Tomato Time in Texas

If you planted tomatoes in your spring vegetable garden in Texas, you probably have been enjoying the fruits of your labor for a while now. However, if you didn’t get any in the ground, it’s not too late to enjoy fresh, homegrown tomatoes from your garden this year.

Between now and the Fourth of July is prime tomato transplant planting time in North Texas for a fall harvest of tasty tomatoes. Just as with spring plantings, and possibly even more important in our summer heat, you should pinch off the lowest set of leaves on your transplants and set the plants deep in the ground, almost up to the next set of leaves. The tomato plant will grow roots along the buried stem. You will have to be attentive to the watering needs of your new transplants, but if you are, you will be amply rewarded.

I have had good success with Celebrity tomato setting fruit even during the heat, but you will get even better fruit set as the weather cools a bit. If your plants are flowering but there is not much wind, you can assist pollination and fruit set by thumping the blossoms. Another good vegetable choice for planting now is eggplant. Last year my Japanese eggplant set a bumper crop of fruits during the heat of the summer. Just remember to mulch to keep the root zone cooler and keep sufficient water on your new transplants. (I use old hay to mulch my veggie garden.)

Whether your tomatoes are home grown or store bought, you want to maximize their storage potential. I discovered an interesting tip for storing tomatoes in a recent America’s Test Kitchen’s “Notes from the Test Kitchen” e-mail. You can read about their tests and results. It’s amazing how something so simple can make such a big difference.

May the tomato fairy be good to you.

Milestone Events

Birthdays that end in zeros, 25th anniversaries, promotions, graduations and many more milestone events are markers along our life’s journey. While these things can all be great accomplishments, they can also bring along a certain amount of stress. Injecting a little humor can be a great stress reliever.

My family just experienced one of these milestone events. My son turned 20. I’m very proud of the young man he is becoming. At the same time I think, “How could my child be 20 already?” It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was. (When you do the math however, it was a long time ago.)

My husband and I injected a little humor by making my son a custom birthday card. In the week before his birthday, a combination of photos that I had previously taken, my husband’s wit and my son’s imminent milestone birthday gelled into a card that he really got a kick out of.

The dog is my son’s greyhound and the headdress just seemed like it would be a perfect portrait prop for her. She has always reminded me of a lioness when she hangs out in the tall grass, so we let some grow for the photo shoot. From there, add a touch of my husband’s humor and my son’s 20th birthday and a card was created.

If you have your own meaningful photo and wording, you too can create a custom card for any milestone event in your life. Most office supply stores now sell packages of note cards that you can print on your printer. I use Adobe Illustrator to set up the card design and print them on my laser printer. If you don’t have the desire to tackle this, I can put together that custom card for you. Also, with my son’s permission, his birthday card is available with customization for your milestone event by custom request through EDCCollective.

Design This - Custom Yellow Necklace

I have a friend that loves the color yellow. I thought of her after I had put together a necklace that included some pastel yellow gemstone teardrops. I sent her the link and though she liked it, it was not yellow enough for her, however she liked the thought of a custom yellow necklace. A week or so later while I was rummaging through my materials for inspiration, I noticed/remembered a variety of beads that I had picked up at different times that were a more intense yellow than the teardrops were. I took a photo of the beads(1) and sent them to my friend to see if they sparked her interest.

While she was pondering my offer, I decided that even if my friend didn’t want a necklace at this time, the colors in the beads would make a great necklace for accessorizing summer outfits, so I got to work on a design. I sent my friend a photo of this(2) before I strung up the beads. By this time my friend had an idea of what she wanted. She wanted to use the three types of beads from the first photo along with freshwater potato pearls. I put together a design and sent another photo(3). She suggested a small change which I made to one side of the necklace so the she could compare the two designs(4). This was a winner except that the necklace would now be a little longer than my friend wanted so I removed one bead from each end of the necklace for the final version and strung it up.

I enjoy sitting down with my assortment of beads and having the beads suggest a design like my most recent, summertime inspired, necklace and earring set. However, it is really gratifying to be able to fulfill a specific request for something that a customer is looking for. I look forward to my next design challenge.

Etsy Treasuries

Etsy has a button marked Treasury on its home page. Etsy members hand pick items they like and put together treasuries from them. Then they look for an opportunity to snag an opening to be able to list their treasuries. Each treasury only exists on Etsy for a few days.

The treasuries usually have a theme. The items may be made out of similar materials, have similar colors or go with a particular holiday for instance.

I have added screen shots of the two treasuries that I have been included in so far so that if you missed them on Etsy, you can see them here. I am very happy to have my items in the company of the other listings that were included in these treasuries.


A pair of my gathering pins was featured in Carnelian Dreams and a feather wrap pendant was featured in My Feathered Friends. You can click on either photo to see a larger image.


