money spent at small retailers helps out your local community better than shopping at big box stores.  Show the larger corporations that ripping off designs from independent artists is not Ok. Speak with your dollars, and maybe they will hear us.  Independent artists work is often cheaper and you are secure in the fact that you are helping support a person.  

OK, off my soapbox now.

 

 

 

For me Monday: A Clean house

For those of you that know me, know I don't do well with mayhem around me in the form of clutter.   Granted, I'm usually the one that creates the most mayhem in the form of projects and the like.  But I function so much better if I can start out my week with all of the laundry done, the grocery shopping done, kids homework complete and a menu plan made for the week.  I feel calm and a little more organized if I start the week out with a clean slate so to speak.  With us traveling on the weekends so much lately our house was literally a wreck and the laundry was overflowing. 

We spent all day Saturday cleaning and scrubbing the house top to bottom.  The kids had a fun double sleepover as a reward for helping so much. 

I will spare you the before and after pictures.  Needless to say...I'm much calmer today!

Do you like a clean house or can you see past the mess?  How to you start out your week right?  To do list?  Or do you just wing it?

 

Featured Store: Polkadots and Popsicles

Today we are going to take a peek into a fun shop in Gilbert Arizona.  I just love Heidi's energy and the shop looks adorable. 

Name of your store:

Polka Dots & Popsicles

How long has your store been in business?

September 1, 2010

Where are you located? 

2206 East Williams Field Road, Suite 104

Gilbert Arizona

85295

**in SanTan Village, next to Famous Dave’s**

phone: 480-963-1101

email: [email protected]

Heidi Doyle & John Braden

What makes your store unique?

We carry artists from all over the world, and have an abundance of amazing stories! From jewelry that supports villages, items made from veggies & paper from a war zone, treasures that support single Mom’s, Angels that each have their own story & of course the very beginning of our store was a call to Amy after wearing her necklaces for many years I knew her treasures would be a HUGE part of our dream. We also have a wonderful kids area that has a palm tree & lighted pussy willows behind the picket fence and a Man Cave guaranteed to make one giggle!

 

What is something you would like customers to know about your store?

 

When you walk thru our doors we truly believe it’s an experience that you will want to take time to savor, from the wonderful way it smells, to the messages that touch your soul bringing goose bumps & giggles all at once! Laughter & tears are daily occurrences at Polka Dots & Popsicles; we believe we have brought the best of the best into one location; we did the traveling for you!! You will feel welcomed & reminded of some of life’s simplest, yet most remarkable joys as you meander through our whimsical & inspirational gallery.

Do you give back to your community? How?

YES!!! We participate in many local charities. We collected dresses for the Cinderella Affair, participated in the Boys & Girls Club annual fundraiser, we are involved in a Hope & a Future & closest to our heart is our own non-profit organization called Sharing Hope, that was started in the name of my 9 year old daughter & helps collect electronic gaming systems to help kids that are hospitalized by providing them with something to keep them busy & keep their minds off of the ordeal they are facing.

 

Do you have a Facebook, Blog or website?

Our Website.  (Check us out, currently you can browse about and take a peek at who we are! We hope to be up & running for online purchasing any day now!

Our Facebook page!

And I am working on getting our Blog underway!! Amy has told me it’s a must.

 

How long have you been carrying Amy Peters’ Studio jewelry?

Since Day 1 of course

How did you first discover Amy Peters’ Studio jewelry?

I found her treasures in Fireworks Gallery in Seattle. I have loved her wonderful work forever! I own many of her pieces, my 2 matte chokers: Follow Your Heart & Life is a Journey, are pieces I never take off, as they are constant reminders to me of 2 very important messages I believe to be integral in keeping me on track in my journey through this crazy thing we call life.

 

Which collections of jewelry do you carry from the Amy Peters’ Studio line?

We have the Matte Chokers, the mini fortunes, the Be True To You bracelets, Simple Secrets, the Stacking Rings & the amazing pewter pieces that allow people to create their own story in a unique piece of jewelry!

Share a fun/interesting/heartfelt story about Amy Peters’ Studio jewelry:

 

Amy was truly the very beginning of my journey to this dream that is now a very real reality called Polka Dots & Popsicles. When I decided I was truly going to go for it, quit my big girl job & cash in all my chips, my very first baby step was to remove my Follow Your Heart choker from my neck & flip it over to see who the amazing artist was that I had been wearing around my neck for so many years. Amy was my first call to inquire if she would even consider allowing a girl with a dream to carry her beautiful treasures! Not only did she agree but helped point me in the direction of many other wonderful artists & even more importantly wonderful people!! We visited Amy on our journey searching for what was to become Polka Dots & Popsicles she was so warm & wonderful & spoke words of encouragement that kept me going & I do believe I also gained a wonderful new friend.

(Oh!! And guess what Amy & I discovered a few weeks ago we share the same Birthday!! How ironic is that! And, we are both 21)

 

What other collections do you sell in your store?

 

Soul Soup by Kristen Jongen AMAZING art from another amazing lady!!

