Crooked and Cracked Art

Aren't these amazing? I think I would come to a dead stop if I came to this door. It really looks like it has huge cracks in it.

Can you imagine making a cabinet crooked on purpose? Look at all of the different angles...I would love to see both of these pieces in person.

Blondie and Dagwood ...

Box Canyon Florence Arizona Off-Roading

Getting ready to head into Box Canyon.
This is really green for Arizona, this area is generally brown, no moss, nothing.

Beautiful rocks with interesting moss

Old mine entrance closed off

When you find water in Arizona, you take plenty of pictures

Our off-road Toyota FJ which is very capable

Another off-road enthusiast

Beautiful rock formations and colors

Look closely at the front tires....they are off the ground...
I'm taking pictures, can you guess why?

An old homestead, in the middle of nowhere.
You find things like this all over Arizona.

Box Canyon is just amazingly beautiful

We came across a cow

Later in the day and shadows arriving in the canyon

A Turkey Vulture looking for dinner

Snow in the desert... looking Southeast

Click on any of the pictures above for a larger version.
We practice tread lightly when we off-road.

Wisteria Cottage Hand Embroidered Cuff

Can you imagine living in this little house with the purple roof and lovely wisteria?

I blogged about these house buttons a while ago and finally had a chance to make a cuff using them. I've also been dreaming of doing the wisteria and was able to combine the two. I fell in love with Wisteria during a visit to Windsor Castle many, many years ago. It is such a beautiful color and I also loved the scent.

One of these days I would love to live in a house and have it growing on a trellis or porch...

Saguaro within a Palo Verde Tree

In my previous post I asked if you could identify what was in the Palo Verde Tree. There were actually two things. A growing Saguaro (on the left) and the spinney remains of a Saguaro (on the right). The Saguaro spines are very interesting and I never had a clue that was what made a Saguaro stand tall until I moved to Arizona. Here are the free standing remains. People turn them into walking sticks, fencing, and home decor.















If you notice the Saguaro's are fat and happy filled with water right now. (above) You can see this if you look closely and see how far apart the "V" indents are.


When there isn't enough water the "V" is closer together. (above)

Sometimes they get diseased or weak and begin collapsing. This one looks like it is taking a dive off the mountain.

Palo Verde Tree and What?

This is a Palo Verde tree which is very common here in Arizona....do you see anything odd about the tree and can you identify it? Click on photo for a larger version.

Discover: RcTees Shirts and Bags

Don't you wonder who really is behind your favorite creations?

Discover is a feature that provides you with a personal view of the the artist behind the shop. Would you like to know how shop owners handle customer service and what they think good customer service is? And, are you like me and want to know what they have their eye on to purchase, or what their favorite item is in their shop and why? Discover....


Toni and Mark of RcTees!

♦What led to you designing T-Shirts and bags?
Three and half years ago the opportunity presented itself for us to purchase an existing screen-printing business. We knew nothing about screen printing we just knew it was a great opportunity. Working with screen printing helped us to realize our passion for creating. We never imagined that we would absolutely fall in love with creating designs or that screen printing would be the tool we use to share our creations.

♦How did you and your husband meet?
Funny story…Mark is from California. Eight years ago he decided it was time to sell his half of his business and roam the country. His sister, being a good friend of mine, introduced us. One year later we married. Mark now resides in Alabama.



♦What item in your shop is your favorite and why?

I simply can’t choose a favorite “item” in our Etsy shop; it would have to be anything with our Abby Cat design.

Why? I love cats (and dogs) and animals in general and am a very strong advocate for the proper treatment of animals. We found Abby abandoned at a local park. My husband, my son Dane and myself rescued Abby out of the top of a tree. She was only six weeks old, that was four years ago.Since opening our Etsy shop we have sent Abby shirts and bags to the UK, Australia, London, Ireland, France, England, Canada, Greece and 25 US states (many multiples). She’s also a regular at a boutique in Pennsylvania.


♦How did you come up with the name RcTees?
River City t-shirts is the name of our existing screen printing business. When we decided to venture out to “Etsy World” we chose the condensed version of River City t-shirts, RcTees.













