Pass the Potatoes Please & No Fries Please

What is summer without some creative outlet?

Summers are so full of fun things to do would be a shame not to have something to remind you of those fun times.  

Some of you are experts at keeping a visual journal and I am by no means an expert. In fact, although, I may keep a sketchbook a visual journal is a new thing for me.   I just want to share what the kids and I are doing.  The kids loved working on their pages and are so willing to show them off to anyone who will look.

So look what they have done today.

We have worked in stages on our journal.  One evening we completed the wash of colors and completed potato stamps on a separate page so each child had a color washed page and at least one stamped page .

The second day we cut out stamped designs and photos and began to glue things down. Then the finishing touches came, adding additional stamping with purchased foam or rubber stamps in various colors that blended into the background.  As you finish up the first journal page you can quickly wash in color on a new blank page for tomorrow's journal. 

Preparing the paper with a wash of color:

• We like to start with a board that has several layers of newspaper covering one side, and then staple or tape our paper on top of the newspaper for absorbing the spill overs.
• We thin our acrylic paint with water in coordinating colored condiments bottle.   (Ketchup bottle is red paint.  Mustard is yellow paint.)
• Then we squeeze out color on the paper and allow it to flow together.
• Set it aside to dry. It can take hours depending on the paper and how much water was used.

Potato Prints
You are going to need a potato for this next part.  And a knife sharp enough to cut into the potato.

• Cut the potato in half. This will give you two stamps.   
• With a sharp pencil or a pen that no longer writes draw a shape
• Carve off the negative space.
• Remember to reverse or cut the mirror image of your asymmetrical shapes.  Pictured is the letter "P" reversed for printing.
• Use ink pads or acrylic paint to stamp on paper.Experiment wth colors. 
• Stamp on a clean sheet of card stock
• Cut out when dry to glue down on paper

Putting It Together
While everything is drying find a photo to use and print it out in various sizes, cut and glue down on your prepared page. Prepare a week's worth of pages to use and have ink pads, and purchased stamps to add more texture to the surface.

Now you have a surface to start your journal writing.

Pearson's journal page.  (3 1/2 yrs old)

Reese's journal page (5 yrs)

Everybody helped with 19 mo. old Blakely's page.

Wrangling Tangling Doodling

Terrie, from Creative Explorer, you inspired this post!

I think I have mentioned that it is difficult for me to sit and not be doodling on paper
so when I first ran into Zentangles I was hooked.  

After all, I had been doo-ing it for years!

First I searched everything online to find Zentangle patterns. 

Finally, I decided I needed to have some of the books in my library.  

I purchased 

Zentangle Basics, 

Totally Tangled 

and

Doodle Formula (Not a Zentangle book but doodling).

Of the three, I totally loved Totally Tangled.  It has a good assortment of patterns and examples of combining patterns.  

Since I teach high school students the Zentangle Basic would be a good one to keep in my school library and if Zentangle 2 and 3 are similar I will add them to my library for my students also.  

Here is my sketchbook after a day of play.
I worked with a pencil some of the time and with a fine point Sharpie.  Ignore that I wrote Zentangle Basics on the sketchbook because after one or two patterns I was into Totally Tangled and then just working from  my intuition.

Sketch book is 12" x 18" so I had lots of space to play

This morning I came back to this sketch book page using a pencil and added a string of points of a pencil as the design pulling the two squares together just for fun. 

Just pencil (5" x 5")

As my blog title suggests I have been doodling all my life so creating Zentangles is just right up my alley.
(Oh, and if you are interested in picking up on the proper lingo of Zentangle.
Zentangle is a noun so it is the design.
You create a Zentangle
but if you are creating the design you are tangling.)
  
It looks so complicated but it is so easy!
One stroke at a time.

Oh, and there is more...
Hers is a link to the official blog site:    http://zentangle.blogspot.com/
And...
Here is the link to the site where you can subscribe to the newsletters and they will send you new patterns or look through the old newsletters and see patterns they sent out previously.  
http://zentangle.com/whats-new.php

Strictly Saturday: Chocolate Caramel Slice

I love finding recipes that people from other parts of the world are baking
and this recipe is an Australian favorite.  

