Source: flickr.com via Cherry on Pinterest

The cards have been addressed and the treats have been baked.  I think I'm ready...

Rednesday

I'm happy to be joining up with Sue and all of the other bloggers over on "It's A Very Cherry World" this week.  Last month Sweet Sue out of the blue sent me this delightful tag. It made me feel so very special to have something so custom made for me. It has a special spot in my studio and I think of Sue when I look over at it. Thanks, again, Sue for this little treasure.

Please stop on over at her blog to see what other "reds" are being shared this week.



Spend American..

My very wise friend, Delores, sent this in an email to me recently and I really liked what it said so I thought I would pass it along.  It sounds like a great idea to me.

Christmas 2011~ Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse ......that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!
It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?
Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?
Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.
Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates. Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.
There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.
How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?
Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.
My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.
OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.
Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theater.
Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.
Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.
You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine. THIS is the new American Christmas. Spread the Christmas cheer!

WANT!!

Source: unamorecustomshoppe.com via Cherry on Pinterest

I've been poking around the Pinterest website, again. I came across this fabulous custom Kitchenaid mixer. Sure beats my boring white one. Such envy I now have!

M.E. Monday

I happened to be on my Facebook page Sunday and saw that Mary Engelbreit had posted something about her old magazine 'Home Companion'. I hopped over to her blog to see what was up.
Well......it's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since she stopped the publication! It looks like she's thinking about "giving it another shot". "So to convince a publisher and advertisers that this would indeed be a worthy endeavor, we need you to write in and tell us why you’d like to subscribe to the magazine again."

So far there are 373 responses left on her blog. If you want to see the magazine back on the shelves you might want to pop over to her blog and show your support by leaving a comment.
She has a new Facebook feed on her blog page, too. It's funny to see familiar faces there. I saw Jeanne, Christy, Dawn, and Terry that I recognize.
Much success to you Mary with the come back of your publication!

Cherry Cheesecake Cookie Cup

Source: google.com via Cherry on Pinterest

I saw the picture for these little darling on Pinterest and fell in LuRvE! A quick Google search and I found the recipe out there on the wonderful world wide web.
I made them this past Thursday night and took them in to work on Friday. Of course, they were a big hit.  I'll be nice and share the recipe. ;-) They're not too sweet...just perfect!

Ingredients

1 pkg. (16.5 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Dough
2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, room temperature
1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 325° F. Paper-line 24 muffin cups. Place one piece of cookie dough in each muffin cup.
BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie has spread to edge of cup.
BEAT cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and vanilla extract in medium bowl until smooth. Pour about 3 tablespoons cream cheese mixture over each cookie in cup.
BAKE for additional 15 to 18 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Top each with level tablespoon of pie filling. Refrigerate for 1 hour.


Twenty four cupcakes is alot so share them with friends. Who needs all those calories?!!

Pinterest Addiction...what is it?

I share with you today an excellent tutorial on what "Pinterest" is all about. I came across this informative blog this morning titled "The Blog Stylist". Bree pretty much explains in easy terms what the Pinterest site is about. A few friends have asked me to explain it. From now on I will direct them to this post.

I learned something new today from having read the post.  If you want to find out if any of your blog or website images have been pinned on Pinterest all you need to do is use this URL, replacing the cherrychickjewely.bloglist.com with your own domain name...

http://pinterest.com/source/cherrychickjewelry.blogspot.com/

You'll then be able to see where your images have been pinned to. Kinda cool...right?

Source: flickr.com via Cherry on Pinterest

I'm  off now to grocery shop for stuff to make these little cuties. Enjoy your Sunday!
Update....here's the link to the recipe for the Tiny Almond Cherry Tea Cakes pictured above.

Pick two........

Source: sawdustcityllc.com via Cherry on Pinterest

Mosaic Monday

I had a relaxing weekend. How about you? One of my favorite tea places closed their door this Saturday and I am so sad to see them go. I did my part and joined in on Saturday afternoon for their 50 to 80 percent off sale. I have a cute "little something" that I will wait to share on Rednesday this Wednesday.
In the meantime I am joining up with my fellow blogger over at the Dear Little Red House Blog for Mosaic Mondays. This is a fun mosaic of beads and such that I found in the flickr group I belong to. Please pop over and see all of the wonderful photographs that Mary has to share along with the other mosaic pictures linked up there.
Thanks so much for stopping by......

Polyvore Cherry Favorites

I've been playing around this afternoon over at Polyvore.com where I created this collage of photos. It's been fun but I'm still in the learning phase with this being my first creation. You can bring together photos from all over the web to create your own Design boards. Check it out and let me know what you think.
It's not as easy as "pinning" on Pinterest but it is fun.
I hope you have a fabulous week of creativity.

