House InsideOut

38 Things: Donate Blood

2012-01-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

I realized the other day that since we moved I completely lost track of my 38 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 39 and it was time to jump on board the to-do list wagon. When I glanced over the list again I noticed that I actually have been doing quite a few things to move my list along.

Like donating blood. I donated blood yesterday for the second time since I turned 38. I love donating blood. The staff at the blood center make you feel like you a celebrity for doing it and they give you chocolate milk and cookies afterwards. I am also B- which is only about 2% of the population so they have shortages and they call me and remind me when my time is due. Something pathetic like only 5% of the population that is eligible to donate actually does. Do you know if you are eligible? Call your local blood bank and make an appointment. It only take about 45 minutes and most of that is paperwork or drinking chocolate milk: the taking blood part is about 10 minutes. One donation of blood can save 3 lives, no joke.

Snow Time Equals Art Time

2012-01-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

With this assignment of 50 collages in 2 weeks I have learned a lot about myself and my art making process. I need a good amount of time before my ideas get rolling. Which was the point, really, of having to do so many collages. If we were able to stop at 10, well, the results would have been awful. For me at least--can't speak for my other classmates. Or what would have probably happened is that I would have made 10, hated them, made 10 more, hated them and then did another 10 and so on. Luckily I have been stuck in the house for the last 2 days because of the snow/ice storm and so I have been able to focus, focus, focus.

It wasn't until around #32 that I really started rolling in ideas. That was about the time I picked up paint as well. I played a bit with resists as well. It made the pieces so much more interesting.

It was also more successful for me to keep to a limited palette for the majority of the time. Less options mean more thought into what you put down on paper.

Three days ago I broke down and went out and bought a proper cutting mat and my cutouts improve sharply from that point on.

Tips I have figured out with collage:
-Have sharp blades.

-Buy a fancy cutting mat.

-Experiment with lots of different kinds of glue.

-Try tearing the papers instead of just cutting a sharp edge.

-Use stiff backings so they don't warp and roll up (like mine did).

-Photocopiers can be your best friend. I have a lot of foreign money but didn't want to cut it up so I photocopied it.

-Use non obvious collage materials. Meaning, I hated the collages that I used magazines or "scrapbooking" papers on. They looked too crafty and cheap.

-Be prepared to hate a lot of what you do and chalk them up to samples and trials. Don't use your favorite papers or unique images until you have a grasp of what you want to do with them. That's where the photocopier helps too.

This one is my favorite. Those brown forms cut from a dress pattern are in the shape of nuclear reactor cooling towers. The cards refer to humans gambling with nuclear energy. A little obvious, but I am not too good with super deep or dark interpretations.

I also liked this one and think it works with the one above. The spiral on the side is DNA.

For those of you that remember your high school science, this is a diagram of fission. The collages weren't all science based, but my favorite ones tended to be.

The entire collection. You can see about 2/3's of the way is when I really started having fun. The last 15 I did more or less simultaneously.

Now I have to make a nicer, quality collage diptych for the next project. Yikes, only tomorrow to make it, going to put my thinking cap on tonight!

I Can Hardly Believe it Myself

2012-01-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

Well, the snow made it after all. And the weather forecast last night had changed from snow to frozen rain. Yeah, they got that wrong. The snow is so thick you couldn't even see the bridge when I took this photo.

Now I can see a faint outline of it. But what amazes me is how many cars are coming across the bridge!

The cats are none too happy. They have been going outside a lot lately and blame me, I think, for the reason why they now cannot and do not want to go outside. I love how the birdbath is draped in the snow.

On a more serious matter, please consider joining the online protest against censorship. We do not need internet censorship bills passing in congress. These bills are misguided and just plain wrong.

Waiting for Snowpocalypse with Soup

2012-01-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Here in the Pacific Northwest we are expecting some big snow heading our way. As in a bigger storm than been seen in these here parts for many decades. People in the PNW freak out when snow falls. And there is good reason. Lots of hills and little in the way of infrastructure for handling snow since we get it so infrequently.

So all you can do is stock up on food, make sure you have spare batteries for your flash light and try to get out of wherever you may need to go for a couple of days. Yesterday it was coming down pretty heavily so we ventured out to get groceries and much needed cat food. There is a giant hill to get out of our neighborhood and I don't want to get iced in without provisions!

This morning the bridge was looking pretty clear. Not much going on right now. But supposedly the snow is headed our way. Oops! As I just looked out the window while I am writing this, the snow has come back and big icy flakes are falling studiously on the yard.

How do I prepare for snow? With soup. Soup and flatbread made from scratch and red wine and brownies.

Chorizo Chard Soup

1 Tablespoon oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 lb spicy Chorizo uncooked sauasage

1 lb baby potatoes, peeled, halved and cut in thin slices

4 cups vegetable broth

4 cups water

1 head Swiss Chard, stems discarded, finely chopped

Heat oil over medium in heavy pot or dutch oven. Add onions and cook 5 minutes, stirring every so often.

Add Chorizo and cook, stirring, for about 8 minutes. The Chorizo I buy comes in sausage casing but you cut it open to use the ground sausage. (Now sometimes you can only find the cooked Chorizo. If that is the case, slice it thin, brown it separately in a frying pan and then add it at the end with the Swiss Chard.)

Add potatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook 25 minutes, checking potatoes to see if they are fully cooked. Once potatoes are cooked, mash potatoes in pot with hand masher.

Add Swiss Chard and cook for 5 minutes or until Chard is well wilted. (If you are using pre-cooked sausage, add it at this point.)

Simple, spicy and delicious! The key is the spicy Chorizo---so many flavors you don't need to add any additional seasoning. I served it along side some pizza dough flatbread I made with just a topping of olice oil, Parmesan, and black Hawaiian sea salt.

The perfect way to beat the snow!

Collage Frenzy

2012-01-17T09:53:00.000-08:00

I am well into my first assignment in Winter Quarter of my Fiber Arts Certificate and this project is a biggie! We have to create 50 collages, yes, that's right, 50, based on a single theme and then 2 nicer collages as a finished diptych. And we only have 2 weeks. Yikes, this is like real school!

I've said this before and I will say it again. I am not really a collage person. The self portrait I did last quarter was one of the only collages I have created in years and years. So this is hard for me. The instructor did say that to think of the 50 more like sketches so I am using it more to just experiment with the paper.

I am also trying not to use a lot of magazines so that is making it hard as well. But I am hunkering down in the downstairs rec room (My new studio looks to have a water leak which is another story and I can't move into it just yet.) and listening to the radio and enjoying myself. I made it past 30 which felt like a big obstacle and am actually starting to enjoy what I have been coming up with.

Hitting the Felting Links

2012-01-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

I like to keep in touch with what other felt artists are up to. It is very inspiring and

amazing to see all of the different things being created so I thought I would share a few of my current favorites with you.