In England it is a tray bake,
in the US it is bar cookies
but in Australia it is a slice
but
wherever you are
it is delicious!
I now know why it is a favorite in Australia!

Just a hint of coconut in the bottom crust, a creamy layer of a subtle caramel made from cooking sweetened condensed milk (not a purchased caramel), and a little bit of chocolate to top it off. 

I recommend you give this one a try soon!

Chocolate Caramel Slice

Ingredients: Base
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2/3 cup desiccated coconut
2/3 cup self-raising flour
3 ounces butter, melted ( 85 gr)



Caramel Filling
1 ounce butter ( 30 gr)
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk ( 395 gr)

Chocolate Topping
6 ounces milk chocolate (150 gr) or 6 ounces dark chocolate chips ( 150 gr)
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375F (180C). Grease an 8-inch baking pan and line bottom and sides with wax paper.
• Stir brown sugar, coconut and flour together. Add butter and mix until well--combined. Firmly press mixture into prepared pan using the back of a tablespoon.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly-brown and slightly-risen. Make caramel during this time.
• Place butter and golden syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When butter has melted, add condensed milk. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 9-12 minutes, or until caramel thickens,
• Gently spread caramel evenly over base. Return to oven for a further 10-12 minutes (a border of lightly-browned caramel will form around the edges of the slice). Allow slice to cool to room temperature.

To give credit where credit is due I found this recipe at Food.com

Paint Party Friday: Working from Photos

It's Paint Party Friday!  

My summer has been consumed with grandchildren and 
with maintenance of a home

that has gone from just the two of us to the seven of us!  

I think you might say "growing pains" but it has been good. 

I started a painting a couple of weeks back of my son with his son fixing a child's stroller.  

It is a watercolor based on a photo I took in November.

Here are some things I have picked up from working with photos:

• Start by manipulating the photo and ignore the parts of the photo that are unimportant to you.  This is different than manipulating for printing.  You want to enhance the  exposure, contrast, tint, and saturation, and do some cropping, etc. Maybe you are pushing the warm colors so that the resulting image is more colorful than the original photo. Now, the focus is on shapes and values.

•  Another example of this color manipulation is seen in my April 29, 2011 post of a Waterlily  (right) in which I showed an example of  boosting warm colors in a fairly neutral photo.

• Change things at your discretion: Now, about the background in that top photo!  Yuck!  Who wants to see a background in a painting like that? You don't have to use the background from the photo!  Ignore it! Put in a wash of color.   I decided that with the white in the stroller and the white of the shirt I needed something with more color for the background and washed in a quick wash of cadmium yellow, Prussian blue and an occasional burnt sienna for contrast.

• Strange perspectives: Here is another problem with working with photos...sometimes, the camera catches something in an odd position like this child's foot in the picture.  What a challenge to paint.  I am going to put a sock on his foot instead of figuring out the angles of each one of those toes.   

• Light and Shadows: Also, watch for the direction of the light and shadows.  Make sure your shadows fall opposite the light source.  

• Composition Manipulation: One of the benefits from working from photos is playing with the composition and combining photos and moving around figures and objects.  In a post from years ago, I used about five photos and arranged and rearranged photos until I decided what was best over a period of several posts. See  New Idea  and Idea Reworked and the completed painting A Day at the Beach

I hope everyone is finding their inspiration on this fun Friday! 

Be sure to check in on all the different artists today!  

Paint Party Friday

No Losing Your Marbles Here

Just another post

for Rocknquilts Tuesday Toot-torial

Think you are going to lose your marbles while taking care of your kids this summer?

Well, here is a fun activity for the kids to play and grow their brains at the same time!

As a grandmother and a teacher I think one of the biggest challenges parents face during the summer months is "Grow your brain activites".  

It is hot outside and if they are not in the pool they start winding down and complaining about the heat! I can not blame them one bit for that either but the last thing I want to do is bring them in to watch television or play video games (which both can be grow your brain activities if done properly) but sometimes your brain starts to turn to mush, too and you find yourself saying,

"okay, just go do it...anything!"