Fresh Cut Friday

It's time again for Fresh Cut Friday over at Liz's Rose Vignettes. I did buy myself fresh flowers last week but I didn't take a photograph of them...sorry.

Source: parisapartment.wordpress.com via Cherry on Pinterest

I'm totally cheating here this month but Liz was sweet enough to send me an email reminder so I just had to participate somehow. I've 'pinned' this fabulous arrangement from Pinterest that I just LuRvE. I love pink and these colors are just so stunning! I wish I did have the arrangement in my home.
Please stop over and see the Fresh Cut Flowers that everyone has shared on Liz's blog here.

Do Oreos go with White Zinfandel??



Yesterday was a particularily long day at the office. I came home hungry so I popped a Lean Cuisine in the microwave, with a little extra fresh broccoli added, soon after I arrived home. I poured myself a glass of Beringer White Zinfandel, my favorite, to go along with dinner. Now mind you I'm not much of a wine drinker so one glass goes along way with me.

Well then I ran out of food but I still had wine leftover. Personally I like a little something "sweet" to end my meal with.  I remembered that I had some Oreo cookies so I grabbed a few. I looked at my wine and thought I can't throw the rest out.  But then I thought "Is it okay to have white zinfandel with Oreos????"

The light went on and I thought I would ask my fellow bloggers if you've every had such a weird combination.  I still prefer milk but I was too frugal to just dump the wine. Any thoughts on what you would have done?? ;-)





Mosaic Monday & 300th Post

It's hard to believe and it snuck up on me but this is my 300th blog post. I feel like I should have planned for a better celebration. I'll save that for #325 I think. Who'd have "thunk" that I've had that much to share. I remember how hard it was originally to come up with an idea for a post. Some of my first post were pretty lame as I now look back at them.  Here's one of my first ones....not a real page turner..LOL.



Source: flickr.com via Cherry on Pinterest

Once again I'm joining up with my fellow bloggers over at Little Red House to share a mosaic of photographs for Mosaic Monday.
In case you don't know these are Fuchsia flowers. I just love the plants but I've not been successful with keeping them alive here in Florida. Do you ever look at things, smell things, or hear things that remind you of your past? I find this happens to me often.
Whenever I see fuchsia plants, and there are many different varieties, I think of my friend Steve who once lived in San Francisco.  The plants seemed to be very abundant in California. I have many wonderful memories of trips to SF to visit my friend Steve all the way back in the 70's, 80's and 90's.  This is my post to those wonderful times. We are still friends to this day and I had the chance to see him, again, when he came to Florida in June. There's nothing like old friends who you share great memories with.

Have I lost my mind?

It's a Saturday night and I'm  posting pictures of my cat who is joining a "Kitty Cat Kitty Party"?? Seriously....I need to join a dating website!
My friend Sarah over at "Hyacinths for the Soul" had me  laughing so hard with her post about "Baby Kitties" big day. Then I went over to see what the party was about and laughed some more. There are some very creative bloggers out here.
Debbie over at "Confessions of a Plate Addict" is having a party for her cat "Baby Kitty" and it's a hoot. If you're a cat lover you will appreciate it. If not....I feel sorry for you.
My cat, Missy, has decided to join but she is late. Some dog must have eaten her invite. At least that's what she always tells me about her homework. I hope Baby Kitty likes roses and jewelry.....Enjoy!

Pink Saturday

Source: flickr.com via Cherry on Pinterest

I know I'm a little late to the "party" but it's still Saturday, right?? I found this wonderfully, fabulous Summer setting while crusing around Pinterest. I would sooooooo enjoy an eating room just like this with all the lovely light from the windows. I love all of the greenery in the room, too. Just yummy looking and so many wonderful shades of PINK.
Please join Beverly and the other bloggers over at "How Sweet the Sound" who are sharing their favorites in pink.

Happy Rednesday

I'm thinking this would be a really cute idea for a wall in my studio done with all Mary Engelbreit fabrics...huh??
There's a little RED in there so I'm joining up with Sue and friends over at It's a Very Cherry World this week. Stop by to see who else has RED to share.

Mosaic Mondays

Source: google.ru via Cherry on Pinterest

It's been awhile since I've joined in on Mosaic Mondays with Mary Carroll from over at the Little Red House. I feel like I did alot of chores this weekend so I made time to play on the computer tonight. I'm joining a number of other bloggers who are sharing their Mosaic photos over on Mary's blog. Please stop but to see what everyone else has to share.
The Mosaic I've shared today is one I found over at Pinterest. It combines my love of flowers and stained glass. There's so much eye candy over at Pinterest.
Thanks for stopping by....

