Crowaboutit Challenge

I've missed the Crowaboutit Challenge in the last few weeks. My entry this week is a combination of this week's images and a few from last week mixed in. Usually I enjoy getting kind of silly with my crowaboutit challenge entries. But this one is more serious and I believe to be quite true. Our lives are greatly influenced by how much we dream and how much we pursue those dreams.

InspireMeThursday

The inspiration piece for InspireMeThursday this week is the Mademoiselle Caroline Riviere. This is my entry. This is Princess Esmeralda who thinks she has a much sexier neck than Caroline's and her new dress and sapphire necklace really show it off. I created most of this image digitally and embellished Esmeralda with her jewelry. She is 5" x 7".

My Studio in a Box

A while back I showed a tiny traveling portfolio and drawing board that I created for ACEO's . I promised to show other ways to travel with your art supplies. Today I am showing pictures of my art box. This box started out as a fishing tackle box. I have had it for 10 years. It is sturdy and handy. But it was just a bit too masculine for me. So I embellished it. I know that shocks you that I would do that. : ) Since this box will never be for sale, I was able to use some images from magazines that I can never use in my art due to copyright laws. Technically, this should not work over plastic. But I tend to ignore rules when they get in my way. So, I just used ModPodge and glued away. When I was finished I covered it all with several coats of Liquitex Matte Varnish. In 4 years of lugging this box around to classes and on trips, the images remain intact. If you ever decide to look for a tackle box like this, be sure and take an unsharpened pencil along with you. Many of them do not have spaces quite long enough for the pencils. This is a Plano box. The wonderful thing about this box is that I can fit all of my many kinds of pencils and colored pencils in it, grab a pad of paper, and I'm off for a day or a week. By the way, that isn't chocolates. The chocolate tin has more pencils in it. And the round tin is my traveling trash can for sharpening shavings.

Sun Burgers for Dinner Tonight

I enjoyed Sun Burgers for dinner tonight and it occurred to me that my vegan and vegetarian friends might be interested in this recipe. I got it from a vegetarian restaurant in Ft. Worth, TX about 30 years ago. The original was to serve 50! So I had to adjust it a bit. I have also adjusted it otherwise a bit over the years. So by now I guess its really my own recipe. This will make enough to serve about 6 and even have some left over for tomorrow's lunch.

Sun Burgers

Grind 1/4 C raw sunflower seeds in blender

Finely chop 1 medium onion

1 clove garlic

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Saute' sunflower seeds, garlic, and onion in olive oil until onions are clear.

2 1/4 C water

1/8 teaspoon oregano

1/4 C tamari soy sauce

1/8 teaspoon basil

Have ready 2 1/4 C of raw old fashioned rolled oats.

Add saute'd mixture to water, herbs, and soy sauce in a large sauce pan. Bring it to a boil watching closely so it doesn't boil over. Slowly add oats while stirring. Stir only enough to mix. Do not over stir. Remove from sauce pan and put in a bowl. Refrigerate until chilled - about 30 minutes to an hour. Shape into patties and microwave for a minute or two. (Microwaves vary so much. You'll have to watch and see what works with yours.) You can also cook these in a broiler or toaster oven. Serve on bread with whatever sandwich fixings you prefer. You might want to salt them when serving.

These patties can be frozen before the final cooking process. They will stay fresh in the refrigerator for just a few days if not frozen. Enjoy!

Childish Dreams

This is my newest mixed media collage art. It is the first in a slightly different direction for me and also the first piece I have created as a direct result of my new venture into art journaling. It is a very personal statement on many levels.

The screen door started as a digital image then was embellished with paint. This quaint screen door actually lives propped between 2 trees just like this in the backyard of some artsy friends of ours. The 2 quotes are Dream the dreams of a child and There lies within each of us the potential to be more. The little girl was painted with acrylic gouache and the rest is probably self explanatory.

Although I started this piece a while back, it fits in with this week's Melange challenge 'gateway'. I hope you enjoy it.

Melange Challenges

The Melange Team is having 2 challenges right now. This week's word challenge is heavenly. Here is my entry. You have probably seen this one before. But it fits so well I decided to enter it anyway. The quote says "And on the 7th Day He rested... with a cat in His lap." I personally authored this quote and I am quite confident that this is true.

The second challenge is to use fabric in some way in your mixed media piece. The deadline is today. And true to form I am sliding in at the last minute. Here is my entry. It has felt and vintage tatted lace for fabric. It is also embellished with vintage buttons and a stamp. The quote says "The road to a friend's house is never long." Actually I use lace in lots of my work and I could have used many pieces. But I've been wanting to do something with these felt flowers and this challenge gave me the spark to make it happen.