A little prep time and less than a five dollar investment 

can save your sanity, and help your child get a little smarter.

SO....
Stock up on a few of the pool noodles, a few marbles and a roll of masking tape and turn the kids loose with it.  

Oh, preparation first!

Take those noodles (must have a hole down the middle) and with a sharp knife slice them down the middle the length of the noodle to make two long tracks per noodle for a marble run. Mine sliced easily. (I used three noodles and had all the length necessary for the marble run.)

Then the tracks (as many as you want to try) can be taped together end to end to make a continuous run.  We found that the start needs to be about three feet high to get a good long run.  Explore a little.  My guys found that the stairs worked as a great place to start the run and then they did loop-de-loops and curves. The guys from 2 to 62 got involved and they had hours of fun.  Part of the fun is the experimentation of "what happens if...?"

 

 

Make a science lesson of it if you wish or just let them discover!

  We did this last summer and the kids still ask to take them out and play. 

A great father/ son activity, actually, it was a great Nana/child activity until Papa came home and then it really got fun!  

So find your marbles and go have fun!

*Marbles come in various sizes and we found the medium size worked better on our noodles (stayed in the track better). 

So you may experiment with marble sizes as well as slope, height etc. 

Most importantly, let loose and have fun!

Sock Roses & A Hospital Survival Basket Tutorial

Visit RocknQuilts for Tuesday Toot-torial!

We found out this week that one of our men from church has been diagnosed with colon cancer.  At a loss for what to do for the family, Gaby, my daughter-in-law suggested we put together a basket for Ron and his sweet wife, Kay.  After making a few calls and asking friends who wanted to contribute to the basket to bring specific things we had a basket full of good things for the hospital visit. 

Remembering previous hospital visits and family experiences with hospital stays we put together a list of things that would be good for a hospital survival basket

• Socks to keep our feet warm in a cold room
• Lip balm to put on lips that dry out due to meds
• Hand or body lotion (unscented for me)
• Quarters for vending machines (Use old medicine bottles filled with quarters.  My medicine bottles hold ten dollars of quarters)
• CD of calming music 
• Mints like Altoids come in easily sealed containers or individually packaged mints don't need an enclosed container and can be shared with visitors
• Prepacked crackers with peanut butter or cheese for a quick snack 
• Nuts (check diets, some won't allow nuts but family members who are staying over may like this healthy snack)
• Green tea bags along with a microwavable cup or disposable cup, plastic spoon and sugar packets if necessary

Now with all that good stuff  the task is to make these random things look pretty in a basket.  We used a package of mens low socks and they came in a package of twelve.  Packaged the socks just took up space and did not look pretty at all in the basket of goodies so I took them out of the package and started to roll them when an idea popped into my head....rolled socks can look like a rose bud!  Using a skewer from my pantry or you can use Popsicle sticks or craft sticks of some kind to make your rose buds. So here goes!

 Start with a pair of low cut socks or short socks and a skewer or some sort of craft stick.  Fold the toe end down to hide any writing that may be on the toe.  Make sure the heel is to the top as seen in picture.  Begin a slight downward spiral, allowing the heel to wrap outward a little to create a petal for the bud. I used a rubber band and wrapped securely to keep the sock on the stick. 

Cut a strip of felt about 12 long and tapered from about 3 inches wide on one end tapering to about an inch on the opposite end.  Start with the narrowest end and wrap around the rubber band.  Secure with hot glue when the felt begins to overlap.  (glue felt to felt not the sock) Randomly cut a leaf shape on the wide edge of the felt with the remaining flap of felt.  Allow leaf shapes to vary, some small, some larger.  Vary colors of green from lime green to deep green. 

Once you have a dozen sock roses you can bundle them into a bouquet.

I gathered mine in a loose bundle, secured the bundled sticks with a rubber band so the roses stayed as I had them.  I wrapped the bouquet with paper by cutting a piece of paper 12" by 12", turned it to make a diamond shape with one corner at the top.  I then created a cone shape which wrapped around the sock roses exposing the socks and the pointed end of the cone behind the bouquet.