♦What does customer service mean to you?
Communication, communication, communication. Customer service to me is knowing without a doubt, that my customer is completely satisfied with their transaction, from making their payment to receiving their package, opening it and being totally happy with their purchase. Yes, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that there are those customers that you simply cannot please no matter what you do. I still have a satisfied feeling of knowing that I’ve done everything within my power to make my customers happy.













♦What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
From August thru May you can find me at our local Elementary school teaching Physical Education to Kindergarten thru Fifth graders. Working with children is something that I can never see myself not doing. There’s never a day that goes by that I am not totally fascinated by a child!

So….. There’s really not a lot of “free time” except in the summer. (Both of my boys are grown and live on their own.) I do love playing with our two kitties, walking my dog Roxy and working in our yard. Mark and I both LOVE the beach. We try to go at least twice a year to either Pensacola or the Ft. Myers area (Florida). We are both avid shellers.


♦Here's $250 to purchase three items from Etsy, what are they?
This is probably the toughest question you’ve asked Rose…. lets see….

Pet Portrait by sharonlamb
Amsterdam Cat hand painted mug by houseofhariet

My Family necklace by bellabuttondesigns

...and there are so many other wonderful things I would love to own.

♦What is the story behind the Ghost Elephant?

The Elephant is a symbol of strength, power, wisdom and luck…. (You would have to ask this question ~ haha) Now here’s the real story…. Okay, so when you live in Alabama there’s just not that much to do. There is absolutely no sports to follow except College football. It comes down to either you’re an Alabama fan or you're an Auburn fan. My son Nick is an Alabama graduate...and the University of Alabama’s mascot is Big Al, (the elephant)…. need I say more?? Haha

♦Anything else that you would like to share?

My youngest son Dane moved out a year prior to our discovery of Etsy. I was having terrible “empty nest” issues so not only did Etsy open the door for us to share our craft, it also helped to fill a very painful void in my life. Etsy came along at a perfect time. Through Etsy I have met some of the most wonderful people and have made life long friends. I will forever be grateful!!
Dane is now one of my models and has joined the art department. (plays on computer helping with designs ~ haha )

Thanks to Rose for a wonderful blog feature and the opportunity to tell our story.

Big Surgery for a little Girl

Could you send a postcard?

I've been talking with Melissa of Haut Totes for quite a while. HautTotes (her shop is currently in away mode) sells the most wonderful bags on Etsy. We have shared marketing ideas and traded tweets. Her 10 year old daughter Satori has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (type II) She uses a power wheelchair, can't walk, crawl, etc.

On March 31st she and her family will be traveling to California so that she can have a full spinal fusion. Melissa is asking everyone who can to send a postcard to her daughter. She will be in the hospital for 7-10 days and the postcards would help keep her occupied while trying to get better. If you can help, here is the address, or click the following link and it will go to the Postcards for Satori blog.

This is how the post card should be addressed:
Satori Lewis Surgery date 3-31-10
Davis 7 Pediatrics
UC DavisChildren's Hospital
2315 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817 USA

**Be sure to include the surgery date**

Dave's Kitchen Revolution

I love to cook, but I'm not sure I could take up the
Challenge that Dave has. Can you imagine asking people to suggest three ingredients and then you had to create a dish? Then post that dish on your blog? Yep, me neither. Can you imagine what people might suggest?

I was cruising around looking at different blogs and came across Dave's Kitchen. I was immediately intrigued and sent an email off to Dave hoping that he would be interested in being interviewed. Well he answered that he would and what follows is a taste of Dave's Kitchen Revolution... Let me know if you suggest three ingredients on his blog....I'd love to see the result!

Are you professionally trained as a chef?

I am not professionally trained. I was taught by my mother along with my brothers while we were growing up. She said we would be moving out one day and would need to know how to cook. I have done a lot of studying and watch the pros on TV.

Why three ingredients rather then two or four?

When I was thinking about it, two seemed like it would be too easy to create something and 4 and more may over-complicate the dishes.

Why did you begin this project and when?