Happy Rednesday

Source: pamelajanes.blogspot.com via Cherry on Pinterest

I'm so happy to be joining Sue and all the wonderful ladies who share on Rednesday over on her blog It's A Very Cherry World. It's been awhile for me but I was inspired to share this fabulous photograph that I found on Pinterest (my new addiction) with all you red fans.  If you haven't found out about Pinerest you need to check it out. It's so much fun to scan all of the interesting things that interest others.

This really has nothing to do with Rednesday but I wanted to share with everyone my excitement over my new printer. Trust me, I'm not out spending all the $$ I've been making the last few months. Even though a few weeks ago I got the Motorola Xoom Tablet computer (love it!) this printer turned out to be almost "free".

I went in one day to use my trusty Canon Pixma printer and the silly thing wouldn't even turn on. How can I print my JoAnn coupons without a printer!! It seems like  everyday I needed to print something once the dang thing wasn't working. Ugh! I checked over at Amazon.com and they had this lovely lady for $98. Well! It just so happened that I had enough reward points on the ole credit card to cash in for 2 $50 Amazon gift cards. It's like it was meant to be! 

I really wanted something that was wireless and I really wanted a scanner, too. The Canon Pixma MG 5220 has both features and it copies.  I finally got around, after having it home for 6 days, to setting it up last night. It was a breeze! I was a little concerned about me being able to connect it to my wireless router but it couldn't have been easier. Can I just say how fabulous it is not to have to carry my laptop into my studio and then connect it to the printer to print something! OMG! I'm so lazy! I printed right from my couch in the living room. Last night I scanned my favorite kitten photo of my Sweet "departed" Rusty. This was taken before they even had digital cameras. I've always loved the photo because it was not "staged" and it was so appropriate. My good friend Kathy brought me the pillow back from Key West one year. In case you can't read it it's embroidered with the words "If I had two dead rats...I'd give you one!" One afternoon I just walked into the living room and saw Rusty sleeping there on top of the pillow in a wicker chair. It was such a "Canon" moment. Now I have a digital copy to share. I printed out an awesome 8x10 photo of Missy, my cat, last night on it, too. Looks great so I'm taking it to the office tomorrow to hang it on my bulletin board. I am one Happy Camper these days! Can you tell? I'm so goofy over technology!
Please pop over to Sue's blog and check out what else is red for Rednesday.

I Want One!

Wouldn't a little place like this in your backyard make you want to curl up and read a book?  I know that it would sure make me smile.

I'm Xooming now.....

Well....I finally bit the bullet and splurged this week. I paid a ridiculous amount of money for a tablet computer. Don't get me wrong....I love it but over all it's just too much $$. I justified it by telling my self that I really missed keeping up with everyone since I'm not inclined to turn on my laptop when I return home from work at night. Then there was the fact that I got a bonus (happy dance) from work. It's hard to believe I've been there 3 months now. The last reason was that I have not really "treated" myself to anything these past few years so I knew this would make me happy. I'm all about being happy these days. ;-) Life is short!

I had it delivered at work on Tuesday this past week so I would have the long weekend to play with it. Tuesday night I stayed up until 1 a.m. catching up on blogs and emails...lol.  Wednesday night it was 2 a.m. before I got to sleep. I know ridiculous!! Needless to say my butt was dragging by Thursday so I went to bed at a decent hour.

It's Saturday now....I watched my first movie on it this afternoon....cool....I'm just sorry that Netflix doesn't have an app for it, yet. I'm not so sure about reading books on it. I just like the feel of paper and folding back the pages.

Wednesday night when I got home I created my first video with the Xoom. Just like any other proud "cat mother"...lol..it was a video of my cat, Missy.  Had I realized everyone was going to be able to see the dust on my chairs and baseboards I probably should have thought about dusting first. It's a little too big to see on the blog page but you can see it full screen here.  Oh well...it's my first attempt and I hope to get better at it. I can now video chat but I don't know anyone to chat with except the "man who broke my heart" and it's unlikely I'll be chatting with him.
So....that's what I've been up to lately. I'm hoping to get some sun on Sunday since the doctor told me I am deficient in Vitamin D. Imagine that living in Florida??  I take that skin cancer stuff seriously so I seldom just sit in the sun. 
I'm not sure about the 4th, yet, but I'm sure I'll be having fun doing whatever the heck I feel like.  Let me know if you have a tablet computer and what you enjoy most about yours.

An Artfire Collection Feature

Summer Brights

Curated By: CreativeHulla...

ArtFire.com

 

Sorry about it being kind cut off :-( the blogspace is only so wide.