Let me say right off the bat I did NOT make these adorable felted mushrooms. They are a special giveaway over Felt4u. I am not sure how long her giveaway is going on for so get over there and comment to get a chance to win one of these ornaments!

Another felt blog I have been admiring lately is RosiePink--She does beautiful felt tapestry work with machine and hand stitching.

LeBrie Rich does felt sculpture and installation with a nice sense of humor. Check out her TV dinner series.

Happy clicking!

Art Studio Re-Do Part 1

2012-01-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

Here's how my studio looks right now. After we moved in my dad put a really nice epoxy coating on the floor as a house warming gift. Step 1. It took a while because I had to move everything to one side of the room and then he did the coating and then after 3 days I was able to move everything to the other side and then he applied the rest of the coating. It looks sharp: shiny gray with white and black speckled texture across the top.

Step 2. Finally, last week we had this gas heater installed. I had a few different contractors give me bids and they all wanted to do something completely different and this ended up the most affordable as well as handy that it is up out of the way. Only the installers screwed up the wiring and had to come back and fix it and they also forgot to seal the venting so they are coming back today (only after I called them to bug them) to fix that. I swear everyone is out to short change you in the construction business.

I was about to start painting today and went out and under the heater was a big puddle of water. At first I thought maybe the heater was leaking or had condensation problems? But now we realize it is actually seems to be seeping in from the wall.

Ruh-roh. If that is because the roof is leaking into the walls and into the garage I will have a really really big heart attack because we just can't deal with that right now and the rainy season lasts until May around here! I may just go in there and start painting anyways. It's got to be done at some point.

Stunning

2012-01-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

I meant to get these photos up yesterday but as I was twisting to get up from the dining room table bench at lunch my back decided to have a little spasm and I spent 10 hours yesterday alternating from ice to heat to get my back to calm down. Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick and I woke up today feeling only the teeniest twinge.

Anyways, these photos are from Sunday night. I was downstairs playing a video game in Trevor's office (Skyrim, if you must know; I am obsessed) and Trevor intercom-ed me to say get upstairs NOW. (I know, it's seriously goofy that we have an intercom. But I've learned to embrace it rather that yell that lunch is ready.)

So I hoofed it upstairs and out onto the deck and saw this amazing sunset. It went from pretty beautiful to strikingly amazing in just a minute or two. Crazy colors, I don't know if I have ever seen one this bold in Tacoma before.

I hope we get to see more like this!

Sketchbook Project 2012: Prehistoric

2012-01-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

I am about half way finished with my contribution to Sketchbook Project 2012. The Sketchbook Project is a fun collaborative project put on by the Art House Co-op. Artists from all over the world create a sketchbook (they provide it--it costs $ to participate) based on a theme you choose from a wide selection. Then, all the sketchbooks are mailed in and then they go on tour around the country. The remain in the Art House Co-op collection after the tour.

I tried to do this last year and promptly lost the sketchbook. (I found it when we were moving but it was 10 months too late.) So this year I kept careful track of where my sketchbook is and it looks like I might actually finish it on time! The theme I chose is Prehistoric.

Prehistoric seemed a pretty obvious choice for me since I have been obsessed with dinosaurs since I was a wee one.

Now, sketchbook art is not really my thing. I love to draw but I don't consider myself a book artist so this has been a bit of challenge for me. When I think of sketchbook I think of scribbles and notes and half finished drawings, not completed mini works of art. I see some artists that like to share their sketchbooks on their blogs. That is not me at all.

I decided to keep it simple and limit my supplies to watercolors and pens and draw whatever suited my fancy. I think this is one of the more successful pages. The complimentary colors of orange and blue make this page really pop.

And so far I have been having fun.

I think some of the pages look a little plain; I might go back and add more to them.

Woolly Mammoth.

I have been applying watercolor on the pages and letting them dry before drawing on them.

More Mammoth.

Ancient Ginko. We had a Ginko tree at our old house. I miss it. I am going to have to plant another one here too.

I love bones. I own 3 cow skulls and I created a little bronze casting of a T-Rex skull when I studied jewelry design.

OK, back to work to finish my sketchbook! My heater is being installed in my new studio today. Yay! I might actually have a functional studio in a week or two. My husband would certainly be happy. Once the heater is installed I need to paint and then my dad is helping me build a work bench and then I have to put in shelving and unpack and organize everything. But this sort of work is fun!

Starting off the New Year on a Good Note

2012-01-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

Feeling pretty happy. Started the new year by donating our old Subaru last week to the Tacoma Humane Society. The car was old, had many miles, and was well used and loved but had an oil leak that was going to be just too much to fix. So instead of trying to sell it, we decided the best thing was to donate it instead. Hopefully this will provide for lots of dogs and cats in need.

Goodbye, Subee, we will miss you!

When Your Eyes Are Bigger Than Your Stomach

2011-12-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

What do you call it when you try to quickly make a little craft project that turns out to be a lot bigger and more time intensive than you thought it would be? Your eyes are bigger than your craft?

Anyways, last week for our dinner party I made a hand painted table runner that turned out pretty neat. But it was not my original idea for a table runner. I have a lot of felt fabric I bought way back to make felt flower pillows and I thought I would take the left overs and make some neat cut out designs.

I used a Sharpie to draw out the design and an Exact-o to cut it out. Only it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I couldn't find my blade cutting mat and so I used a wood drawing board. Big mistake. The wood dulls the blade quickly and gets little splintery bits of wood all over the fabric. Also, the fabric is pretty stretchy so you have to hold it down very firmly when you cut. Below is all that I had cut out after watching 2- 2 hour plus movies! (I probably was watching the movies more than cutting, but still, it took a while.) Since the dinner party was drawing so near and I was still so far away from completion, I set aside the project.

However, I love how it looks and want to go back and finish it once I find my cutting mat. I also like how the gray looks on top of the green and am wondering about stitching down the gray to an un-cutout piece of felt. Lots and lots of possibilities and very simple to do! Just get a good cutting mat and I think it I could find stiffer industrial felt it would be even easier.

So little time, too many things to do in this universe.

Progammable Equals Happy

2011-12-29T10:13:00.000-08:00

One of the most important rituals my husband and I have in the morning is to lay in bed and drink coffee while listening to the radio and catching up on news and cuddle with our cats (who are locked out of the bedroom at night and in desperate need of attention in the am).

The only strife in this situation is that one of us has to get up in the cold house and run into the kitchen and turn the coffee pot on and then run back to bed. Then the other person has to go get the coffee once it has brewed.

Now we only require one trip because I just bought this fabulous new coffee pot with a programmable timer! I know, I know, welcome to the 21st century, Jennevieve. Our other coffee pot was a little 4 cup Cuisinart that was either on or it was off. No programming, no clock, nothing. Also, it was too small and dribbled all over the place when you poured the coffee. When guests were over you had to make like 3 or 4 pots to make everyone coffee. We loved it and used it for about 8 years but it was time to move on. New house, new coffee pot.