I began this project at the beginning of this year and have already got a decent sized following. I started it because I love to cook and it's one of my passions. My wife is an online marketing expert and has been teaching me to interact online through different sources. Also, I thought that with the ingredient challenge that I would create a unique interaction between the readers and I.

What are the top two really strange "three ingredient" combination's someone has suggested? Did you actually come up with something?

My number one would be liver, black licorice, and blue cheese. I was worried about this and considered not doing it as my family was disgusted at the idea of it. However, I snuck the ingredients into our home and made something interesting. I prepared a breaded liver topped with a black licorice sauce and rice with apricot blue cheese. Definitely not my favorite, but the children loved the liver and black licorice sauce. I would classify this as one of my "bloopers". Recipe: Liver with black licorice sauce and blue cheese rice

My number two would be potatoes, marshmallows and maple syrup. I thought this was funny because I had just been wondering when someone would suggest marshmallows the day it was suggested. With these ingredients, I created a cherry marshmallow salad dressing and maple syrup glazed potatoes. The potatoes became a house favorite and I have been making them regularly.
Recipe: Potatoes marshmallows and maple syrup

What are the most common three? What did you make?

I don't really have any common ones yet. Everyone seems quite set upon trying to stump me by suggesting the weird ingredients.


Have you ever been stumped? and why?

I was almost stumped with the liver challenge that I talked about earlier. The reason why is because it is with ingredients that I don't particularly like. And I say almost because I did come up with something, even if it wasn't a huge success.

What is your favorite meal and why?

I would have to say that I would go with a great steak. Whether grilled, pan fried or cooked within a cream sauce (also in my blog) it would be my favorite. On the side I would go with pan fried potatoes with spinach, onions and oyster mushrooms. For the vegetable, I would say asparagus topped with some jalapeno gouda. As for why, I find it very fulfilling and satisfying whenever I eat it. Don't get me wrong, I love trying new foods and I am fairly certain that I will get a new favorite eventually.

How long do you plan to continue this challenge?

I have no plan on discontinuing the challenge. My ultimate goal would be to have so many requests that I would have to make 1-2 per day.

Would you visit this site, Etsy, and tell me the one item on the front page that you would purchase and why.

I would have to say the edible green leaves by SugarRobot that was showing when I visited. It is an edible leaf that would be an excellent garnish to a dessert.


Had you ever heard of Etsy before today?

My wife has a wedding blog and often blogs about items featured on Etsy. She has also purchased a fair bit of items from there including the throw pillows on our bed.

Is there anything else that you would like to share?

I would like to say that even though not all of my challenges will be a success, I can not achieve success without them.

On a final note, this has become a highlight in our home. I have 3 younger children (ages 6, 8 and 10) and most children would cringe at and refuse to eat the items I have been using. My children complain when I make regular food that wasn't a suggested challenge. They are even getting involved with the suggesting. Overall, it's turning out great and is introducing my children to a wide variety of new and interesting foods.

About me
I am a husband to a fantastic and beautiful wife and father to three wonderful children. I have a passion for cooking, woodworking and playing baseball. When it comes to cooking in our home, it's done by me 98% of the time, but it's something I like to do. I aspire to become one of the great chefs and dream about owning a restaurant. Cooking allows my creative side to come out and I try to portray it within the flavors that I merge together in each dish that I create. And a good challenge makes it all a bit more interesting.

Planet Hollywood and Room Decor

During our whirlwind trip last fall we stayed a night in Las Vegas. We found the best deal at Planet Hollywood, so we stayed there. I'm not sure it was the right fit for us, so next time I think we will stay at a different place.

The room decor was interesting. I guess since it is "hollywood" then it makes sense. I wish I could have peeked in some other rooms to see who else was hanging on the walls.

Do you remember this movie?
Troop Beverly Hills

This is
Shelly Long's actual outfit!


It was actually kinda creepy to have these on each wall of our hotel room!

The Peeps Easter Parade

by: Mgenomgen

by: Crystal Bouquet

by: Gold Teethby: The Missing Sock

by: Love Las Muertas

by: Ginadamico

by: Kyotosong