A jewelry designers jewelry collection...

   I've been making my own jewelry since I was about 11. I've been exposed to jewelry since I was a small, small child hanging out with my Grandmothers. From vintage jewelry with one Grandma to the other Grandma designing jewelry for her gift shop. I think I could say I was destined to be running my business designing jewelry.

Just to name a few of the designers; Holly Ertel, Kate Baer Fossils, Florine Thomason, Sophie Hollenberg, Reese Truesdale, Sadie Nuffer, Angel Court Jewels, House of Smash, Kacey Edwards, Erin Wilson and more but unfortunately I have forgotten the names...

  

   After almost a year of living here, I finally got my jewelry out and pinned on my jewelry board. This is mostly vintage costume jewelry that has been handed down to me by family members or gifted to me. There are some necklaces I have made too... I just love the way it all looks out on display. All the "good stuff" is locked away until I am in a more permanent place. I would be devastated if anything ever happened to my sentimental and valuable jewels!

Spring Flowers

  Yesterday I got a chance to go shopping for flowers for my flower pots. 

I chose primrose, petunias, African marigolds and slavia.

I haven't ever grown primrose, I couldn't resist these beautiful little flowers!

  The wind has been blowing at a constant 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. 

It is really insane. Yesterday it made me laugh, but after keeping me up all night I am not so fond of these winds. Apparently it is common for this time of year.

Hopefully my flowers and I will survive it :)

Excited for everything to bloom out and look full. My ferns are left over from last year so hopefully they will liven up.

Primrose, cilantro, African marigolds, salvia.

Oh Blog, it's been a while...

HI! remember me?!

This is what I have been doing lately:

30th Annual Jungle Boater Canoe Race on the Mulberry River in Arkansas:

  

  These pictures are from the day before the race. Matt and I always take a short float with all our "Creek" buddies. After all the major rapids, Matt put me in a boat by myself! Check it out, my first solo trip. Yeah, it was all of about a quarter of a mile, but hey, you gotta start somewhere!

  After the weekend outdoors I headed back to my parents house to spend a week at home. I actually didn't spend too much time at home as I had visiting to do with my friends. I got to spend some time in Eureka Springs with my pal Holly and her adorable little family!

  Then on the weekend I helped my Grandparent's at the Eureka Springs Antique show. This was a lot of fun for everyone involved.  

 The only bad thing about a show advertised as an "Antique Show" was the fact that I couldn't really afford anything there.  However, I did find a few jewelry treasures and filled out a wish list for my b-day which I promptly handed over to my Mom. One of my jewelry treasures was a strand of old pressed Czech glass beads. They are a basket of flowers embellished with pressed beads and seed bead! I snagged it for $5!!!! I couldn't wait to show them to my Grandma, needless to say she was so proud of me for getting such a good deal! I added them to my collection, don't they look great beside my blue "warriors?" I don't know a lot about these types of glass beads. I am just assuming they are Czech from my experience and love for Czech glass. I would love to learn more about them as I feel they were not as mass produced as other Czech glass. I am sort of obsessed with learning about the history of glass beads. Any info or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Bella Vita has a lot of exciting things coming up. I promise to set aside more time for blogging, in the mean time make sure you are following me on facebook and @bvjewelry on twitter.

An Ecuadorian Feast

  Last weekend Matt and I hosted a party for his department at our house. Fun times were definitely had by all! At some point in the night I convinced our friend David to come back this weekend to cook some Ecuadorian fare for us all to try. I don't think it was hard to talk him into it, I think he was flattered that a few of us were interested in his native food.  

We started with plantains.... we sliced them a few different ways and fried them. This batch was sliced about 1" thick, fried, then smashed into a patty and then fried again! I had never eaten plantains until Saturday. They were very yummy!

This is the beginning of the ceviche. David sliced onions and then added water and mushed them all up. Then added the fresh lime juice, cilantro, shrimp, and tomatoes. This was so delicious. I don't get to eat ceviche at restaurants because it is made of fish that I am allergic to. So, this was a treat for me. So light, and fresh!!!

The finished product!

 

This is David, he was our guest chef. I think in this picture he is preparing the hot sauce. It was hot, made with two habenaro peppers Matt and I grew last year. My friend Kayti and I had to have a glass of milk with this sauce. It was very tasty though.

 

This was the main dish. I don't remember what he called it but it is made from plantains that we grated really fine. Also in the mix is shrimp, coconut milk and a bunch of garlic. I topped my bowl with the hot relish. 

There were 6 of us at dinner and I think we decided we are going to try to do a monthly dinner party. Each person will cook their native foods or foods they specialize in. I am planning an Italian feast, Matt will probably fry some kind of meat. I look forward to the future dinners though, in the mix is our Turkish friend Necati and our neighbors Andrea and Zach who love to cook and try new recipes.

I would love to hear if any of you have any recipes to share!

Things I want but cannot have...

  Yesterday Matt and I took off on an adventure. We started by visiting the Pops 66 store/restaurant in Arcadia (just north and east of the city (OKC) on Historic Route 66). I learned about the building while reading a magazine at a doctors appointment a few months ago. The article was about the  nationally known architect Rand Elliott and his designs including the Pops 66 store. I was excited to finally have a day off to go and explore this "ultra modern landmark."

Rendering of the design of the building.

Soda bottles line the glass walls of the building.

The view above us as we ate lunch.

Matt graciously smiling for the camera at our table.

The sodas lining the glass front, also right beside our table.