Happy Father's Day: Candy Cards

Sometimes, getting a card for special days is a challenge but this year we found an answer for a Father's Day card in the candy aisles.  

This card is Mom to Dad:

Hot Tamales, I Skor'ed a good one! Some people may think you are an Airhead but I think you are a Big Hunk, always good for a few Snickers and Mounds of fun!  Twix you and me and the 3 Musketeers you are the sugar to my Sugar Babies, the Almond Joy to my days, and the Starburst to my Milky Way.

The one the kids are giving their dad reads:

"Hot Tamales!"   Some“Sugar Babies” have “Nerds” or “airheads”for a Daddy but you are a “100 Grand” among dads, always good for “Mounds” of “Snickers”, a true “Nugget” among “Nuggets”, a “Starburst” in the “Milky Way”. Mom thinks you are a “Big Hunk”or "Life Savers". We don’t know what she means but to us you are a “Whopper” of a dad, and a “Joy” to be around! You are sooooo “Special” . Twix” you and me we Skor” ed a good one. We love you!

This is not a new idea but it was fun for us to do.  We enjoyed playing with the names and trying to work in the special candies our dads liked. (Oh, just noticed that the kids picture is missing the special dark chocolate on the card.)  I bought one foam core board at Target thinking I could cut it in half but our sentiment got long and the words needed more spacing. 

Strictly Saturday:Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Loving this summer thing!  

But WOW!  It is wreaking havoc on my diet!  

I can not keep myself to Saturday anymore.  I am going to have to find some will power....maybe next week!

This recipe is really, really good.  If you can't keep your fingers out of the cookie dough when you mix up a batch of cookies you will love this recipe!  A baked chocolate lovers brownie on the bottom and a cookie dough minus the evil eggs to top the brownie and a little melted chocolate drizzle and this is a true winner.  

I baked them on Monday and even put them in the freezer to discourage my picking at them but no....I could not keep away!  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Yield: 32 brownies

Prep Time: 30 min + cooling time

Cook Time: 25 min

These brownies are a major treat for cookie dough lovers...

Ingredients:

BROWNIE:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
COOKIE DOUGH (EGG FREE!):
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup semisweet chips + 1 teaspoon shortening for drizzle, optional

Directions:

1. Prepare the brownies: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray. In a medium glass bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave in short bursts of 30 seconds; stir after each burst and remove from microwave when melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in melted chocolate. Blend in flour and mix just until combined (don't over-mix). Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 25 to 35 minutes. Watch closely and remove from oven when toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.
2. Prepare the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Mix in milk and vanilla. Mix in flour just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Spread cookie dough over the cooled brownies. Refrigerate until the dough is quite firm. It's okay to speed up the process and place it in the freezer too. The firmer the dough, the easier it will be to cut into neat squares. Use a sharp knife to cut the brownies. You may need to wipe the knife off with a paper towel in between cuts since the fudgy brownies and cookie dough will tend to stick to the knife a bit. These brownies are best to serve placed inside cupcake papers and served with a fork.
4. If you'd like to add chocolate drizzle on top, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of shortening in the microwave; stir until smooth. Scoop the melted chocolate into a zip baggie and snip off the corner. Squeeze the bag to drizzle the chocolate on top of each brownie. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top, if desired.

Found on  RecipeGirl.com

Paint Party Friday: Summer Vacation

July Artist of the Month

I am going to be Artist of the month for my county Art Club.  It has me in a panic because I want to show a masterpiece and of course, I have not painted it yet because the one you are going to do is always better than the one you just finished.  

Is it just me or do others get...... for lack of a better term...."stage fright"? 

I look at that huge piece of paper and think:

I will not be able to do this one. This is the one I will throw in the trash.  It will be the one I will not want anyone to ever see.  I will never complete it. 

Logically, I know I can.  I teach it!  I battle students who say these words to me and I laugh with them.  I talk about the awkward stage of painting to my students and warn them about it and talk them out of quitting paintings at that awkward stage. 

If I do not turn out a masterpiece by Monday....I think the painting or paintings I will use will be "Caleb's Love" (left) and it's companion piece "Gaby's Love" (right) (the couple's honeymoon pictures from Playa del Carmen).  

