Cancer Month

My mom, sister,and niece are breast cancer survivors and my daughter is a uterine cancer survivor. We are very aware of what this does to family and that early detection is a must. Thank God that now they are cancer free. What is the cause? We dont know. Each one of them had different types of cancer and at different stages.
Awareness is a part of our daily lives.
 In honor of them I decided to make this ACEO/ATC.

I used a texture medium, foil, paint and varnish.

Native American Indian

I finished the Kneeling Indian and... as I posted on my blog over at the Hive... I wasnt sure about the "shine"  I didnt want to use a gloss finish so I used a satin finish but it still came out a bit shiny. My family liked it. The actual person to decide is the lady that bought him and she was very happy with it. For some reason (which I think was the flash on my camera) he is not as shiny as this picture shows. Also he has a lot of parts that show a shadow when I move him around. LOL in this photo I see a spot on his thigh. I couldnt find it anywhere on him, then realized it was a shadow and showed up in the picture!!! 
I am so glad that my friend Claudia taught me how to paint on ceramics using acrylic paint. Thank you Claudia!!

Here are before and after photos.

Love My Juicer

I love my Juicer. Its the Jack Lalane Juicer.  We have had it for 5 years!  So quick and easy to use and it is easy to clean.  I had a different juicer before, it was awful, took a lot of fruit and/or vegetables to make one cup! Plus hard to clean.

We have an apple tree, peach tree, orange tree, pear tree and lemon tree so I am always making juice. If you add an apple or carrot  it will naturally sweeten the juice.  Once in awhile after making the friut juice, I will pour the juice, ice cubes and  yogurt into the Blender and we have a delicious smoothie!
Vegetables!  Great way to get your vitamins! Juice whatever vegetables you have, add a carrot and you get a yummy vegetable juice.  I also like to juice vegetables and make a broth for Vegetable soup.

 

limiting my time

I was spending so much time on the Internet that I wasnt getting things done, especially my painting projects. I decided to limit my time to 1/2 an hour in the morning and 1/2 an hour at night. I do stay on longer 2 days a week for classes,blogging or listing but not too much longer!.
Since I have been limiting my time on the internet I am actually getting some projects done! It feels good to finish something! I am actually enjoying my "creative" time in my craftroom.

I painted this butterfly on a wooden steak platter. Great surface to paint on, very smooth. I didnt have to sand to much before painting. A friend of mine gave the platters to me. She was going to throw them out! They were brand new! I cant wait to paint another one!

My Bright Idea

Garbonzo Beans... Chickpeas... whatever you want to call them.....I am swamped!!

Fresh Chickpeas/Garbonzo Beans. They are so yummy and very healthy. Full of Protein,zinc,good carbs, fiber etc. I bought a batch of them at the Farmers Market the other day. Instead of buying them already picked and in a small bag I had this bright idea to buy the batch that was wrapped with twine for $6.00.
I filled 5 bowls so far and still have a lot left

I boiled some the other day and mmm they are yummy. Only problem is that the pods fill up with water and guess what happens when you pop one open!!! Yup, those little things are better than a squirt gun!

I  baked a batch in the oven, nice and crunchy like eating popcorn or corn nuts! I put a few in some foil, drizzled olive oil, garlic salt and pepper wrapped the foil over all and shook them a little bit and grilled them those were REALLY good!

Last night I got another bright idea "why not open them before I cook them" OMG My thumbs are so sore from popping the pods open!

Besides having a sore thumb  another problem with this bright idea they are good raw, taste like fresh raw peas. So it was open one... eat one... open one... eat one..........

So much for my bright ideas!! Next time I may just buy that bag of fresh already picked Garbonzos!!!

Turtle!!

See....I told you I found a rock that looks like a turtle

A shy turtle!

painting again!

For the past few weeks I have been working with polymer clay, paper, decopauge,and other various mediums. During this time my oldest son who is visiting for the summer asked me why I was'nt painting. He is constantly after me to paint. He says "mom, you enjoy it, you are good at it, that is what you should do". I just kinda sorta ignored him and continued on doing everything but paint.  I felt like I was in a slump.

 After a few weeks of this  I said "why am I not feeling creative?" my son said "because you need to get back to your painting" Then, the other day I saw a wooden sled sitting there and I thought.."HMMM I should paint something on that". I saw a picture of a cardinal so..  I got out my paint supplies,and set everything out and began to paint! I was in my own world for 2 days! I was happy! I realized my son is right, painting is what I enjoy. I am feeling  creative again. Now I am looking at other things I can paint!!!!  I saw a rock this morning, picked it up and said "Now that looks like a turtle!"