And really, who knew how many coffee pot options were out there? I kept almost buying a new coffee pot when they were on sale at Fred Meyers but didn't want to end up with a lemon. I actually ended up doing a lot of research to find one that had good marks on timer, ease of pouring, plus good looks for the counter top.

This is the Cuisinart DCC-1200 Brew Central 12 cup programmable although we normally only make 6-8 cups at a time. It makes me so happy. Now I just need to find a good coffee grinder-- but that is another story for another time!

Holiday Table Setting

2011-12-23T15:33:00.000-08:00

I was in the middle of making a felt cut out table runner for our dinner party tonight and realized I just didn't like it.

I found some unstretched canvas when we moved and remembered somewhere in the back of my mind and idea about a painted words table runner. I saw it on some blog, it was fabulous, and now for the life of me, I don't know where I saw it. (This is where my sister points out that if I had posted it to Pinterest then I would know exactly where it was.)

So I winged it. I cut the canvas so it hung over the edges and was about 14" wide. Then I watered down some acrylic paint and wrote out famous food quotes by Oscar Wilde, Julia Child, and Martin Luther, among others.

About half way through I almost abandoned this one as well but I stuck with it and now I am very very happy with how it turned out. Simple, cheerful, and all about the joys of being with loved ones over food and drink.

The felted rock place card holders and napkins add color.

Life is too short for all the dinner parties I want to host! Now it is time to go marinate the steak and chill the Prosecco and clean the kitchen.....

Happy, happy holidays however you chose to spend it and whomever you chose to spend it with!

Felted Rocks as Place Card Holders

2011-12-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

As you might have noticed, I love all things felted. I also love throwing dinner parties and giving away gifts. So yesterday after combing through the rocks in our yard, I settled in to felt them. Felting rocks is pretty simple and only takes about 15 minutes per rock.

I learned how to felt rocks by watching this tutorial by Terri Pike.

Her website is amazing, please check it out and if you watch the videos as much as I did, be sure to give her a little Paypal donation!

I made sure each rock was a different color and pattern.

Then I used them as place card holders! Our guests will get to take them home with them.

Maybe they will use them as paper weights or just put them up on a shelf or hold them once in while.

Simple Pocket Napkin Fold

2011-12-23T15:10:00.000-08:00

I love to dress up my place settings with cloth napkins. I only have 6 napkin rings so when I host a larger party I stick to my old standby, the napkin pocket to dress things up a bit.

Start by ironing your napkins. I know this sounds like a pain, but it is worth it. And if you look close you can see I didn't even iron mine that thoroughly; you just don't want any giant wrinkles.

Fold up about one fifth of the napkin. It can be a little more or less but mine has a nice dotted line I want to be visible.

Fold up again, this time so the fold ends up about halfway up the napkin.

Carefully flip the napkin over.

Now fold one third over, keeping the folded bit nice and straight.

Fold the final third over.

Now flip the whole napkin over again and you will have a nice pocket to fit your silverware in. I like to keep the knife pointing inward so people don't accidentally cut themselves.

If I don't have place card settings, I will usually set this right in the middle of the plate. But for tonight's dinner I do have place cards and will show you in the next post!

Happy napkin folding!

Easy Way to Save

2011-12-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

Moving into a much larger house than our last one has been a steep learning curve in terms of wasting and using resources. I have always prided myself on trying to be as energy efficient as possible. We only have one car, we use front loading washer and dryers, we use the air dry cycle on the dishwasher, I reuse my own bags, I take 4 minute showers, I compost our food, I refuse to water the lawn in summer. But I have been feeling like a bit fat hypocrite since we have moved into this house.

Our first utility bill about knocked my socks off, the electricity part of the bill being $381 and that was just for 5 weeks! At our old house with the heat pump, the electricity was more like $60 for 5 weeks in winter.

I don't know how the people that lived here before just let things go they way they are without trying to make it better! I keep finding incandescent bulbs in fixtures all over the house, the fridge was set far too cold, the dryer isn't working correctly and takes over 2 hours to dry the clothes, the hot water heaters were set to scalding, the baseboard heaters either won't turn on or won't turn off. It baffles me that people can be in such denial of their wastefulness!

The other thing that we realized that was broken was the toilet in the master bathroom. The floating device would never properly engage and so water was running constantly. Also, it was a big, water wasting tank. So we bought a toilet kit to fix the leak and when Trevor ran to the store to get another part he also came back with this dual flush handle. So simple and easy to install and is already cutting our water usage on that toilet in half!

Now I just have to convince Trevor to let me get rid of the hot tub. I know he loves it, but we rarely use it and I am disgusted by how much electricity it must be taking to keep that monster hot.

The Week That Time Forgot

2011-12-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

This is the week that time forgot in our household. We are both sick. Trevor came down with it first and I was relieved I seemed to scrape by without catching it and then Bam! -it hit me like a ton of bricks on Monday and seems to be in no hurry to leave. And this week Trevor took off from work so we could have a little staycation before the holidays.

Sheesh. Forget that. I had a little movie marathon yesterday (two Star Wars movies and Roxanne with Steve Martin) and tried to do some drawing but it wasn't a very productive day. The holiday cards have been pouring in and I haven't even begun to make ours. But at least they are New Years cards so they won't be too late if I can get organized.

I drank about 2 gallons of soup in the last 2 days along with a gallon or so of Lemon Ginger Echinacea juice. I don't really believe in the powers of echinacea to cure colds. But I like how it tastes and fluids are good for you when you are sick. I cut the sweetness with a little water and then bring it to a boil and then pour it over a slice of lemon studded with cloves. Very tasty and relaxing.

You might be wondering about that horse in the photo. It's my latest prop. It will probably show up often in the background of my photos. I love it. It was a centerpiece at a wedding we went to in October (the one I made all the metal birdies for) and when the bride found out I coveted it, she promptly gave it to me. Sweet, lovely woman!

Now I must rouse myself and get to the store to buy more soup and try not to cough on anybody!

Making a Large Nuno Felted Wrap

2011-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

I have been a little reluctant about diving into large, patchwork nuno projects. I am not sure why. Maybe I thought I wasn't ready for it yet. My husband pointed out to me the other day that one of my faults (he meant this in a very nice way) is that I never think I am as good as I am. Like applying for shows. Sometimes I hold back because I think my work isn't good enough and then I go to the shows and say what the heck!$%#? when I see some of the work that was accepted.

So, out of the blue, late in the afternoon the other day when I should have been thinking about making dinner, I decided to make a large patchwork nuno scarf. I still don't have a heater in my studio, so I have been taking up a large part of the kitchen and dining room. Again.

Nuno felting is a process of laminating silk (or some other delicate fabric) to wool through the felting process. The wool fibers migrate through the silk and hold everything together. If there is anything I learned on this project, it was the louder and bigger, the better since the design shrinks so much. Like the snake print silk. I used too small of swatches and it isn't as obvious in the final product. I also used open weave ribbon and some golden thread that is hard to see. More is more when it comes to nuno!