   We got there right at lunch time (somehow, without planning we do this ALL the time) and the wait was long... or so they said. We actually got in quicker than the hostess estimated. The menu is full of burgers and sandwiches and fried side items. I  opted for one of the salad options yesterday because I knew the "foodie" in me would steal a bite of Matt's burger. It was 7 layers of lettuce, bacon, chicken, bleu cheese, cucumber, tomato and I guess the dressing made the 7th layer. It was YUM! If you are ever in the area this is a wonderful point of interest for people of any age.

  From there we headed east a bit and then worked our way back west, all on back roads... It was pretty interesting to see some of Oklahoma's countryside. We saw crop land that is being prepared to be planted, a huge mansion (I estimated it cost a billion dollars to build and Matt thought I was ridiculous so I re-estimated it at 3 million dollars), lots of horses and cows, a honky tonk in what I thought was "the middle of nowhere," it was hoppin on a Sunday afternoon. We didn't go inside, I am pretty sure if we did the music would have stopped... it was that kind of place. No windows either = sketchy!

  We finally made it back out into a more populated land and hit I-35 which took us to Guthrie. Guthrie, Oklahoma was actually the first capitol of Oklahoma. 

"Our community was born as a result of the excitement of America's
1889 pioneers as they settled here after the Land Run, and, as she
was then, we are now, a city alive with unique shops, businesses
and professionals making a difference for Guthrie's future in the
21st Century."

-From Guthries official website. 

  The town is amazing from an architectural standpoint. It is full of old brick buildings and some of the street paved with brick have been preserved as well. There are a bunch of antique stores! From fine antiques with high prices to antique malls with fair prices and a mixture of antiques and junk.  

  I am lucky that Matt shares an interested in my need to dig and prowl for "stuff." He mainly sticks to digging through books and vinyl records while I search for aesthetically pleasing furniture, pottery, paintings, jewelry etc. Yesterday was full of interesting items. But, I have to put the breaks on sometimes. We have a pretty full house and too much stuff stresses me out! I photographed all the things that I would like to have purchased but talked myself out of. If I am still thinking of them in a few days perhaps it was mean to be and I will find the time to go back and collect the items that I can't live with out. Until them, I have pictures to remind me of what they look like.

A Fox print, I learned to appreciate Fox's artwork from my Mother, she is a collector herself. Wouldn't it be nice to walk through that garden?!

Set of 4 pink bowls... not sure who made them or the age of them... I do know that they are sweet and the perfect addition to a vintage inspired kitchen. But, I have bowls and they serve their purpose just fine and until they all break, I probably don't need new bowls.

I loved this print. It was only $12.

Same here, loved the print but kept thinking... do we have anywhere to hang another painting?

Beaded hand bag... this store was really proud of it's merchandise, as it should be, they had a beautiful collection. I have always wanted a vintage/antique beaded purse collection... maybe someday

I didn't really want this I just thought is was a neat design for a cabinet. The tag said it was a "Slaves Cabinet" dating back to 1850... and it was very expensive, $465.

Shop cat. This store was closed. I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this cat. He was not interested in smiling for the camera.

Alas, the one thing I did buy. An Owl planter. He was a bargain for $8. Now I just have to find the perfect place for him in our house.

Studio Contest

  This past weekend I photographed my studio and submitted the photos to a contest on the Nina Designs blog.

  Not only does the winner of the contest receive a prize but two people that vote on their favorite studio will be in a drawing for some really cool jewelry from Nina Designs.  Check it out for yourself and leave a vote for your favorite studio! Hopefully you'll vote for Brandy's : )

I have also decided to do a giveaway for a Bella Vita original Wire Wrapped Ring made from a vintage button. Leave a comment on this blog and let me know you voted and I will enter your name in the drawing.  Share the contest with your friends and I will enter your name twice, just make sure you let me know how you shared it. 

  The contest is open to Bella Vita's facebook fans too.

The Studio Contest is over February 27th and my contest will end on February 28th.

  Thanks for participating and check out more photos of my studio below.

 

Valentine's Day: a spoiled surprise... by me.

  Matt had the best of intentions of catching me off guard and bringing me my Valentine early on Saturday. He was supposed to be working all weekend at a debate tournament here in town... supposed to be gone ALL day! 

  I took full advantage of my alone time and worked all weekend at the house. Saturday, around noon, I decided to take Arlo for a walk because the weather was beautiful and he was starting to get antsy. We head out the door and down the street... minding our own business... we make it about 400ft and look up to see my car coming down the street... (Matt took my car that day)... then my car turns... then I raise my hands and mouth "what are you doing?" Then the car turns around... then it pulls up beside me and I realize I am ruining my surprise...

  Matt was going to leave my gift on the doorstep and ring the door bell and run around the house. Well, obviously that didn't happen. It was pretty funny nonetheles, both of us had the giggles from it all.

My gifts were a lovely new plant and a delicious chocolate heart cake from my favorite little bakery, La Baguette. La Baguette is the bakery by our house and I frequently go there on Saturday morning to enjoy quiche and coffee and to catch up on reading. I had been there earlier on Saturday morning ooh-ing and awe-ing over all the sweet treats in the bakery cases. It really reminds me a lot of The Little Bread Company in Fayetteville, I swear their ham and cheese croissants look exactly the same as the LBC's. 

Regardless, I am pretty notorious for foiling surprises! Guess it's a gift : )

Perfect pink color...

YUM! this didn't last long! It was sooo perfect.