I love the figure in Caleb's Love but the rocks in Gaby's Love are much fresher looking and more spontaneous, less labored looking. 

(Please, excuse these poorly photographed images.)

A Basket for Ron:  Sock Roses

We found out this week that one of our men from church has been diagnosed with colon cancer.  At a loss for what to do for the family, Gaby, my daughter-in-law suggested we put together a basket for Ron and his sweet wife, Kay.  After making a few calls and asking friends who wanted to contribute to the basket to bring specific things we had a basket full of good things for the hospital visit.  

As always people are so generous!

I asked for socks to keep his feet warm in a cold hospital, I got twelve socks! 

I asked for a small container of mints and lip balm for dry mouth and lips, I got two big bags full of mints and lip balm.  

I asked for a music CD....got two!  

I asked for quarters for the vending machine....I got twenty dollars in quarters (we put in medicine bottles for the basket). 

Add instant soups, bread sticks, peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, and various nuts for the family, and a package of caramels, a few microwave safe disposable cups, instant green tea, a wrap to keep Kay warm and all the love that goes with it.... our basket is filled to brimming. I almost had to go find a bigger basket.

Now with all that good stuff  I had the task of how to make these random things look pretty in a basket.  Those socks just took up space and did not look pretty at all so I took them out of the package and started to roll them when an idea popped into my head....rolled socks can look like a rose bud!  So here goes!

 Start with a pair of low cut socks or short socks and a skewer or some sort of craft stick.  Fold the toe end down to hide any writing that may be on the toe.  Make sure the heel is to the top as seen in picture.  Begin a slight downward spiral, allowing the heel to wrap outward a little to create a petal for the bud. I used a rubber band and wrapped securely to keep the sock on the stick. 

Cut a strip of felt about 12 long and tapered from about 3 inches wide on one end tapering to about an inch on the opposite end.  Start with the narrowest end and wrap around the rubber band.  Secure with hot glue when the felt begins to overlap.  (glue felt to felt not the sock) Randomly cut a leaf shape on the wide edge of the felt with the remaining flap of felt.  Allow leaf shapes to vary, some small, some larger.  Vary colors of green from lime green to deep green. 

Once you have a dozen sock roses you can bundle them into a bouquet.

I gathered mine in a loose bundle, secured the bundled sticks with a rubber band so the roses stayed as I had them.  I wrapped the bouquet with paper by cutting a piece of paper 12" by 12", turned it to make a diamond shape with one corner at the top.  I then created a cone shape which wrapped around the sock roses exposing the socks and the pointed end of the cone behind the bouquet.

Photo Fun: 

I got out my camera this week while I worked and organized and took some photos just for the sake of finding my creative outlet.  

I did a little research on food photography and then started playing with the idea of photographing food.  (This is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies.  The recipe will be posted tomorrow on Strictly Saturday's Chocolate post.) Food Photography is more fun than I thought.  I knew I enjoyed eating, but photographing what you eat?  Yes! 

The African violet I purchased for a friend who loves them and is very successful growing them.  I noticed a new color for her.  The plums are from my tree out back that was very abundant this year. 

The week that is behind me:
So there it is....besides cleaning, organizing my studio and sewing areas, cooking meals for hungry men, baking for fun, experimenting with pickle recipes and making juice from my plums, (sounds sort of Martha Stewart-ish...huh?) I have pulled a few weeds in my garden and fed the fish in my pond, I have doodled a little but never enough, I have wet my watercolor paper and been called away....several times and started a new full sheet watercolor drawing (not pictured....yet), finished a good book (only reading at bedtime) by Charles Martin (one of my favorite authors) and started a new one, I have hugged on my grandchildren, played with their toes, tickled their bellies and kissed their necks.....all in all, a good summer week!

Painting In Progress

As I post this I have my painting, paints and all out on the table about to find the time with everyone in the house still sleeping a quiet hour (at least) of my personal Paint Party Friday time!  I'm excited!

Detail

Getting Help from my little experts.  Thankfully, on the masking tape.