Half of nuno felting is laying out your design. The other half is wetting and rolling and rolling and rolling the piece. It is very physical. And at the end I like to throw the piece to felt it further.

The attached flower is a pin and is not part of the scarf. I wet felted the flowers separately and then needle felted and embroidered them together. I also needle felted at the end of the ties too to add some color and definition.

I am very excited to start trying some even larger shawls and triangle wraps. Tis the season of the scarf after all!

Fruitcake, But in a Cookie

2011-12-15T11:51:00.000-08:00

Now that I have my oven back, I am on a baking rampage. Two to three times a day, the oven is getting used. This is an especially good thing since for 2 weeks now I have stuck with my cash only system and trying not to go out to eat that much and it works better when there is an oven working at home!

And since it is the holiday season, I have no problem posting my second cookie recipe of the week. I was browsing through the Betty Crocker Cooky Cookbook last week (I love how they spell Cooky) and glanced over a fruitcake cookie recipe. I promptly forgot about it but then yesterday I was at the grocery store and suddenly had a thought, I want to make Fruitcake Cookies! When I had the container of candied fruit in my hand, I was starting to have some serious second thoughts whether that was such a good idea. Did I really want to waste $2 of organic butter? I decided to stick to my guns but also purchased some nice candied ginger to substitute if I got really apprehensive.

Let me pause for a second and talk about this Cooky Book. There is a bit of history in my family about this book. My mom baked out of this constantly when I was growing up and I would spend hours flipping through the pages, salivating over the glossy photos of fat chocolate chip and pinwheel cookies sitting next to glistening glasses of ice cold milk.

About 15 years after I moved out of the house, my mom gave me this cookbook as a gift, assuming I would jump for joy to have it for my very own. Well, let me just spare you the $20 of going out and buying this yourself. Most of the recipes are terrible. Cooking times are wrong. It ALWAYS says you are going to have twice as much as you actually end up with. (One time, as an experiment, I tried to make the quantity of some cookie that the recipe said I would have; I ended up with cookies the size of quarters.) Also, everything calls for margarine and many of the recipes use cereals or other product tie-ins. Awful.

When I got home and looked at the recipe, I thought, uh, no thanks, and went and found an Ina Garten recipe that looked pretty good. But then I found the exact same recipe on several other sites so I am not sure who to give credit to. Probably Ina. But I changed it up anyways because of course she wanted you to chop your own dried fruit and all I had was the Crayola colored fruit I bought at the store. But I had the good candied ginger and that helps a lot. They taste a lot like a shortbread, which was a pleasant surprise. Guess what everyone is getting from me this year for the holidays?

Fruitcake Cookies
1/2 pound diced fruitcake fruit
1/2 cup plus chopped candied ginger
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons dried sherry
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans
salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

Mix fruits with honey, sherry, lemon juice, pecans, pinch of salt. Set aside while you make the cookie dough.

In stand mixer, cream butter with sugars until fluffy. Add egg and mix until just incorporated. With mixer on low, slowly add flour along with 1/4 teaspoon salt until just combined.

Add fruit and nut mix and blend in. Divide dough in half, roll into 1 1/2 inch logs and wrap in wax paper. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350F.
With a sharp knife, slice logs into 1/2 inch slices, turning log as you cut to retain round shape. Place slices about 1/2 an inch apart on ungreased baking sheet. They don't rise or expand much but I still prefer to cook about 12 to a cookie sheet to give them a lot of breathing room.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until tops are lightly browned. Mine took about 16.5 minutes!

They look so festive and pretty and taste NOTHING like those fruitcake bricks that everybody hates but are ubiquitous to the holidays.

Octopus Vessel

2011-12-12T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here's my final project for my first quarter in the Certificate of Fiber Arts program at UW. For the most part, I am pretty happy with how it turned out since I had less than 3 weeks to make it. The vessel itself was stiffened with fabric stiffener, but I left the legs floppy so that they can be arranged as to how one desires from day to day.

I chose an octopus since the largest octopuses in the world, the Giant Pacific Octopus, live in the waters we can see from our house.

The needle felting of the suckers alone took about 19 hours.

I am in the middle of painting coats of white paint out on a studio wall so that I can try and take some better photographs. I have a nice little set up for smaller sculpture but these larger pieces definitely need a lot more room.

I should have the painting finished by tomorrow and better photos within a couple of days!

Finally

2011-12-11T16:26:00.000-08:00

Six weeks is a long time without an oven. Granted, I had the cook top. But it isn't the same. I feel like the whole world has opened up for me now that my oven is fixed. I can make anything! I am going to make pizza from scratch for dinner tonight but first I needed to make some cookies. Yes, needed.

I spent seemingly half the afternoon browsing through cookie recipes in my cook books. I wanted to make something I had never made before. I ended up choosing a chocolate salted cookie from one of my favorite little cookbooks Salt: Cooking with the World's Favorite Seasoning by Varlie Aikman- Smith. This is the cookbook where I got the recipe for black sea salted bread sticks that is a staple at many of our dinner parties. I love this little cookbook. You can tell the author really tested out the recipes. The things I make out of it look just like the photos. Also, when she says it makes 24 cookies, she means it actually makes 24 cookies. She said bake the cookies 10 minutes. At 10 minutes, they were perfect. The only thing I changed was that the recipe called for one teaspoon of rum which I don't have so I substituted 2 teaspoons instant coffee instead.

Chocolate Sea Salt Cookies

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon rum (or substitute 2 teaspoons instant coffee)
fleur de sel, to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 350F.

Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside.

Melt 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate in double boiler.

Cream butter and sugars in upright mixer with flat paddle until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl if necessary. Add the egg, vanilla extract, rum (or coffee), and melted chocolate. Beat until well combined, 1-2 minutes. Reduce speed to slow and add flour mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the rest of the chopped chocolate.

Mixture will be very soft. You can put in fridge for a bit to harden slightly but I am not that patient. I just scooped the dough by the tablespoon directly onto cookie sheets sprayed with cookie spray. Slightly flatten the tops of the cookies with the back of a spoon and sprinkle generously with sea salt.

Bake 10 minutes and cool on pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

These are very rich, delicious cookies! Now I am off to get the pizza started and then we are going to play our new card game, Killer Bunnies!

Most Awesome House Warming

2011-12-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

Before we hosted our housewarming party a couple of weeks ago, I spent a lot of time thinking about what to name our house. I wanted the name on the invitations but I didn't want to rush myself because I wanted a good name with a lot of reference to our location and the history of the place and also something that meant something to us.

First off, why name a house? Long before there were street names and numbers, houses had names. Think England and Jane Austen and Jane Eyre: Mansfield Park, Pemberly, Gateshead, Thornfield Hall. But not only big estates had names. Small places also had names: Shell Cottage, Orchard House, Rose Cottage, Stag's Leap, etc.

We ended up with "Gertie's Lair." Our good friend Kelly ordered this welcome mat for us and it couldn't be more perfect!

