BESTeam Weekly Feature - BeaderBubbe

Come check out this week's BESTeam featured site Beader Bubbe's Shop . 

The Beader Bubbe’s Shop is owned by Agnes, who is a mother of five and grandmother of six. She loves to craft which includes making necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and key chains.

Anges loves to create jewelry using any medium whether it is crystal, paper beads, or polymer clay, she is willing to try it all!  Most of Agnes’s jewelry is scooped up by co-workers and family before she even has a chance to post it to her Etsy shop.

Agnes loves being a grandma, which keeps her busy, but dreams that she had more time to create her jewelry line.

The Beader Bubbe’s Shop features a nice variety of jewerly including:

Pearl and Amethyst Necklace

Ruby Red Bracelet 

Butterfly Earrings

My Valentine Heart Pendant

These are only a few of the wonderful pieces of jewelry available. Please check out the rest of this beautiful collection at The Beader Bubbe’s Shop and also take the time to view Agnes’s blog Beader Bubbe’s Shop.

Happy Shopping!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Featured Freebies for the Week of March 28

Happy Monday to Everyone!

Here are this week's featured crafting freebies found on blogs and websites, or sent to us by friends and followers:

Bits N Bobs is offering a free ballerina and Princess Sweetcheeks digital images

Sliekje has outdone herself and has a number of adorable animal digital images including pup and kitty celebration, panda bear, baby bunny, and sleeping kitten

The Creative Pointe is getting ready for spring with this spring bunny

Baby Bud Designs is featuring the adorable baby belle digital image

Little Scraps of Heaven Designs is getting into the spring of things by featuring a daisy digital

Ellephantastic has a bunch of free digital images including a springtime chick

Happy Crafting!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Marion Smith's Special Needs Orphan Charity Drive

Marion Smith is a phenomenal papercrafting artist that works with Prima. She just posted on her blog an event that she is working hard to promote called the "Special Needs Orphan Charity Drive" for Reece's Rainbow.

Marion is requesting that crafters of all types come together to create 4x4 chipboard tiles that will be added to a collage which will be auctioned off (date to be determined). It costs between $7000 - $12000 to adopt a special needs child and Marion's goal is try to help at least one family fulfill their dreams.

Here are some of the details:

• create a 4x4 tile using chipboard
• add dimensional materials
• create like a piece of art
• the theme is brown and vintage

For additional information, follow this link here to a video on Marion's blog.

Mail the completed tile to:

Marion Smith

Orphan Charity Drive

Prima Marketing Inc

5564 Edison Ave

Chino, CA 91710

I will be making a tile or two for this charity and will post my finished projects before sending them off. If you plan on participating, please include a link to your finished project in the comment section below so we can admire your tile too!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Recipe Friday: Penne with Mushrooms and Artichokes

I recently saw this recipe in Prevention Magazine and thought not only did it sound yummy, but would be perfect for a meatless Friday dish.

Penne with Mushrooms and Artichokes

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces multigrain penne pasta
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces sliced white mushrooms
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/4 cup pesto
• 4 teaspoons grated Romano cheese

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook per the package directions. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 8 minutes or until the mushrooms have released their liquid and start to brown slightly. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Stir in the tomatoes and artichokes and cook for another 1 to 3 minutes or until the tomatoes just begin to soften.
3. Add the pasta and toss to combine. Remove from the heat and stir in the pesto.
4. Divide among 4 bowls and top each with 1 teaspoon of the cheese.

Please leave a comment if you make the dish letting us know what you think.

Happy Friday!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

BESTeam Weekly Feature - Moonangelnay Photography

Come check out this week's BESTeam featured site  Moonangelnay Photography.

Moonangelnay Photography’s shop owner Naomi is a passionate artist, digital artist, and photographer. She is an avid blogger that features sellers that have 0-19 sales, and guest posts on Handmade Spark each week.

Moonangelnay Photography shop features fine art & contemporary digital photography prints with an abstract outlook on nature, heart and soul, romance, flowers, animals, vintage, dreams, vibrant colors and favoring styles of macro, bokeh and lomography.

When I first entered Naomi’s Etsy shop, I was mesmerized by the photo titled Twilight Rose

 "all beautiful things emanate their wonder in places of fear and darkness as well as joy and light..."

As I looked further, I became enchanted by Angels Glow which reminds me of spring with the renewal of nature

"Through this heart of mine, there's an energy that shines, that keeps us going through physicality, to become aware of what is reality..."

Moonangelnay also has wonderful photos of animals such as a butterfly featured in Flutter By

"Flutter flutter from the heart..."

And an adorable frog featured in Frog

"hop hop hopping along, hopping through all our days..."

But let’s not forget the dramatic sky scenes depicted in Solar Skies

"A polar shift of collective minds, light through the storm all can find"

These are only a few of the wonderful photography prints available. Please check out the rest of this beautiful collection at Moonangelnay Photography and also take the time to view Naomi’s blog Moonangelnay Photography & Handmade.

Happy Shopping!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Featured Freebies for the Week of March 21

Happy Monday!

The following are links to free printables and digital images found on blogs and websites or sent to us by friends.

Beccy's Place is getting into the Easter spirit with these adorable bunny digital images which can be colored and used for cards, scrapbook pages, or any papercrafting project imaginable.

Handful of Stamps posted a monster digital image that would be great on boy related pages or papercraft projects.

Spyder's Corner is featuring an Easter Bunny to celebrate 500 new followers to her blog.

MelJen's Designs shares a hello bunny digital image that would look great on a card

Little Scraps of Heaven Designs shares a cute bunny with egg digital image that I can't wait to use on an Easter card.

Crafting with Deedee's Designs is offering a free birdhouse digital stamp to introduce you to her stamp line

Have fun with the free images!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Recipe Friday: Bean and Spinach Soup

Today's recipe is for a really easy and extremely yummy crockpot soup.

Ingredients:

3 (14 oz) cans vegetable broth 

1 (15 oz) can tomato puree

1 (15 oz) can white or Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained 

½ cup rice (not instant)

½ cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

8 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach or kale leaves

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker combine broth, tomato puree, beans, rice, onion, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper.
• Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours.
• Stir spinach into soup. 
• Serve with Parmesan cheese.

*** The broth can easily substituted with chicken or beef broth. You can also substitute with 42 ounces of water and a few bouillon cubes.

*** If you don't like Northern beans, this soup tastes great with lentils.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

• Servings: 6 main-dish servings
• Calories150
• Total Fat (g)3
• Saturated Fat (g)1
• Cholesterol (mg)4
• Sodium (mg)1137
• Carbohydrate (g)31
• Total Sugar (g)1
•  Fiber (g)8
•  Protein (g)9

 Have a great Friday!

  Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Irish Blessings Coming Your Way

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun

And find your shoulder to light on

To bring you luck, happiness, and riches

Today, tomorrow, and beyond

The Creativity Bugs ~ Sandy and Sue

BESTeam Weekly Feature - Bits n' Beads by Gilliauna

Come check out this week's BESTeam featured site Bits n' Beads by Gilliauna.

While a US citizen. Gilliauna lives and works over the border in British Columbia, Canada. She enjoys a variety of crafts but her current interest are in designing colorful, quality artisan jewelry.

Gilliauna has over 20 years of experience in jewelry design . Besides Etsy, she sells her designs at craft shows in the Kitsap/Mason county area as well as around the western Washington state peninsula sold by Aunt Billie's Candy and Crafts. 

Each piece offered in the Bits n’ Beads shop is a unique, hand-crafted piece of art lovingly created to be enjoyed for years to come. She often use cleaned and re-purposed as well as vintage jewelry parts and beads in many of her colorful creations.

The skilled craftsmanship and loving attention to detail is apparent when you take a peek at the collection  which includes:

Frosted Green Glass Teardrop Earrings

Bronze Floral Choker

 

Handmade Gemstone Bracelet - Going Green with Peridot

Please check out the rest of this beautiful collection of jewelry pieces by Gilliauna in her Etsy shop and also take the time to view more exquisite items on her blog The Meandering Musings of a Consummate Shopper.

Happy Shopping!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

New Etsy Items

Come stop by the Creativity Bugs Etsy shop to check out some of the new items added to the shop. Here are a few sneak peaks.

Happy Birthday Elephant Card

Happy Birthday Turtle Card

Firefly Flower Card

Thanks for stopping by!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Featured Freebies for the Week of March 14

Here are this week's freebies found on blog and websites, or sent to us by friends.

Over at the Beccy's Place blog there is a link to a cupcake with candles

Tip Junkie has a ton of new printables including St. Patrick's Day bingo card,  recipe cards, home management worksheets, and cupcake wrappers

Living Locurto has a few new printables including these rainbow cupcake toppers, menu planning lists, and congratulations card

From JGoodeDesigns.com comes an adorable penguin memory match up game

Found on the Creature Comfort blog are these lacy printable label tags

That's it for this week. If you have any free printables to share, please feel to include the link in the comment section below or email us.

Have a great Monday!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Recipe Friday: Cheesy Penne Floretine

Wednesday started the Lenten season which means for the next few Fridays, I can't have meat. Last year I ate a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Don't get me wrong, I love them both but I really need to eat more healthy.

Anyway, I found a terrific recipe that I wanted to try only to find out one of the ingredients was chicken. So, last night I got into my kitchen with recipe in hand and tweaked it a bit so that it can be enjoyed with or without meat and also healthified it a bit with more veggies and lower fat cheeses.

