Background

Here is a really cool background I created using some of my new supplies! I have some ideas, now I just need time to really play around. This is on canvas paper, which I have never used before. I'm thinking book covers or a mixed media piece maybe????

After trying a zillion different recipes for banana bread, I FINALLY found one that is super yummy! Check out iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/ and you will see this recipe and some amazing

pictures of cookies and cupcakes. Now I want to make sugar cookies and learn how to frost with royal icing.

Is it hot where you are? It was over 90 again today! We are ready for the pool to open. Only two days of school left and then off to San Francisco for the weekend. Does anyone know of any great independent art stores I should check out? Please let me know. In the ten years we've been going there, I've never found any great/unique art supply stores.

Today I finally did it! I broke down and bought some gouache by Holbein at Dick Blick. I couldn't wait any longer. The colors are more vibrant in person, I think the light in the room

washed out the tubes. I also bought some canvases, bleeding tissue paper and watercolor canvas paper. I can't wait to play!!!! I better hurry up though because Thursday is the last day of school and you-know-who is going to want to use all of my new toys! How can it be summer vacation already???

The dinner I made in the slow cooker was disappointing. The amazing smell didn't match up with the taste. There was NO FLAVOR! I think it all wafted into the air. It was like eating boiled chicken. The good news: the dogs LOVED it!

Slow Cooker

I am always searching for something new to make for dinner. I bought a slow cooker about 3 years ago after my sister insisted it was the best thing ever. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what to cook in it. I looked on-line, but the recipes were mostly stews and I knew I wouldn't get a good response from the crowd here. Recently, I kept hearing about this cookbook Fix It and Forget It. I went out yesterday and bought it. Here is what is cooking right now while we speak. It is Greek chicken. It smells sooooooooooooooooo yummy! I will let you know how it tastes. I bought another cookbook, but I'll tell you about it in another posting.

Sr. Seuss

I haven't posted or created ANYTHING in a while as we have had family in town. It is almost impossible for me to escape when I need to cook and clean up. This is a page I put together a while ago and recently came across.

Dr. Seuss was a very wise man. There is much to be gained from his stories! I stand behind

this quote of his and hope to instill this belief in my children. It still amazes me how I still

experience this exact thing with one specific person in my life. The fact that I am ignored means this person minds what I am saying and doesn't value me. I'm done with it!

Daughter's Collage

I just LOVE this collage my 5.5 year old created. (I HAVE to say the 1/2 part!). Gia refers to herself as an artist and has decided that when she grows up, she will be an artist, a veterinarian and something else - but I forgot! Anyway, she is great with color combinations and the details she adds to her drawings are fantastic. I will have to post a drawing or two soon. She has a thing for my supplies and even though she has her own, she only wants to use mine! I love the times we spend creating side by side, yet together.

The bottom picture shows two of my new journals I have just started. The left one still needs to be bound. I am trying it Teesha Moore style and am nervous because I used my all time favorite paper inside (Fabriano Artistico hot press) and I don't want to ruin it. The one on the right is sewn together a la Tessha Moore's directions on You Tube. Fast, easy and fantastic! This is the third one I've made like this. I'm also into Coptic stitching. What are you currently working on?

No One But You

Here is my recently finished piece! I had fun creating this one. It is definitely mixed media -

acrylics, watercolor pencils, tissue paper, paper, gel pens, alcohol, ink stamps and natural bees wax. I polished the wax with a bag and it is shiny!

Tape Giveaway

Check out this giveaway! These tapes are SO YUMMY. I want to buy them all!

uguisustore.blogspot.com

Playing Around

Here is what I've been playing around with. I think I like it so far, not completely sure. I love how the elephant is coming out and I dig the sky! I'm going for depth here. The house is quiet, but I am just SO tired that I've been sitting here staring at this, trying to figure out what to do with the grass. I painted some flowers and wiped them off b/c I didn't like how it looked. Any ideas??? My son would tell me to add some Transformers, and my daughter would tell me to add a unicorn. What do you think?

Speaking of my son . . . . today was the 2nd Grade Mother's Day Tea. It was wonderful and I got teary eyed. Jake memorized his entire role of narrator for the play! I had no idea. He even spoke with an accent. He was a little nervous, but I was so proud of him for getting on stage in front of all the moms and his classmatess. Jake presented me with an entire folder of things he wrote about me in honor of Mother's Day and I was amazed. These are treasures that will be saved. I hugged him tight - - stunned in awe at the fantastic son we have.

Here is a sampling of what touched me.

I am me because of you...

I have eyes so that I can see you.

I have ears so that I can hear you read to me.

I smile because I like laughing.

I use my brain to draw my ideas.

I have a heart to love you.

I have arms to hug you.

I am me because of you, and for that I thank you!

Happy Mother's Day!

Slump

Ok, so I've been in a slump lately. I think it's this whole tooth thing. I had to go to the dentist again today to get impressions made for the temporary. I felt nauseous sitting there, listening to the different possibilities. I didn't cry even though I wanted to.

Anyway, I have wanted to paint and draw lately but just feel stuck. This is our living room which STILL isn't finished. I know my husband wants to kill me! I decided to do a leopard on leopard pattern that is texturized using Lusterstone. It looks BEAUTIFUL, but the stencils are literally falling apart and I have lost my steam. I refuse to go spend more $$$$ for new stencils when there isn't that much left to complete. I MUST FINISH THIS! Every time I apply the material, pieces fly off and it gets everywhere. I only have that little corner & part of a small wall to finish and then I have to finish painting around the windows and trim under the tray ceiling. I just need the motivation to finish it! This is so not like me not to have it done already.

I am annoyed with myself, but then I say get over it and just do it. Ok, I will as soon as I have time. Maybe tomorrow afternoon?!?!

Focus

I need to focus my energy into one thing but which??? soldered charms, collage paintings or coptic bound books. I'm not sure which one most people would prefer. Hhmmmm . . . . maybe I should go back to my jewelry line. I did SO well selling the one of a kind bracelets and necklaces. Yummy stones - - - Peruvian Opal, Apatite, Ruby, Sapphire, Amber, Pearls . . . . .

Maybe I should combine them all together to see what I get. Maybe I can shrink the paintings down to charm size and incorporate the gemstones. I will have to see how I can do this. I might need a professional photographer as I don't think my Canon Power Shot will do what I want. Not a bad idea!! I will have to play.