Now for the story behind the name.

We live right next to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and have a fabulous view of it all along the house. These 2 bridges (but we always just refer to them as the bridge) are the 5th largest suspension bridges in the United States. Originally, there was only one bridge and it was called Galloping Gertie.

If you know anything about the first Gertie, it is represented by this photo:

Galloping Gertie collapsed during high winds on Nov 7, 1940. It had only opened on July 1, 1940. Not a very long life!

Now when the original bridge collapsed, large tresses fell into the water and were left there. Sea life took over and Giant Pacific Octopuses moved in, making their dens in the sunken ruins.

Now, my husband and I, we think of Gertie as an octopus that lives in the ruins of the old bridge under the water. Hence the name, Gertie's Lair. I have always been a bit obsessed with the octopus. I am in the process of making a giant octopus vessel for my fiber arts class. (Photos coming soon.) I also plan on having a hand railing built with an octopus designed into it.

Long live Gertie's Lair and thoughtful friends!

My Money or My What?

2011-12-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

I know there has been a lot of talk around about sticking it to the big banks, jumping ship, and running to the credit unions. I bank with a big bank. In general, I like that bank. Maybe it is because I have a mortgage payment for our rental tied into my accounts that makes them love me so much and the fact that I rarely have to pay for any services: so be it.

Anyways, it's not the big banks I am sick of as much as the big time scammers that somehow keep getting a hold of my debit card numbers and pins. PINS! How on earth do people snag your pin number? I did some research and it turns out that some nasty, evil people will pretend to be service repair people and then switch out credit card/debit machines for ones that track the numbers. And this must have been what happened to me twice this year. TWICE! Two different accounts! I am careful with my cards; I never write my pin number down anywhere. I cover the little pin pad with my hand if someone is close by.

Now I have made a big life style decision. I have become a woman that pays with cash. If I pay with cash, nobody can steal my debit number. My mom has been doggedly refusing to use a debit card for years, stubbornly sticking to writing checks and ranting about security. I scoffed at her. Now I agree with her. Only I don't want to write checks either.

This cash only business has all sorts of implications in my life. It is a bit of a pain to go into the bank and withdrawal my month's money. But it also means I am sticking it to the big bank anyways because they are not going to get a cut of the Visa fee on a debit transaction anymore. Everyone around me keeps screaming Shop local! Shop local! But they are all using their debit cards and taking a ding out of that local merchant so that a bank can make more money.

The best thing about this, but also the most challenging, is that I have to stick to a budget. I've read this in finance books for years and mostly shrugged my shoulders about it but you do spend less, much less, if you stick to cash. You think a little harder before making that purchase. Is that exactly what you want to give up your cold hard cash for? With our new house our expenses have gone up quite a bit so it won't be a bad thing if I can set a little extra money aside.

I only started today and can't give much feedback yet about the process but I did notice that at the grocery store I was much more conscious of whether items were entirely necessary or not. And when I went to get coffee beans I usually get an americano at the same time but I thought, nah, I'll just go home and make coffee instead.

See? It's changing me already!

New Goodies in the Making

2011-12-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

I have been keeping myself pretty busy making new stuff the last couple of weeks. I still don't have a proper studio up and running yet so I am doing metal work in the downstairs rec room and felting on the kitchen table! This little felt vase with the big eyes was a prototype. I took it to Matter Gallery in Olympia and the owner said it sold less than an hour after I dropped it off. Guess I need to make some more.

I am not entirely sure what I want to do with this green vessel. After I took this photo I cut off the top to make it a little more even. Does it need eyes? Undecided. My husband suggested I cut it shorter and make beer cozies. Hmmm, not a bad idea!

New ornament designs in reclaimed tin that I have been working on.

I sent this bunch up to Tasty Gallery in Seattle. We'll see how they do.

And these fellas all packed up and ready to be delivered!

There never seems to be enough time to make and create and try all the things I want to do!

Felted Vessel Samples

2011-11-30T09:07:00.000-08:00

It is nearly the end of my first quarter in the Fiber Arts Certificate program at UW and I am working on my final project.

The goal is to create something you have never created before in order to learn new tasks. I decided to work with a hollow vase form in felt, something I have been wanting to do since I started making 3-D forms to make into pillows. I have also been experimenting using stiffeners and glues to make the pieces hold up and retain their form better.

I started with these 3 little bowls. It is hard to get the felt into focus since it is so fuzzy. The camera kept wanting to focus on the wood behind them.

I felt good about the little bowls I made and so I ventured into larger territory.

This vase is actually being donated to an auction next week. The black spots were all done with needle felting but the rest of the colors were all felted in the wet felting process.

I used the fabric stiffener brand "Stiffy" to create a nice crisp edge. My professor also recommended GAC 400, a Golden Artist's product, to try out as well. I haven't gotten up to Daniel Smith art supply in Seattle to get any yet. I don't think I can get it in Tacoma. I might have to just order it online.

I love working with color in wet felting. It is endlessly fascinating to me all the ways you can overlap color and blend.

I hope someone likes this vase and bids on it! Now I am ready to start my final project. Fingers crossed! It is going to be an octopus vessel. Can't explain what that means really; you'll just have to wait and see when I get some photos of it!

Coffee Filter Wreath Tutorial

2011-11-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

It's entering the season of holiday decorations. In truth, I think of them more as winter decorations because I leave them up until at least February! Wreaths are one of my favorite things to make. They can be elegant, they can be whimsical, they can really liven up a space.

I made a cork wreath last year that I wasn't too keen on and wanted to make a bigger one for our new house. I have been playing a lot with coffee filters in my fiber arts class and saw a couple tutorials on coffee filter flowers and decided to make a coffee filter wreath!

Coffee Filter Wreath

You will need

Coffee filters: I used about 220. 100 white and 120 brown.

Wire wreath armature: I bought mine at the thrift store for 50 cents. I used a wire one because I wired my flowers to the wreath. If you choose to hot glue yours then a cardboard wreath might make more sense.

Acrylic paints, fat colored pens, sharpies, etc: I experimented with a lot of different ways of coloring my coffee filters.

Scissors
Stapler
Large tapestry or darning needle
24 Gauge wire
wire nippers
pliers

Start by dyeing and coloring all of your coffee filters. I experimented with put a dollop of acrylic paint in a bowl mixed in with a cup of water and dipped the filters into the paint. Then I squeezed out the excess and laid them out to dry. Watering down any acrylic paints is key. You want it more like a stain than thick paint.

I also tried painting the edges and coloring the edges with markers for contrast. I found out bigger and sloppier and more coverage is better since you are going to cut them apart at the next step and lose half the design. I made a couple of flowers first to make sure it would work and then I colored and dyed all my coffee filters in advance so I would have a lot of different colors and designs to mix up together. The whole kitchen and dining room floor was covered with drying coffee filters. My husband can't wait until I've got my new studio up and running!