Here is the modified recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive oil cooking spray
4 cups thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small onion diced
1 medium red pepper chopped
3 cups fresh spinach, lightly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (16 oz) carton of low-fat cottage cheese
4 cups cooked whole-wheat penne pasta
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced fat blend of cheeses (cheddar, mozzarella, colby jack), divided
1/4 cup (2 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup skim milk
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Spray a large non-stick skillet with olive oil cooking spray and turn on heat to medium high.
3. Add mushrooms, onion, and pepper. Saute until tender; about 4 minute.
4. Add spinach, oregano, and pepper. Saute another 3 minutes or until spinach wilts.
5. In a food processor or blender, add cottage cheese and process until smooth.
6. In a large bowl, combine spinach mixture, cottage cheese, pasta, 3/4 cup cheese blend, milk, and soup.
7. Spoon mixture into 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray.
8. Sprinkle the top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese blend and Parmesan cheese.
9. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly brown and bubbly

*** if you are making this recipe with meat, use cream of chicken soup in place of cream of mushroom and add 2 cups shredded chicken breast in step 6. ***

I suggest serving with a large veggie filled side salad dressed with a low-cal balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Enjoy!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

BESTeam Weekly Feature - Blue & White Jewelry Wear

Come check out this week's BESTeam featured site Blue & White Jewelry Wear  on Etsy. 

The shop owner is originally from NY, has been living in Bangkok, and just recently moved with her husband to Santiago, Chile. Her shop, Blue & White Jewelry Wear,  creates jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, earrings) with an oriental touch! A modern version of East meets West. It is unique jewelry for unique women.

When first entering the shop, I was mesmerized with the Amazing Amethyst Necklace. This stunning purple necklace has a double strand of varying amethyst stones and freshwaters pearls. Amethyst is February’s birthstone and is the stone of spirituality and contentment. It promotes calming qualities for meditation.

  

The next eye catching piece of jewelry is the Oriental Fan Necklace. This monochromatic antique gold/bronze necklace features a light weight oriental fan with Chinese characters. It is attached to a bronze colored chain with smoky quartz beads

 The shop also features bracelets such as the Chained Hearts Bracelet. The bracelet contains a  single puffed heart charm, a double heart charm, and a turquoise nugget that have been attached to a heavy duty silver chain. This a perfect gift for a special person on their birthday, as bridal party thank you, or even an anniversary present. It comes packaged in a pretty taffeta bag.

Don’t forget to also check out the Blue&White Wear blog to see more great jewelry items, pictures of Santiago, and other great features.

 

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Featured Freebies for the Week of March 7

Check out the latest freebie items we found on blogs and websites or links sent to us from friends.

Limited Runs Stamps posted a St. Patrick's Day digital set

Sliekje Digi Stamps has posted an adorable puppy with mouse digital

Tip Junkie has posted a link to a printable Spring Kit (to do list),  Get Well Soon gift tags, and a Ta-Da to do list.

DZ Doodles shares two cute puppies

Spyder's Corner has an adorable Ewe downloadable

Ellephantastic has a chick and a few bear downloadables

If I Could posted a link to a St.Patrick's Day Subway Art downloadable

Catch My Party posted a download to some fantastic St. Patrick's Day printables

Maddycakes Muse posted a link to St. Patrick's Day downloadables

If you have any papercrafting downloadables or links to share, please post the link in the comments below or send us an email.

Enjoy!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Featuring Wayfaring Magnolia

Come join us in welcoming our featured Etsy shop owner Amanda and her eclectic shop Wayfaring Magnolia.

Before showing you some of the great products at Wayfaring Magnolia, I want to introduce you to Amanda. She describes herself as someone who "loves x 3" art, music, and fashion. She is intrigued and inspired by the "fashion of our past". Amanda studied history at Michigan State University where vintage fashion and history caught her eye.

In July 2010, Amanda opened the Etsy shop Wayfaring Magnolia. It  is a wonderful place to find vintage treasures from around the world. Who doesn't love vintage?!

Not only does she feature fashions such as this whimsy black and white polka dot shift dress

this Vintage Hoquy French Beret

and these vintage pretty in pink peep toes

but also some gorgeous vintage jewelry like this monarch butterfly broach

Please stop on by Amanda's shop Wayfaring Magnolia to see these items and so much more!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Recipe Friday: Easy Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

The weather outside is still chilly here in the Midwest, so nothing could be better than a nice warm crockpot or slower cooker meal. This recipe can easily be reduced in calories by using reduced or fat free sour cream and by using reduced or fat free cream of mushroom soup.

Serve it on top of noodles, rice, dumplings, or my favorite spaetzle. Add a fresh green salad on the side.

Easy CrockPot Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs lean beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 lb fresh slice mushrooms or 1 (8 oz) can mushrooms drained
• 1 cup sour cream (may use regular, reduced fat, or fat free)
• 1 can (10.75 oz) cream of mushroom soup (may use regular, reduced fat, or fat free)
• 1 cup water
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients except sour cream into slow cooker/crockpot.
2. Stir to combine ingredients and cover.
3. Cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours
4. Stir in sour cream.
5. Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes.
6. Serve over egg noodles, rice, dumplings, or spaetzle.

Have a wonderful Friday!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Creativity Bugs featured at All About Cats

We got a really nice surprise this morning. The Creativity Bugs Etsy shop and handmade cards were featured today by Linda at All About Cats.

Please take a moment to check out the featured post on her blog and stay a while to view some of Linda's other blog posts.

Don't forget to check out Linda's Etsy shop All About Cats which features handmade items for cats (and for humans who love them) including:

Fran The Green Frog Organic Catnip Bell Cat Toy

Cat Print Travel Tissue Holder

Have a terrific Thursday!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue