A Little of This and That

This is my friend Marilyn.

She raises goats with her husband,

and they have 17 new spring babies,

plus three that were born yesterday.

This little one happens to be the tiniest one of the bunch.

She is not more than one hour old here.

Marilyn just got finished cleaning her up,

and letting her suckle on her mama.

Now Marilyn will take care of her,

and keep an eye on her

until she gets stronger and can be put back

with the others.

I get goats milk for my soap from Marilyn.

We meet at her house on Wednesday mornings

for a little 'stitch and rip' group also.

***

Remember this piece that I painted?

I didn't like the way I did the mountains.

Now, don't be shocked!

I took it to class,

and Dolores told me to cut the top off,

so I did!

Then I turned that piece

upside down.

So, now it looks like this!
The photo came out glary,
but it really looks great!

I love my new abstract piece!

It measures 16 by 20 inches.

What do you think?

Things I've learned in class

1. don't be afraid to crop your pieces

2. turn your piece upside down, it may surprise you

3. you can fix anything

***

This is what I use for my castor sugar.

It is from the 1930's I believe.

It is actually part of a S/P set,

but I don't use them for that anymore.

Some of you have ask me about castor sugar,

which is used in the

caraway tea bread recipe

in my previous post here..

Castor sugar is just superfine granulated sugar.

You can make your own

by putting regular sugar into a food processor
(it can scratch your food processor container)

or coffee mill and processing it until

it is fine...not as fine as powdered sugar.
Powdered sugar is processed differently,
it's pressed or something like that.

That's all there is to it.

***
Also, someone ask if my previous post was my last
Tea on Tuesday post
because of the way I phrased it.
I should have said
"previous"
not "last" in that post.
Sorry about the confusion.
I LOVE Tea day!
I will be continuing for awhile.
So, if you don't know about
Tea on Tuesday go see
 Kimmie.

Caraway tea and bread recipe

Last Tea on Tuesday post

I talked about trying something new,

making a new tea,

to add another thing to my

"Do 58 new things in my 58th year" list.

I am trying Caraway Tea.

I bought some caraway seed,

filled my tea infuser with them,

and added hot water.

I let it steep for about 8 minutes,

until it had a good 'tea' color.

Then I added a bit of agave nectar.

I think it has a very nice flavor!

I could probably press and bruise the seeds

with my mortar and pestle to make the tea stronger.

Caraway is an herb that can be used in many foods.

I found a recipe for

Caraway Tea Bread

that I wanted to share with you,

even though I have not tried it yet

 as I'm out of eggs at the moment.

I will make it this week

and will let you know how it turns out

next tea post.

It sounds easy and good.

I just love homemade bread!

From Tea-Time and some Cakes, Kitchen Essays,

 Agnes Jekyll. (Persephone Books, reprinted 2008)

Caraway Tea Bread

3 teacups flour

1 teacup castor sugar

1 cup boiling milk

3 oz butter

2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 large dessertspoonful ground caraway seeds

Mix flour, baking powder and sugar, rub in butter, mix the milk warmed with the egg beaten and the ground caraway seeds. Knead into a flattish brick-shaped loaf or cake, and bake 20 minutes in a quick oven.

To be eaten fresh with a little butter.

Note about using herbs...

Know your herbs and info about them. 

When using fresh herbs,

be sure it is what you think it is.

Visit Kimmie at

http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/

to read other bloggers tea posts,

or better yet,

why don't you join us for

Tea on Tuesday.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Winged Inchie and a Flower painting

Every Inchie Monday
 prompt word is....
winged.

Visit Kris at

http://everyinchiemonday.blogspot.com/

to join us, or just to be amazed

at some amazingly beautiful tiny art.

You can see more of my inchies

if you go to my labels

and click on

Every Inchie Monday.

This one is number 13!

Practicing my watercolor this week.

After I painted my horses,

I wanted to do something smaller

and simpler, so here are some

simple flowers in a vase

that I sketched.
It measures 11 by 14 inches.

Watercolor Tip:

Dolores tells us to step back and

to look at the piece in a mirror.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Paint Party Friday--a bit early

I will be dyeing fabric all day Friday,

so I thought I would go ahead and post this early.

Paint Party Friday is in it's second week!

To see some wonderful creations visit

 http://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/.

Here is my painting for this week.

I have wanted to really loosen up,

so I did a quick sketch of 2 horses and did

a very loose abstract piece.

I love color, as you can tell.

I'm not sure it's finished,

that's why it is still on my foamcore board.

This watercolor measures 18 by 24 inches.

I tried to do what I learned in watercolor class yesterday.

1. I changed brushes (sizes) often while painting.

2. I stood up to paint.

3. Once I put paint down, I left it alone.

4. I stepped back from the painting often.

5. I didn't hurry.

I need to come up with a name for this piece.

Any suggestions???

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Tea Day Herbs

Happy Tea on Tuesday!

This morning I was outside watering my garden.

It is such a nice cool morning.

I almost forgot that today was tea day.

I thought I would share with you today a photo

of my basket of tea bags.

This is how I keep most of my tea bags organized.

I also have tins full of tea.

All of my tea cups,

sweetners, etc. are in one cabinet,

with this basket.

I used to have jars full of herbal tea mixes also.

But at the moment they are all empty.

Time to mix up some more.

I was looking through some of my books

for herbal tea recipes,

and found a surprising tea mix made with caraway seeds.

That is a new one for me.

I found it in

Southern Herb Growing

by Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay

I don't know if I will grow my own caraway

because this is what it says...

"One would have to be a small elf

 making tea for the elf family

 in order to have enough seeds

 from a few plants."

So, I guess it's off to the store I go,

to purchase some caraway seeds.

They give a recipe for

Caraway Tea..

"A lesson learned from a memorable lunch

 in Riga, Latvia, several years ago: 

Steep 2 tablespoons of caraway seed

in 2 cups boiling water

 for 7-10 minutes. 

Strain, reheat if necessary,

and sweeten with your best honey."

Other good tea plants are...

basils, bergamot,

borage,

catnip, chamomile,

jasmine (not carolina jessamine),

lemon verbena,

licorice,

and mints.

To read more tea posts

visit Kimmie at

http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Rhythm of the Seasons inchie and Recipe

Spring has arrived and I'm loving it!

I decided to make a

Rhythm of the Seasons inchie

for this weeks Every Inchie Monday

 word prompt

 'rhythm'.

The flower is for Spring,

the sun for Summer,

the brown leaves for Fall

and the snow for Winter.

But you knew that right!  :)

Each season is separated by wavy lines,

representing more rhythm.

I painted this on 

recycled painted watercolor paper,

then added the word prompt

from an old dictionary.

Every one of my inchies

for this EIM project

has similar backgrounds

and dictionary words.

This will help me in the

final process of putting all 52 inchies

into a final piece of art.

Hope you check out

all the unique and lovely inchies

at Kris's blog

Every Inchie Monday.

 The Herb Society put out a

saltless seasoning recipe a long time ago.

I changed some things and

 call it my

Rhythm of the Seasons Seasoning.

1 T. cumin

1 T. cinnamon

5 whole cloves

1 t. cardamon seeds

1 t. black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup dried parsley

2 T. dried onion

2 T. tumeric

4 t. ground coriander

1 t. ground ginger

2 t. dried garlic

2 t. thyme

1 t. rosemary

2 cups of powdered milk

Combine all ingredients except milk,

put in blender and blend until smooth.

The milk is just a carrier so it can be optional.

 Add the milk a little bit at a time

until all is mixed well.

Store in airtight container in refrigerator or freezer.

Transfer to shaker jar when needed at the table.

Makes about 8 oz.

You won't even miss the salt...

all part of eating healthy.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

A Lost Art

Today my rose bloomed out even further

and became even more beautiful.

It doesn't take much to thrill me I guess.

Under the full perigee moon last night this rose was beautiful.

Using rose petals is almost a lost art,

 not only putting them in your own homemade potpourri

 but things like

making beads from rose petals,

brewing rose tea, making  rose jelly, etc.

Here is a great site with all kinds of great ideas

on what you can do with your roses.

http://www.rdrop.com/~paul/recipes.html

Going back to the perigee moon....

did you see it last night?

It looked larger, in deed.

It was gorgeous!

Here is a good website on moon info.

http://www.moonconnection.com/apogee_perigee.phtml

Roses, moon phases...

....all these things and more intrigue me.

It is all about joy.

Do you take time out to enjoy the little things?

I believe that

is almost a lost art in itself,

like using rose petals.

Joy is different than happiness.

Try to make a point to slow down....

smell a flower or two,

look at the full moon every month,

and take a few moments to

increase the joy in your life.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Nothing more Beautiful than a Rose

There is nothing more beautiful than a rose,

expecially when it is the first one to bloom!

 Today, on the Vernal Equinox,

full moon, Springtime...

my first rose bloomed!

This is a Camelot Rose!

Same rose, different view.

As you can see there are more buds

about to open soon.

Yet, another view!

Can you tell I'm excited???!!!!!

I probably took 25 pictures of it,

but will limit my blog to just these three.

You're welcome. :)

'Camelot' is a hardy, grandiflora rose

producing coral-pink flowers.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Create every day

Since I have the Art Fest coming up the end of May,

and a Merit Show in August,

I have been very busy.

Here are three more pieces finished

 and ready to be framed.

I decided to add a quote to this

mixed media piece,

at the last moment.

This piece measures 16 by 20

and is on canvas board.

The quote is by Rabindranath Tagore...

it says...

"Faith is the bird that feels the light where the dawn is still dark."

Now after it dries very good,

I will varnish the whole thing.

I drew this floral picture onto watercolor paper

 and then

used watercolor to paint it.

I finished it in my class,

with help from my teacher Dolores.

This piece measures 18 by 24.

This is my first landscape painting.

It is a mixed media piece using

acrylics and watercolor on

illustration board.

I used tissue paper and gesso for the texture.

It also measures 18 by 24.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Lady of the Lamp art doll

This doll is unique with a capital U!

Meet Anneelaw....

Anneelaw started in Canada and I have to say

that Mary Anne had a very creative idea to use

old parts of a lamp to start.

She has been to several artists since she left Mary Anne

a few months ago and has acquired many

very unique additions....

her head, her hand, her crystal bead hair,
a gorgeous feathered hat,

and other things.

She will even light up!

Here is a view without her hat on.

I had to show you the top of the hat,
as it has so many nice touches.

The journal pages done by each artist are

 kept in an altered cigar box.

What a great idea!

Now, it's my turn to listen to Anneelaw.

This one will be very challenging.

My doll, Raisa, is in California at the moment.

To find out more about Anneelaw and Raisa,

their journal storylines,

and all the other participating artists dolls,

visit

Art Doll Coolab 2010.
You can find out how they all began,
and just how they have progressed.
It's very cool!

Savor the Day!
Yvonne

Tea, Turkeys, and Textiles

Good morning everyone and  Happy Tea on Tuesday!

It is a beautiful crisp morning here,

so I am having my tea on the patio.

It is Green Tea...Kombucha...by Yogi.

It was inspired by a remedy

that dates back to ancient Russia.

I love the flavors of the lemongrass, spearmint,

passion fruit and plum.

I just know it will be a wonderful day!!!!

Yesterday, while sitting on my patio reading,

I watched several turkeys come through the back lot.

They were beautiful but I was sure wishing

I had a better camera to zoom in closer.

Sunday was the Fiber Art Society meeting,

 so here are a few photos to share with you.

Mary Sorrells lovely floral wall hanging.

Beautiful batik piece by Laura Osbun.

Paula Gron's beautiful doily quilt in progress.

Carlene brought several samples of quilt blocks

that were handed down to her.

They dated back to the mid 1800's.

She even had a photo of the lady who created them.

I hope you enjoy your day today.

Visit Kimmie for some more tea posts,

and just remember to ....

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Endless Inchie and a Basketmaker

Today is Every Inchie Monday,

and the word prompt we were given was

ENDLESS.

My inchies all use a common background of old painted watercolor paper,

are kept very simple, and have the prompt word

cut out of an old dictionary.

 I decided to add the definition of the prompt word this week,

which seems ENDLESS on this little inchie. 

Some of it hangs over the edge,

for a more endless feel.

Again, keeping it simple...........

***

Speaking of endless.....

my friend Mary Sorrells

of http://www.theartbasketgallery.com/

has an endless amount of baskets.

Over the last 10 years she has made over 900,

and has won ribbons for a large percentage of those.

Every room in Mary's home had an almost endless amount

of her beautiful baskets on display.

Some are gourds, some incorporate more unique things from nature,

some are decorative, and most are useful.

Some are tiny, but that doesn't mean they are easier,

because this one took almost 40 hours to create,

Mary told me.

Others use many fibers incorporated into the basket.

Others, like Melted Marshmallow,

are very unique and whimsical.

Another uses paper!

Others are tiny nesting baskets!

Mary has many basket pattern books in her tidy and organized studio.

I learned some basket lingo that day!

The materials Mary uses are many and varied.....

...such as the leaf of the philodendron, shown above.

Mary is an amazing basketmaker.

She offers classes in several local art centers.