When your filters are dry, lay them in stacks of 3 or 4, depending on how heavy duty your scissors are.

Fold stack in half and then half again so that you have a wedge shape.

Cut out the petals. These can be rounded or short and stubby or long and pointy. I went for long and pointy.

Stack 4 cut out rounds on top of each other making sure the petals don't line up perfectly. You want a lot of texture.

Squeeze and fold together at the center of the flower and secure with a staple near the bottom.

Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Next, it is really up to you how you want to attach the flowers. It mostly depends what kind of frame you find. I poked two holes at the middle of the flower stems and hooked in a 2 inch piece of wire and wired each flower individually to the frame. I used the pliers to fold down any sharp wires.

I am not sure where to hang the wreath now. I can't permanently attach it to our front door because it is paper after all and I am worried about rain and wind but I am little worried not many will see it over the fireplace. We are having our house warming party tomorrow so I might think of a way to attach it to the front door temporarily.

I love how fluffy and soft it looks. I think you could make endless variations with little fake birds or pine cones.

Less than $7 to make, what are you waiting for?

My Body is Made of Soup

2011-11-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

If you are what you eat, my body is made of soup. This non-stop, soup for dinner, leftover soup for lunch cycle has been occurring for 2 reasons.

1) Our oven doesn't work (more on that in a second).

2) It's rainy out. I always want to make soup when it is rainy out.

Last night I experimented around and came up with carrot, parsnip, edamame soup. The parsnip flavor is strong, but good. It also has a lot of red pepper flakes in it and garlic that I threw in at the last stage of cooking so that flavor is nice and strong too. Chicken broth and onions round it out. Served with a dollop of sour cream. Yum.

But back to the broken oven. The door won't stay closed on it. We knew this when we bought the house and the owners gave us a concession for it but, sheesh, I didn't realize how glued to the hip I am with my oven. I miss my oven! My dad is a bit of a genius when it comes to mechanical things (maybe a touch more intuitive than scientific) and he promptly looked at all the specs and realized there were some clips missing from the hinges and so we had to order new hinges. We have wasted a lot of time speculating how on earth the former owners could do this to an oven. No idea.

We order new hinges. They arrive and they are the wrong size. Right part number for the right model on the packaging but wrong part completely. Dad calls Kitchen Aid and patiently explains the situation to them for an hour. They say they are sending the new part. Eight days later the part arrives.

Still the wrong size.

So he calls them back again and gently explains the whole story again and the customer service person said that since he was so nice and patient about the whole thing she is going to send a repairman out and we are only going to be charged $129 no matter what. If he has to come back 4 times, if he has to go to Mexico and pick up the part personally, they will get our oven working. (Lesson of the story: NEVER get mad at a service rep!) I promptly went out and bought my dad a gift certificate to our favorite wine bar for being such a champ.

Yay! Fingers are crossed. They can't make it out until next week but I feel like we are finally on the road to cooking again. I have a no knead bread recipe I have been dying to try out and, damn it, I want some roasted potatoes and cookies!

Making Felt is Super Fun

2011-11-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I taught another felting class at Tacoma Art Place. This time it was a smaller group (6 students) and a much longer class (5 hours) and I taught the process of wet felting. At the end of the day everyone had made a sample and a small scarf. As you can see above, it was pretty messy and took up a lot of space. Unfortunately the space was not the best for teaching wet felting. It was a little too crowded with other art stuff crammed into the room and other members of the center kept coming in and out of the facility. Crying babies in the back room is not the best thing for teaching. More importantly, the sink is way too small and takes forever to get hot water. So this is inspiring me to get my studio at home up and running the sooner the better! I have a giant utility sink and lots of space to make a mess. Yay! Classes at my studio!

Here is an action shot of making the felt samples. Towards the end of the process when the fibers have felted together but you are working them, "fulling" them to cause them to shrink, throwing them down on the table helps a lot, believe it or not. Water was flying everywhere.

This is the sample I made to show how to make fringe, a scalloped edge, and Nuno felting: the use of silk in between the layers of wool.

Here are the finished samples and I think they just look amazing! I absolutely love how everyone's turned out so different.

And here's my lovely students with their samples. An awesome day!

Needle Felting Class

2011-11-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I taught a beginning needle felting class at Tacoma Art Place. As you can see, it was packed and the students concentrated very hard to make their little works of art.

It is adorable what everyone came up with in such a short amount of time! I think Aurora's tiny red owl looks a little sad.

Class portrait. That is my friend La's one in the back with its hands out reached trying to get all the attention.

Next Sunday I am teaching a felt scarf making class and it is full already and so we may need to add another class. I love teaching felting. I really love seeing what everyone does and how so wildly different everything ends up looking.

Self Portrait

2011-11-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

The assignment was to create a self portrait using found ephemera and using the materials to their fullest capacity to express your persona. It was tricky to work through all the art speak of the lesson and in the end I relied mostly on the color of the magazines to do the hard work for me.

I cut out a lot of the paper first and then glued it down without thinking about it too much. Time flew by as I worked on it.

I don't do a lot of collage but this was a lot of fun. Next assignment we are making more material studies but this time it is supposed to be with our most favorite medium and we have to play with it and discover something new.

I plan on felting some items today with some new techniques. Will let you see how it turns out!

Materials Study: Using the Ephemera Around You

2011-11-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

My homework assignment for my next fiber arts class is to make a self portrait out of collage and using everyday material that you would normally throw away. Since we only moved last week, I don't have a lot of material on hand.

I have a lot of cardboard boxes and a little junk mail but then I found a whole pile of Dwell magazines that the former owners left in the house and decided that would be the obvious choice to play around with. I have just been messing with a hole punch and paper cutter so far.

I did splurge on a nice big jar of matte Mod Podge for all my collage needs.

The studies are meant to be tests to see what we want to use on our self-portrait. We are also supposed to push the limits of the materials we chose and find ways for it to give expression to our self-portrait. I admit, I am struggling with this a little. I have chosen on an image/theme/layout for my portrait but I am not sure how punched out holes express my personality.

I was just gluing down dots and strips of paper here when I realized I liked how it looks to make a bit of fringe on the edge of the paper.

I ran with the texturing and came up with this sort of shag rug look. It took a couple hours just to get this far. I am feeling the pressure to get cracking on my self-portrait but not sure where to start!

Isn't that how it always goes though? I am sure once I get glue to paper, the ideas will start flowing. I love playing with cheap paper! It really does free you up from taking yourself too seriously.

Mapping the New Terrain

2011-11-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

We are being careful about letting our cats go outside. Even though they have been in the new house for a week, I am hesitant to let them run outside. It's actually been funny watching them navigate themselves through the new spaces. They have been on the hunt for the front door but have not found it yet because it is metal and they have absolutely no experience

We decided the best place to start was the deck. It is completely off the ground and so they can explore but not run away unless they take a flying leap. (Which one has done before at the old house so it's not 100% safe)

For now they are very hesitant to go outside. They want to and then they look out the door and then they get scared.