Barret DeBusk amazing metal sculptures

Story People

My Tribe, an amazing line of clothes that is gorgeous & so very soft & twirly to wear

Iron Chinchilla

Angel Frost & She Bloom, amazing Baby treasures

Razzle Baby, the softest baby blankets EVER & now they are making them in our size J

Curly Girl

Bottoms UP!! Delightful & leggy Vino glasses sure to make you giggle!

 

Thanks so much Heidi for giving us a look into your fun shop!

If you NEED to see more from her cute shop..

The shop was recently featured on TV in her local area, you have to watch...so cute. 

Their daughter Hope is pretty amazing too!  You MUST read the inspiring story of how Hope brought hope to a girl in the hospital!

 

How to Tuesday: Repurposed purse

Today I'm going to share a fun bracelet my friend Bobbie from Clumsy Crafter shared on her blog last month! I just loved it so much I had to share it here...

Hey all I'm Bobbie From Clumsy Crafter. Visit me there sometime.

I'm still in my craft funk. Most likely it's from the pure fear that the second I get the glitter out and the kids send it flying to all corners of the house, which is a law of relativity.. I promise, that I'll get a phone call wanting to show our house. Yesterday I pulled out a pattern and some fabric to sew but once I realized I wouldn't have time to finish the project before I had to put it all away, I just put it up. Right now my creativity is flowing in the form of cleaning and hiding objects in the case of a sudden showing. Did you know that toilet tanks are a good place to hide things? Just kidding! I would never hide my husband's toothbrush in there!! NEVER! (hehe) (haha) Don't worry, he doesn't read this, he just looks at the pictures and then asks when I'm going to make the graphic for his blog header. But a few weeks ago a package arrived in the mail from my lovely friend, Amy Peters. She just sent it because she is wonderful and giving, no strings attached.. just because. Don't you love it when people do that? I do, it makes my day. It also makes my day when my husband brings me flowers but if he does happen to read this post, that might never happen again. These are all charms from her new Faith and Virtues Collection. Beautiful. I love them all. I knew I wanted to do something that day and I wanted to do something quickly. So I decided to use an old purse that I had been saving. This is not a leather purse. It at one time was a cute vinyl knock off from Ross with a turquoise detailed clasp. Unfortunately cuteness fades over time and is replaced by wrinkles and gray hairs. Oh wait, that's just me. I cut off the handle and then cut the handle into three strips, attaching it to a pillow with a safety pin so I could weave it into a bracelet. The important thing to remember when working with leather or vinyl is not to braid in traditional fashion. You need to weave it to keep it from making weird bumps to tearing. Start on the right side and feed the straps over and under. Continue until you reach the end. After I had weaved the whole thing I just picked out a charm I liked and slid it onto the bracelet. After adding a clasp I was finished. Cute huh? It was simple and fast. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the other charms from Amy Peter's Studio. Any suggestions.

Thanks so much Bobbie for sharing it here and I'm sure eveyone will have suggestions on how to use the rest of the charms!

For Me Monday: Family First

The last few month have been a bit of a rollercoaster. So times like this I have to get back to basics and put what is most important in the number one spot.  For me that is my family. 

This last weekend Kyra and Jim went on a school camping trip, so I took a little visit up to my parents house with the new puppy Shadow. My sister came down and my brother came over, so we had a fun weekend.  Puppies are so much fun and I think almost as much work as babies.  So it was an interesting and eventful weekend.  At one point I was helping my mother, Shadow was pooping in the walk in closet and Nikolas wanted to eat lunch. 

The mayhem of it all left us all a bit tired. Aunt Mim with Shadow....on the sofa Shadow wasn't supposed to be on!

I love spending time with my family.   They all had fun meeting Shadow.

How do you like to spend time with your family?  Quiet time at home?  Hiking?  Movies?  What is your favorite thing to do?

 

Taking the leap...

So for about 10 years now my daughter has been begging us for a dog. We got her every other animal thinking we could skip the dog. But years ago I had said when she was 13 she could get a dog.  So....guess who turned 13 this week? 

I had been looking at the two local shelters for about a year off an on.  Last summer I stopped by 3 or 4 times looking around to see if any of the dogs seemed like the perfect fit for us.  Up until Monday I still wasn't sure we were going to get a dog. I looked on the website to see about puppies. Then on Sunday night a Australian Cattle Dog and Beagle mix showed up.  8 weeks old.  hmmmm....my sister has a Cattle Dog and it's really smart, doesn't bark much and is great with my kids.  We went to look at the litter in the humane society, to see if we liked them.  Well, we didn't think the beagle mix was for us. Too yippy and they were all shaking and scared. Our kids would traumatize the poor things. 

But we ended up liking the Australian Cattle Dog, mystery mix in the kennel next door. 

My husband and I have NEVER had a dog.  Not ever, none as a kid, none in college...NEVER.  So what were we in for?  We weren't sure.  We are busy people.  How could we do this?  Could we? 

Well...we decided we would never be READY. Kinda like having kids. We just needed to go for it. We brought the kids back later in the day to meet her and brought her home on Tuesday.  I'm tired from getting up at night, but she really is a cutie.  We named her Shadow. 

 

So are you a cat person or a dog person?  Do you have lots of animals or none? 

What do you think is the MYSTERY part of Shadow's Mix?