Maybe I will take one soon.

Basket making would surely be something new for me to learn.

Hope you visit Mary at

http://theartbasketgallery.com/

Next post I will show you some of her art quilts,

along with more wonderful photos from the

Fiber Art Society meeting.

They are all a very talented group of women.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

What's in a Name

Been busy painting and creating mixed media pieces.

This first one below was done on a 16 by 20 canvas board

that I've had for awhile. 

I initially covered it with old dress pattern tissue paper.

Then I decided to cover it with torn music sheets.

After that I added watercolor washes.

It all bubbled up when it was dry,

so I  ironed it.

Yes, you heard right,

I ironed it flat. 

It worked pretty good.

Then I used more watercolor,

acrylics, collage,

and watercolor pencils

I don't have a title for this one yet,

it is not finished....

feels like it still needs some tweaking a bit....

maybe a quote or some flowers or

some background work or......?

The piece below is like a forest floor,

with many layers....

and is done on watercolor paper.

First I gessoed the paper to give it texture. 

Then,

I used watercolor, acrylics, collage,

oil pastels, stamps, and stencils.

To add texture I put crumbled up saran wrap

on the wet watercolor layer.

I put plexiglass glass on top of that,

with weights (many books) on top of the whole thing...

until it was dry.

Gives a great look!

I added some runs to the top of this, as I have seen that done

in many works of art and love the look.

No title for this one either...not yet.

Do you find it hard to know when a piece is finished?

Do you have a difficult time giving your art titles?

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Best of Show! WhooHoo!

Many people know about my good news already

 but I am just so excited,

I had to blog about it! 

The Art Center for the Islands

Annual All Member Show is this month.

My mixed media piece I titled

"We Might as well Dance"

won

Best of Show! 

I am just thrilled! 

At first I thought I heard her say

that I, along with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners,

have a Merit Show in August with 3 pieces each.

Well, I was corrected...

we have 3 PANELS each

for the Merit Show in August.

The panels are 4 ft. by 8 ft.

so I need to enter enough art

to fill up 3 of those panels.

I better get busy!

Dinah Bowman from Portland was the show judge.

You can see her work at

 http://dinahbowman.com/

Some of my projects are almost done...almost.

This is one of my quilts called

Lovers Knot. 

My friend Mary has it on her long arm quilting machine

ready to quilt a beautiful design.

Then after it is quilted I will put the binding on.

It will be a gift for my oldest daughter and her husband.

I'm glad this will be out of the way now.

One more thing off my list.

This quilt measures 107 inches by 107 inches

and is the largest quilt I have ever made.

It is an Eleanor Burns pattern.

***

Yesterday afternoon I went to my watercolor class,

like I try to do every Wednesday.

This is my wonderful and talented teacher,

Dolores Price.

Yesterday we were painting her beautiful red amarylis.

It had 4 blooms on one side, and after they faded

it got 4 on the other side...

huge blooms!

She has wonderul light in her studio and gallery,

which is right next door to her home.

I was sitting where you see my amarylis painting on the table.

It still needs some work.

Well, I hope you are having better weather,

are well, getting some projects done,

 and are having some fun in the meantime!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Tea and Roses

Happy Tea Tuesday...

and look what I found.

This is a little watercolor I painted a few years ago.

It was one of my favorite tea mugs...

yes, tea, because I never have drank coffee.

I drank mostly herbal teas from my garden.

The house I lived in at that time was in the hill country of Texas.

I had a large herb garden, as partly seen in the photo below.

I always used my herbs for many different things,

including making my own tea recipes.

Herbs that made great tea and that I loved was

 lemon verbena, anise, bee balm, German chamomile and mints.

I also loved rose hips, but never grew the roses to have my own.

I have found the rose hips in specialty stores

and mixed them with chamomile and pineapple sage.

Below is a picture of a rose hip flower that I took

on Cape Cod during one of my visits there.

The rose hip is the fruit

as seen below and

also seen in the background of the above photo.

I did read somewhere that an antique rose called

Old Blush produces hips and grows well in our Texas heat.

Old Blush (1752) is one of the most common,

fragrant and treasured of old roses.

This rose easily reaches 6 feet in height and 10 feet across.

The fragrant, semi-double, lilac pink flowers are in loose clusters,

turning to a darker pink in the sun.

They provide large orange hips

that you can use in tea or jam.

I guess I'm just going to have to find some 

 Old Blush roses

and add them to my garden.

Visit Kimmie for more tea posts

at http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne