Salad Days

Here's a pic of last night's salad. Apart from carefully arranging crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sliced diagonally, with fruit and a pickle for the SO, I have absolutely no sense of mise en place - hence the extreme close-up here. Red and yellow cherry tomatoes from the garden over fresh mozzarella, drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, fresh cracked pepper and topped with fresh basil. (The basil is also from the garden, but don't look too closely at my poor excuse for chiffonade.) Simple but yummy.

The weather has been nice and warm this year where we live so our tomato plants have been going gangbusters. We have also had a nice yield of okra, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, swiss chard, etc., etc. Now if only we could convince the SO to eat any of it...

I actually spent last night making a few more charms. I've had a couple orders to fulfill, so I hope to fire the kiln again on Tuesday - which means I should have at least one or two new designs to show off again. I think my design development is finally slowing down, though. I'll probably be moving on to something else in the next week or two.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Here are your links for the week:

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie joins some up with some hacker friends to play with LEDs and Ice Resin

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi pulls out her buttons to make a jeweled attachment for sweaters.

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy found some inspiration by way of some very cool clasps!

Beading Arts
Do you like art charms? Visit Beading Arts and sign up to win a copy of a brand new book on making them!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean continues her analysis of the jewelry designers whom she admires--wait!!!--loves! with some of her favorite seed beaders and weavers on "The Jean's List"!

Art Bead Scene
Get your inspiration on for the August Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge. Think "Sunrise."

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
Cindy previews an upcoming newsletter series, Happy HalloweenMas. Sign up for her newsletter to find out what it's all about.

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
Lorelei is always inspired by music, and shares a favorite tune by Tori Amos.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Do you have a collection of lampwork beads nobody ever sees? Embrace simple, easy designs to showcase your glass treasures! Andrew shares five quick projects to inspire you to finally wear them!

Strands of Beads
Melissa puts a new twist on her skully charm by pairing it with a new cutlass design.

Thanks for visiting.