Thanks to GrandmaMarlilyns and RanaMuck for including me in their treasuries.

Girls Gotta Have Pearls (June Birthdays)

Is there a special someone in your life in need of a special gift for her June birthday? If so, consider showing her how special she is by pampering her with pearl jewelry. After all, pearls are the birthstone of all June babies.

Pearls can be man-made, cultured or totally made by nature. Man-made pearls range from lower quality plastics to higher quality coated glass and shell beads. The process of producing cultured pearls was discovered about 100 years ago. Until this process became more widespread, the only pearls that many people could afford were man-made. Cultured pearls differ from totally nature made only in that a “seed” is intentionally introduced to the oyster (saltwater culture) or mussel (freshwater culture) instead of having the mollusk acquire one by chance in nature. The process of pearl farming has produced a more affordable supply of pearls for everyone.

I work with cultured freshwater pearls. I gravitate towards the lovely, undyed colors in white, cream, peach and lavender. Pearls make a statement on their own or pair well with, crystal, gemstones, coral, metal and glass beads. Find a special gift of pearls for your June birthday girl at edccollective.etsy.com or ask me to create a custom creation for you.

"Summerize" Your Garden

With portions of the U.S. having just experienced freeze warnings it probably seems premature to be worrying about getting your garden ready for summer. Many articles are written about getting your garden ready for the winter, however for those of us that live in areas with hot, predominantly dry summers, “summerizing” could be even more important than winterizing your garden. I recommend focusing on three tasks; weeding, planting and mulching.

While I will pull a weed anytime of the year, this is an especially good time to do so while there is still some natural moisture in the soil. Getting the entire weed out is easier and the disturbance this causes will be less traumatic to nearby plants. Many weeds have not gone to seed yet, so you will be reducing next season’s weed seed load as well.

If your late winter/early spring annuals are getting tired, you should replace them with summer color now. This will give the new plants some time to get established before the heat hits. If your spring annuals still look good, you can get some 4 inch summer color and sneak them in around your existing plants instead of ripping them out. This will give your summer color time to get established and still enjoy your early color until it gives out.

Most important in this list, mulch! Mulch does a lot for your garden. It helps keep the moisture that we have in our soils from evaporating, reducing the need for supplemental watering. It provides “air conditioning” for your plant’s roots by keeping the soil cooler. It helps control weeds and makes those that do come up easier to pull and it helps improve the texture and composition of your soils.

If you attend to these three tasks now, you should enjoy the benefits of a lovely and easily maintained garden all summer long.

What’s an Artist’s Time Worth?

I got to thinking about this topic again when I ran across something the other day by fellow Etsian, Skaldi. She wrote, “I'll work for you for almost nothing. I'll sweat for 30 hours at a time along with 3 other graphic designers as we compete together in a project that only one of us will win.” I started to argue with this statement in my head until I read further and realized this was a tongue in cheek response to requests for final drawings to be submitted for consideration instead of previous examples of the artist’s work, at a laughable hourly rate for the project. (Laughable even if the job wasn’t to be completed before the bid was awarded.)

I’m sure that an artist shouldn’t be asked to work for free. I’m also sure an artist’s time is worth more than what an unskilled high school student earns in his/her first job. Currently the US minimum wage is $6.55 per hour. It is scheduled to go up to $7.25 per hour in July of 2009. While an artist’s rate may vary according to skill and experience level, as well as type of art/product, it is the artist’s time that turns the raw materials into a finished product and compensation for this is only reasonable. I once was told that I shouldn’t charge for my time involved in designing and making my jewelry, that I should only take into consideration what my materials cost. Well, beads don’t assemble themselves into jewelry, just as computers don’t generate the vision that someone has for a logo or a banner without the graphic artist’s skill and considerable investment in software and hardware.

There are many people out there that do understand and appreciate the skill that goes into producing custom graphic designs, handmade jewelry, clothing, accessories, pottery, home décor, etc. To these people, I say thank you. To those that haven’t thought about it, please contemplate what you would value your time at. How long does it really take to produce a logo, custom jewelry design or a decorated gourd? Just because someone is self employed, it doesn’t mean that they should be paid substandard wages. It is an insult to the artist to expect something for nothing.

Everyone should get a good value for their time and their money. I hope that artists take enough pride in their work to get paid for what they do and charge a reasonable price. I hope that customers see the value that the artist has added to the cost of the materials and not expect to pay just the materials cost or some token amount above that for the finished product. I think long and hard when I am pricing something to make sure that I am getting paid for my time and materials in order to be able to stay in business, while keeping my prices at a point that customers can afford and feel good about. See for yourself, EDCCollective.etsy.com.