Easy Vegetarian Chilli

When it's this cold, with promise of snow for the weekend, it's nice to make a big pot of chilli.

My chilli is vegetarian, adapted from a recipe I found on the About.com website a few years ago (I think I simplified it a bit). Like all stews if this sort, it will taste even better tomorrow, but we'll start on it today...
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, grated cheddar on top and some Doritos...

Easy Vegetarian Chilli

Vegetarian Chilli Recipe
2 tbl. olive oil
1/2 cup uncooked coarse bulgar (cracked wheat)
1 cup frozen sweetcorn
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 green peppers, roughly chopped
2 x cans chopped tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tin black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp. Cajun seasoning (or chilli powder if you like the heat)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dry oregano
1 tbl. Marigold stock powder (vegetarian stock powder) (makes everything taste better!)
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch sugar

Method:
Fry the onions in the olive oil  for a couple of minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and stir well. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for about an hour, stirring every now and again. Just make sure it doesn't catch on the bottom.

The bulgar may continue to absorb liquid after cooking, so you may need to thin the chilli back down with a little water or stock.

Makes 6 servings, freezes really well.

I told you it was easy!

Here is a link to the original recipe, before my changes

A Cold, Cold Day

You can't see how cold it is in the picture, but you can just about see the canal has frozen over in places:

Taken on the way to school this morning
Trellick Tower in the background

In the evening I went to the opening of Suzy's exhibition in Hampstead - here are some photos:

It's a lovely gallery, and Suzy's work looks really good in there!

My Friend Suzy's Exhibition

My lovely friend Suzy is a paper-cutting artist, and her first solo exhibition opened today. Tomorrow is the preview evening.

Suzy has made some wonderful new work specially for the exhibition, so if you are in London, I hope you go and have a look, here are the details (click for a larger image):

If you can't come, have a look at her blog - her work is amazingly intricate and gorgeous, and also her Etsy shop. Yes, I'm shamelessly promoting a friend, because she is a good friend and because I love her work :-)

Here are a couple of examples:

Weak Spot...

I cut these beautiful shapes yesterday for earrings (you know I'm in love with this pattern) from a *rare large piece of Willow Pattern pottery shard - and discovered that this shape has a weak spot. The first cab broke before I even set it - and the second one broke during setting.

*Willow Pattern is common. Large pieces of any kind are rare...

Disappointing - the shapes take quite a long time to cut, but they were just too weak at  the top. These will have to be re-shaped into chunkier drops...

......Some hours later......

Here is the end result - I reshaped the cabs, added Thames Glass cabochons in a gorgeous blue colour, of which I only managed to make 3 with the piece of glass I found...

I'm so glad I am managing to correct my disasters, and that I can reshape the pottery pieces and not ruin expensive stones for instance. I do treat my pottery pieces with care because although they are 'free' - they do take a long time to collect, clean, sort out and shape.
I'm resisting the urge to oxidise these...

The Ghost by the Tower

I found this curious piece of pottery the other day - I'm sure it shows a ghost by a tower!

And here are some more dot earrings I made:

Black and White Dots - Bracelet Finished at Last

I bought a magnetic clasp for this bracelet, and I feel like a cheat - I should have made my own clasp!
But I wanted something that was secure and easy to put on and take off. Magnets seemed like a good option but I have never used them before. Any comments welcome!

The clasp is from Bellore, and I think it goes nicely with the design.

Pottery Shard Bracelet in Black and White with Magnetic Clasp

I also made another pair of recycled cabochon earrings in blue, after my first pair sold quite quickly... These are a slightly lighter blue.

Recycled Thames Glass Cabochon Earrings in Blue

Simple Lime Glass Dot Earrings

Some recycled lime glass earrings, this time I left the silver white, and the dots are smaller then the blue pair - about 1/2 an inch in diameter.

Recycled Glass Dot Earrings in Lime

Simple Blue Glass Earrings

Just finished these:

Recycled glass cabochon and oxidised silver earrings

The Fixed and Finished Earrings

So to celebrate the fact that the earrings weren't completely ruined - I decided to add one of my brown Thames Glass cabochons (frosted) as a top tier. I like triple tier earrings, as you probably have already noticed.
They are quite long!

These took way too long to finish, but I'm pleased with how they turned out in the end.

Pottery shard ,recycled glass and oxidised silver long dangle earrings

Frosted Glass Cabochons

These are some of my Thames Glass cabochons which I frosted using my enamelling matting salts. I wasn't sure what they would turn out like, so I didn't do many in case I ruined them, but I like the effect!

As If By Magic...

The stain disappeared... I woke up this morning and there was no sign at all of yesterday's disaster - the stain had dried up and vanished. I had panicked for nothing, and ruined the other earring in vain.

