My 2 WIP's Completed And More Food

So I finished my 2 pieces that I showed you last week....I changed them up a bit.  Here is the canvas one--

And I just want to say, Buffy, you read my mind.  She had commented last week that the way I had done it reminded her of playing cards--possibly the Queen of Hearts, and that's exactly what I had in mind.  So this is my version of the Queen of Hearts, ala Suzi with a little Norah thrown in,  and speaking of the Queen of Hearts, who's excited about Alice in Wonderland?!

And here's the finished box--

I'm really happy with the way these both turned out.  Here's what they looked like last week--

When I put these  photos up last week, I knew immediately that I was going to change them--I just couldn't get with these colors, but I'm still glad that I went through the process, because they add so much to the completed pieces because of the layers.

And now for Fattening Friday---this one is a favorite in our house, and I was surprised that not everyone has heard of them in different towns.  This is a pepperoni  ball--

You can get these at any local pizza shop here.  What they are, is pizza dough stuffed with pepperoni and deep fried  (of course).  You can stuff them with anything, though.  My grandmother used to make them from scratch and filled them with anchovies and called them fish balls.  I know your proabably thinking--ewww!, but if you like anchovies,which I do, they were delicious.  This one came frozen at the grocery store from a local Italian market, and you just heat them up in the oven, and they're still good.  But being the artist that I am, I can't leave well enough alone.  I always cut them open and put more pepperoni and a thick slice of mozzarella in them--

And then they're even better, and more fattening! I always make an antipasto salad to go with them--

And it makes for one delicious meal!

Oh Man At The Three Muses!

Oh Man--yep, that's the theme this week over at The Three Muses, so here is my Mr. Man box--

I want to thank Annie Wilkes from the  Stephen King  book Misery for that expression--Mr. Man.  Did anyone see that movie?  That is one of my favorite movies--I just loved Kathy Bates as Annie.  But I am really digressing here--back to my art piece.

I started out with this wooden cigar box--

And then I started to look through all of my Mr. Man stuff that I have--

Now this only a little bit of what I have pretaining to men.  But everything I have, I  found in flea markets in Tennessee and Kentucky.  I live in Pennsylvania, so your probably wondering what was I doing there?  Well, I was at the Highway 127 sale   (yes, they have a website).  It's every August for four days, and it spans through 4 states--about 650 miles--from dawn to dusk.  It's all on this highway 127, and it's just one flea market after another, and you can find ANYTHING that you could possibly want or need and then some.  I've gone for 2 years now, and for some reason, I can find the best  man stuff  there.  So I went through my man stuff, and decided what I wanted to use, and then I lined the cigar box with pages from this 1925 Farmer's Almanac that I found in Kentucky.

This other lady and I were fighting over this book.  It's obvious who won that fight : )

So there you have it--my Mr. Man box--

And for those of you who have never seen the movie Misery, here's the scene where Annie uses one of my favorite phrases--"Mr. Man"

Enchanted

This is the theme at Mixed Media Monday this week, and here is my enchanted land where the sun ALWAYS shines : )

This is done on an 11 x 14 wrapped canvas, and I just had alot of fun using all different types of mediums.  First I just started putting down colors using my Golden acrylics.  I love these paints so much--I just don't understand why they have to be so expensive (I'm very protective of them).  And then I started collaging my different scrapbook papers for the mountains, trees, and birds.  After that, I used neocolor crayons and colored pens.  I loved making this piece.

And I have to give credit to the artist Lierre Foest for inspiring me.  I was looking around on the web after I saw the theme for this week, and that's when I discovered her.  I first found her on you tube.  At first, I thought all of her work was on large surfaces, but they're not.  The majority of them are on ACEO (2.5 x 3.5) cards and 4 x 6 pieces called OSWOA--I've never heard this term before.  Does anyone know what that one stands for? I can't stop looking at her work--all the details on such tiny surfaces--she also prefers 1 x1 surfaces too!

If you like this type of colorful, whimsical art, then you will love this video:

A Couple Of WIP'S And A New Installment Of Fattening Fridays

It's been VERY boring around here this week--I mean there is nothing going on, and hey, guess what?-- it snowed last night !  : D  alot, so there's something for you.  So  I decided  to show you a couple of WIPs--I really do like saying that!

This box started out like this--

An old recipe box that  I found at a garage sale--it surely wasn't mine.  I have no need for these things.  And then the next is an 8 x 18 wrapped canvas--

As you can see, I have a heart theme going on.  They look like Valentine pieces, which wasn't my intent.  I just wanted to work with the three colors, and it just turned out being the hearts--but looking at it now, I know that I'm going to change these up a bit. You get a better perspective when you look at it in a photo as opposed to just looking at it in person--we'll see how they turn out.  I'll post them when they're finished.

And I decided to show you another meal that I had this week after Bobbi told me she was a little disappointed that I didn't show any food last Friday.  So this time, I decided to post the recipe too !!

This is creamy potato soup-yum!  I got this recipe from my daughter that she got  from her cooking class in high school. Like I said, I'm not really a cook, but I think most cream soups start out with the cream base, called a rue--but correct me if  I'm wrong.  This one doesn't, but it turns out every time.  I always adjust the recipe to make more, but here's the basic recipe

                                                         6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

                                                         2 carrots, sliced

                                                         2 celery ribs, sliced

                                                         1 medium onion,diced

                                                         1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped or dried parsley

                                                          5 cups water

                                                          4 chicken boullion cubes

                                                          13 oz. can evaporated milk

                                                          1/4 cup butter or margarine

                                                          1/2  cup milk

                                                          3 Tbsp. flour

                                                          salt and pepper to taste

1) Combine ingredients--potatoes through bouillion cubes--cook over medium heat for 40 minutes covered or until potatoes are cooked.

2) Add evaporated milk and butter, and simmer for 20 minutes on low.

3)J Combine the 1/2 cup milk and flour and add to soup to thicken.  I usually have to add more of this--just make sure you mix the milk and flour well before you add to the soup slowly. 

And then just season to taste, and let stay on the  stove for a couple of hours to get the flavor in.

I topped it with green onions, cheddar, and bacon pieces--very good.

Did I mention that I have a slight problem with my cholesterol?  Every year, I tell the doctor--I don't understand--I really don't eat bad things.  I mean look at this meal, for example--you have fresh potatoes, carrots, celery, real butter, cheddar cheese, and real bacon that I fried up myself till it was nice and crispy--so what's the problem? : )

                                                         

                                             

Sarah's Home

The theme this week at The Three Muses is architecture and here is Sarah's home:

This is a place that I regret not going to when I had a chance , when  I was in San Jose, California.  It's the Winchester House built by Sarah Winchester.  She was widow to William Winchester who was the son of the founder of the Winchester Arms Company.  Needless to say, she was a very wealthy woman.  She only had one daughter who died at infancy and her husband later died of tuberculosis.  Because of this, she felt that she was cursed and after visiting a psychic, she moved to San Jose.  The reason being, is because the psychic told her  that indeed she was cursed by all of the spirits that were killed from the Winchester rifle.  And she told Sarah  that she needed to build a home in the west for her and the spirits, and that if she ever stopped building, she would die

So that's what she did sometime in the 1880's,  for 38 years--24 hours a day--365 days a year

She really did build it--she was the architect who designed it, even though she had no formal training.  Some say that's why the house is so screwy, like the doors that open into walls, the staircases that lead to nowhere, or the windows that look into other walls.  But MOST believe that this was her intent--to confuse the ghosts. She very rarely would  stay more than 2 nights in the same bedroom for fear that the spirits would find her. The house was so complicated, that the servants used a map to find their way around.   To say that this lady was a tormented soul is putting it mildly.  There are other interesting facts about the house.  Sarah was fascinated with the number 13 (go figure), so there are 13 bathrooms, 13 chandeliers, all of the windows have 13 panes and so on and so on.

In 1920, it was opened to the public for tours. Now.... they say that there have been sightings of Sarah's ghost  roaming the grounds and also her home and you better believe that I believe it.

This is Sarah Winchester, or should I say her spirit watching over her home.  I love this kind of stuff--it just fascinates me.  I'm the one that watches all of those TV shows--  "most haunted places", and of course Halloween is my favorite time of year.

And I also wanted to show you the background of the collage--

I was inspired by KC Willis to make this fabric collage.  She makes the most beautiful fabric collages, and last year I joined  her Collage Camp  workshop, and she shows you how she makes these wonderful collages from start to finish.  In the one video, she gives you a tour of her studio, and you just drool over all of the treasures she has there.  You can see her art at Lipstick Ranch, and believe me, it's worth the trip!!

Giggles and Laughter

This is what Mixed Media Monday wants us to come up with this week. And here's mine:

This is my Hippie girl with a little updated shabby look, and she's on a 9 x 12 piece of wood--this has to be one of my favorite surfaces to work on.  I know, I know, you're probabyly wondering where's the humor?  I'll get to that in a minute.  I was just being a bit nostalgic this week, reliving my teen years.  I was what you would call, in my words, a "trendy" Hippie--everybody was.  I didn't live in a commune or anything, I just liked to dress like one, because that was the fashion for us teenagers way, way back then, which I'm sure irritated the heck out of the authentic Hippie.  They became mainstream--they became  part of "the Establishment", which was their main reason for being.  They wanted to change  the Establishment.

So now comes the giggle/laughter part.  They had alot of sayings, like "Make love, not war", "Tune in, turn on, and drop out", and one of my favorites was "Don't trust anyone over 30".  So what's their new motto now?

"Don't trust anyone over 90" ??

A Thank You To Milliande And Others

So as I said before, at the end of next month, I have my first art show, and all of these art pieces that I've  been making are going with me.  But I need to build up my inventory, for lack of a better word.  And I've kind of been in a little slump.  So I've been watching Milliande's art journaling videos on utube, and she helped me make this piece this week--

One of her videos was on resists using crayons.  I was going to try it in my journal, but I figured I would just do it on canvas.  And of course, it didn't turn out like hers, so I ended up covering it all up.  But my polka-dot tulips and house are done with the Caran d'Ache Neocolor 1 crayons ( I love those-I love the way they look over acrylic).  My point is, is that she motivated me into doing something.  I take Dell (my laptop) all over the house with me--she's always by my side.  And I'll turn on Milliande's utube station, and start watching.  I love watching her.  Every once in a while, she'll look up at the camera and smile--you feel like she's in the room with you.  I really am grateful for all the time that she's taken to do all of these January art journaling videos.  She even has a link for each video of the supplies that she uses, and also if you have any questions--she's there to help you.  What a generous lady she is!  In one of the videos that I watched, she's making her journal page with her daughter Maya.  Her daughter is so cute, and is so proud of her artwork.  You just know that Milliande is encouraging her every step of the way, and at the end of the video, Maya has the biggest smile on her face--they both do!

Milliande encourages ME through these videos, and so has Mystele, Suzi, Sharon, and KC Willis.  And I'm sure by the end of the year, there will be more names added to this list.  I'm doing and learning things that I never thought that I would be able to do.  And it's through these very talented artists/teachers that I've been able to do this,  and I just wanted to say "Thank You"  to them.  And I also wanted to say thank you to all of you for your comments and support--they brighten my day up, and I need it especially at this time of year.

I really feel that my work has grown, and I'm really proud of that.  One reason, is because I received my response from an art show that I apply to every year.  If you do shows, then I'm sure that you're familiar with the "rejection letter" that you can  get when you apply.  This is the way it is--you'll never get into all of the good art shows.  Well, this year I was accepted!! And I know it's because my work is so much better than last year, so another reason to thank all of these ladies for encouraging me!

So today I'm off to the mall and one of my favorite food places (I love food :) Panera Bread.  Is that restaurant nation-wide?  I'm not sure.  All I know is that I love their soup and sandwiches, and of course I'll be bringing home one of my favorites there--a cinnamon crunch bagel!