So here is yesterday's earring as I had intended - the pottery shard cabochon is in lovely shades of ivory and rust... And I have just enough crackle shard left for the other earring. Phew!

Oxidised silver and pottery shard earring - click for a larger image

Earrings That Ended Badly

At the moment I only have two days that I can dedicate to jewellery making, so I usually try to cram in as much as possible. Unfortunately this sometimes ends badly, like today...

I was really pleased with the design of these earrings. I used quite a fetching piece of crackle pottery and shaped it into a drop, and decided I liked it upside down.
The problem happened when I oxidised the piece - the pottery shard absorbed some of the oxidising solution, and turned grey! I tried to rescue the second piece of pottery by removing it from the bezel before oxidising - and broke it :-(

I need to find a way of sealing the cut edges of the shards before I set them, so that it doesn't happen again.

So I have ended up with earrings which I will have to fix - but grinding a piece of pottery to fill a ready made setting is quite tricky, and I don't have enough of that nice crackle shard for two new cabochons...

They would have been nice though!

Here you can see the cab turning grey round the edges
where it absorbed the oxidising solution

This is the only piece of that crackle pottery I have left,
not enough for two earrings!

Thames Glass Earrings to go with the Y Necklace

These long dangle earrings are made out of my Thames Glass cabochons, and go with the necklace I made last week:

Silver and Recycled Glass Earrings

Silver and Recycled Glass Y Necklace

I also just finished these today:

The blue and white pottery shard came, of course, from the Willow Pattern!

Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination

I have always loved medieval manuscripts, so today I visited the exhibition at the British Library - Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination. Quite amazing really. What I really love are the tiny little details painted in the borders.

I recommend it if you are in the London area! Some of the books appeared in the BBC Four series: Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings and it was great to see them in 'person'. I only wish I could have been closer, and able to turn the pages...

Inside the British Library

Outside the British Library

It looks like a fairytale castle, but it's St. Pancras Station,
 as seen from the British Library - beautiful!

I had to wander round to find a slightly better view - click for a larger image

Sleeping Copper Fox Necklace

I finally decided what to make with my copper fox. Not a ring, but a necklace:

He is surrounded by a fine silver bezel, and attached to a hand made sterling silver chain.

A Few of my Favourite Tools #1

We are all tool junkies, and my collection of useful (and some not so useful it turns out) tools grows monthly, but I thought I'd share some of the tools that have changed my work for the better, and that I wouldn't be without.

Looping pliers - I make my own jump rings, and with these pliers I can make consistent sizes. They are also handy for simple ear wires. I made most of my handmade chains using these. They were bought in Cookson.

Sanding Rolls - I first saw these being used by Andrew Berry in his very excellent training videos to which I subscribe - and they are in constant use. The finish on my work is much better since I started using them.
They come in 3 different grades, and I use them all.
You can make your own with a split pin and some emery paper, but these are inexpensive and come in packs of 10 which last for a very long time. Also from Cookson.

Fiskars Soft Touch Micro Tip Scissors - These were recommended in one of the jewellery newsletters I get - for cutting bezels. I use these for cutting fine silver bezels (no need to file), and also for cutting sheet silver up to 0.45mm thick. I used to use Gilbows but these are smaller and more precise. I know they won't stay sharp forever at this rate of use, but for now they are a great time saver. I bought these on Amazon.

Optivisor Glasses - I think I also saw these being used by Andrew Berry, but I have reached the age where your eyes are not quite what they used to be.... Anyhow, a little help seeing the small details is welcome, and these are always to be found firmly on my head when I am working.... Also from Cookson

I've Been Stalked!

I was surprised by a message telling my I had been stalked!
The article, covering 'Winter Blues' kindly features my pendant.

Click on the image to go to the article:

Just a Quick Better Picture of Yesterday's Glass Jewellery...

I'm never going to photograph them under fluorescent light again!

Recycled Glass Cabochons and Sterling Silver Earrings

Now you can see the colours and a bit of the texture of the glass...

And the Y necklace:

Recycled Thames Glass Y Necklace and Earrings

Today I did some work with the glass cabochons I made out of Thames Glass. I liked the Y necklace from yesterday, so first I made one of those in shades of blue and green.

 Recycled Thames Glass Cabochon Necklace in shades of blue and green

Then I made some of my favourite triple earrings - using glass again, but these pieces are opaque, so I think the glass must have been quite old.

I prefer the opaque pieces, and love the colours, which are actually much nicer in daylight - this photo was taken with fluorescent light. I pretend they are peridots, Andean opals and sapphires...

And Working Some More....

My last offering of the day, I now officially need glasses I think, not to mention a cup of tea...

Sterling and Pottery Shard 'Y' Necklace with Textured Blue Pieces

I'll list this tomorrow if there is enough sun for pictures...
Thank you so much all for the nice and encouraging comments, they really make my day!