Vincent, the tabby, won't step outside at all.

Both Moneypenny (pictured) and Sack have gone out on the deck but were a little scared of the edge and the sound of the traffic on the bridge.

Maybe tomorrow we can open the door downstairs and see what they think about that.

A Week of Firsts

2011-11-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

Every time I do some boring household chore around the house this week, I keep thinking, "This is the first time I have done this at the new house." It's a little silly, I know, but I can't help it. I think it because we love the house so much that we keep talking about how we live in it. I never did this with my first house. Is that what people go through with their kids?

So I have stopped to notice the little things. First time making a fire in the fireplace. First time cooking supper. First time changing a roll of toilet paper. First time using the compost bin. (I'll spare from having to see a photo of changing the toilet paper!)

We had to have some serious debate about the compost bin. What's to debate about a compost bin, right? Well, the former owners left the bin way way down in the back corner of the lot, a serious walk from the kitchen: more like a hike, really. We knew we needed to move it or our kitchen scraps would migrate into the garbage can.

We finally found a spot in the front yard that we thought wasn't too obvious. But then as I was bringing in the mail, I saw that the bin is totally framed by our front entrance arch!

I am thinking nobody but me will probably notice it there so this just may have to be a situation when form follows function!

First Supper and a Trip to Ikea

2011-11-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

Well we actually did it. We were able to get everything packed and convince a boat load of friends to come help and we moved last weekend. In fact, we managed to move about 95% of the house in under 4 hours. But it is going to take 2 more weeks to get that last 5% out of our old house!

One of the big selling points for me on this house was the kitchen. The big built-in butcher block plus stainless steel counters and a gas stove make me happy. And a proper hood over the stove. Who knew I would ever have one? I can't begin to explain what a glorious step up in housing this move was but if you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you might know that our old house was too small, dark, and cramped for two people who worked from home.

The view from my kitchen couldn't be less cramped! Right now looking at the water and bridge takes up a lot of spare time in my day. Every time I am walking through a room with a view, I stop and look outside for a spell.

After 4 days in the house I finally managed to unpack enough to make a big pot of Chicken Curry Stew. I followed this recipe from Alisa Burke's blog and it turned out delicious.

The only problem with the kitchen is the lack of cupboard space. Now before you get all uppity that this is a fantastic kitchen and what is her problem, let me explain. The work areas are great. The layout is great. But I swear the people that owned the house before must not have cooked much. OR maybe they rarely entertained. I have dishes and glasses to serve 20. There is no proper pantry; it is all just open shelves and I usually hate looking at clutter on shelves. (Also, it makes me feel compelled to keep everything perfect looking all the time, which I am not good at doing.) And when you start to count the cupboards, I think I had more space at the old house.

As you look at the cluttered, nearly full kitchen above, check out all of these boxes I still needed to unpack.

This could only mean one thing. IKEA to the rescue. I am completely in love with butcher block island we bought there yesterday. Granted, it took 4 (not a typo, FOUR) hours to put the thing together but that is now a faint and distant memory. The front has 4 big drawers for my plates and bowls and baking supplies. The back side is shelving for pots and pans. I just sealed the top so that is why it is not covered in clutter at the moment.

Now I just have a few odds and ends to put away and a new silverware tray to procure and I have to find a place for all our champagne glasses, but other than that things are looking good in one room at least! And now I can cook, cook, cook, and no more take away pizza for me in the near future if I can help it!

Moving Day is Upon Me

2011-10-28T23:57:00.000-07:00

OK, so maybe we don't have to move as many boxes as this but it sure feels like it.

We got the keys tonight: it is so exciting. We took possession at 9pm and went over to the new house and walked around and showed it off to our friend Liz and well, it was pretty neat to walk around the house and look at the different rooms and think about all the things we wanted to do.

Tomorrow we have cleaners coming over and we are going to move a few things in and then Sunday is the serious moving day with a moving truck and friends coming over to help. Our internet is actually supposed to be disconnected by now but it is still on so I get to write this tiny post. But I might not be back until Wednesday. We'll see how it all turns out.

Have a happy Halloween and fabulous weekend!

Anyways, time to go to bed before the madness all begins. Buying a new house is exciting!

106 Little Birds on Sticks

2011-10-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

Our friends Jessica and Steven are getting married this weekend and way before all this buying a house/moving nonsense came up, I told her I would make the favors for her wedding. She liked the idea of reclaimed tin birds on metal sticks. It ended up taking me a lot more time to make these than I thought. But that's always the way it is right? I didn't want to rush, however, because I wanted them to be perfect for her.

This is what our dining room looked like for the last 2 days while I was attaching the wires. I set the wire with epoxy and they had to sit for 24 hours to set in a warm area. While my studio has a heater, it is not warm all the time so I had to finish them inside.

My first tests with attaching the wires was terrifying because the first brand of epoxy I bought wasn't strong enough. Then I tried JB Weld. While it worked, it was an ugly gray color and looked awful. Finally, I got the idea to make a spiral out of the ends of the wires and then hammer them flat and sand them to allow a lot more surface area to glue. Next, I bought some Gorilla Glue 2 Part Epoxy.

Amazing success! The spiral in combination with the Gorilla Glue did the trick. I know I went a little heavy handed on the epoxy, but I wanted to make sure it would stick.

Each bird is completely unique.

I used everything from decorative tins to olive oil tins to cookie tins.

I couldn't pick out a favorite. Practically every one I thought, I like this one the best. Then I would pick up the next one and say, no, I like this one the best.

Phew, she picked them all up today.

Now I can get back to packing because we signed the papers on our new house today and are moving on Sunday! It's amazing how fast time goes by. I can't believe we are nearly out of here. I will really miss this house. Every time I show it to a potential renter, I think, oh, man, I love my backsplash. Oh, man, I love our new heat pump. Oh, man, I love my studio! But now I am going to have a new house to love, love, love!

Pesto Couscous Stuffed Peppers

2011-10-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

With only a week left in our house and 90 percent of our kitchen in boxes, we are making and eating a lot of "instant" food. Microwave popcorn, frozen pizza, and cheese and crackers have all shown up on the menu in the last couple of days when they are normally banned in this house. This will probably continue after we move as well and not only because we may be lazy at unpacking; the oven does not work at the new house and who knows how long it will be before it is fixed?

When I saw this recipe in the New York Times this week, I instantly knew I could simplify it and make it with the few ingredients and utensils I had on hand. At the end of October, fresh basil is a luxury unheard of or at least astronomical in price. (A container of pesto in the freezer is never a bad thing to have.)

Fool Proof Pesto Couscous Stuffed Peppers
adapted from the NY Times
serves 2 as entree or 4 as a starter

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Israeli couscous (also known as Jerusalem couscous)
1/2 cup prepared pesto, or more, to taste
2 sweet peppers, yellow preferred, halved and seeded
5 cloves garlic
1 20 oz can whole, peeled tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in heavy pan. When warm, add couscous and and stir and cook until couscous starts to color. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes. Drain and mix with pesto.

Meanwhile chop garlic in food processor. Add canned tomatoes to garlic and puree well.

Place peppers, cut side up on heavy roasting pan or in lidded casserole. Fill each to top with pesto couscous. Pour about 2/3's tomato puree into bottom of pan. (Reserve left over for another use.) Cover tightly with foil or lid and bake 35-40 minutes.

Serve peppers on top of sauce. You can add extra cheese to top at last minute and cook without lid to melt and make a nice presentation.

These were filling and tasted delicious. I thought of a dozen variations that involved spices, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms but those are going to have to wait until I have a fully stocked kitchen once again.

Note: I recommend yellow peppers for looks, but the red peppers tasted delicious too. Red was what I had on hand. I am trying to use up everything in our fridge before moving, but that may end up being an unobtainable goal.

Next, I need to figure out how to use all those little bags of rice and pasta in the cupboard that only have 1/2 cup (or less!) in each of them!

A New Obsession

2011-10-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

Uh oh. I'm at it again. Like I need one more thing to occupy my time. But I have discovered the joys of Pinterest. My sister first invited me to join a while back and I firmly said "thanks, but no thanks" but my will has broken down as I keep seeing it come up on blog after blog and so I asked her to invite me again.

Pinterest is a virtual pin board where people can share images, inspirations, links. It's all connected through themes and images. And, really, it is a perfect visual candyland for someone like me. I am looking forward to using it to organize design and garden ideas for our new home.

Yesterday I had a one on one meeting with my new professor at UW and she said I have all the skills and knowledge I need for my art but I need to find a way to connect it all. Yeah, well, story of my life! If she can help me figure it out, she should win a Nobel Prize for Art Therapy!

Sexy in the Kitchen

2011-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

I received the coolest birthday gift last week from my friend Rosie: a gorgeous and sexy apron! All of my aprons are ugly and Ikea cheap. (except for the cute Paris one my mom bought me but it is a little small.) I have decided I am not going to wear it until we move into the new house.

I always forget to wear an apron and then make a mess all over myself. Looking forward to looking classy in the kitchen. Romantic dinner for two, ooh la la!

Why do we Choose the Things We Choose to Choose?

2011-10-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

Moving makes me look at myself under a microscope. Why do I have the stuff that I have? I have been living in this snug little salt box of a house for the last 7 years, 10 months. That's a long time in one place. I haven't lived that long in one place since I moved out of the house I grew up in at the age of 12. In my twenties as I moved from shared house to shared house or studio apartment, I pretty much had to keep my belongings at a minimum since I had no car and needed friends with trucks or station wagons to move me in just a few trips.

Now, as a "serious" adult, I have my own car (albeit an old Subaru that is on its last legs) and the power to rent a moving truck. We are moving from a 1500 SF house with a 400 SF studio to a 3400 SF house with a 400 SF studio. I have the luxury to keep whatever I want. When I moved into this house, I began to collect things: free furniture, potential art supplies, dishware to serve 20 people at table, and more stuff that I had room to store and didn't need to think about. But now as I am picking through and packing things, I am purging. A lot. And it is satisfying. I think I have taken at least 30 bags to Goodwill in the last 2 months as well as a big trip to the dump as well as giving away stuff to friends. And we still have a ton of stuff. Yet some things I insist on keeping despite their "low value" level.

Like this Coca-Cola bottle I brought home from Israel. I was 14 and it was my second international trip. My first one had been to the UK when I was 12 and that had been pretty enriching and exciting and where I first discovered the Cure and toast holders. But the trip to Israel to meet my sister's fiance, a Palestinian named Sami, was beyond exciting. A truly foreign country! A Coca-cola bottle in a different language! Something that would have been carelessly tossed away I treasured and carefully wrapped up in my luggage and brought it home with me. And it has been through eleven moves in 24 years and now is about to embark on a twelfth move.

I think, somehow, I have always been predisposed to be interested in sculpture. I don't scrapbook. A rational person would keep photos of the trip. Me, I keep a bottle, something physical and tangible that really proves I was there. It's heavy and has a sensuous feel.

Why keep it? I mean, I don't even like Coca-cola and really can't stand its symbolism of a corporate power in America. Coca-cola has done horrible things to expanding economies and has ruined millions of teeth and waistlines around the world. And yet I love this bottle. It represents to me the excitement of embarking on something new and totally unknown. We rarely force ourselves to deal with new situations outside of our comfort zone. At least, I rarely do anymore. I can't speak for you. But this bottle makes me think of new experiences and new places and will be proudly placed in a spot of honor in our new home.

Crafty Meetup

2011-10-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

I guess it is officially "Make Art From Alternative Materials Week" here at House Inside Out. I went to a little community arty meet up Saturday morning and along with 6 or 7 other artists, made some cool spoon pendants. The group was hosted by a local artist who got the idea from Busily Spinning Momma and it was a great success! (Of course I left my camera at home so all you see is the after photo, but the tutorial is good.)

We all brought a random assortment of spoons. Turns out these thinner, silver plated ones that I brought worked great for flattening with a hammer. The we cut off the handles, filed and shaped the bail, glued cut out paper to the spoon and then embellished with paint and shellac.

It was a lot of fun to make something fun with other artists around! I am looking forward to more of these meet ups! I am suggesting coffee filter flowers for a project.

Oh Ye Humble Coffee Filter

2011-10-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't even had my second class in my fiber arts program but I can already tell this is going to be one of the most interesting and inspiring endeavors I have undertaken in quite a while. Our first homework was to create 4 small material samples and 1 large yardage sample using everyday materials to create pliable forms. I've only finished one of my smaller samples but jumped straight into the large piece.

I just used natural coffee filters and Elmer's glue and really love how it has turned out. It took about 6 hours to make this 2 yard long piece. We are not allowed additional surface decoration yet but I was able to play with the filters by folding them to give them a lot of volume and architecture.

I know there are lots of people that have made coffee filter dresses before (Project Runway isn't the first example by any means) and flowers as well. I looked up some idea for coffee filter flowers and have some really good ideas to keep in the back of my mind.

I love fiber arts!

A Woman That Knows Who She Is

2011-10-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last night was opening night at the Seattle Opera for the 2011 production of Carmen and it was fantastic. I consider myself a fan of opera even though I have only been to three: Barber of Seville, Magic Flute, and now Carmen. Barber is a comedy, Magic Flute a romance, and Carmen is a tragedy. I liked that most of the characters in Carmen were flawed; my sympathies to different characters switched continually through the performance. I also appreciate voluptuous women. Carmen could not be played convincingly by a stick insect.

Carmen has everything one could want in opera: a strong female role, a love triangle, rousing music, dancing, costumes, grand set decoration, drama galore, and violence. My favorite part is that she knows her own self and above all desires freedom and admits who she is and doesn't try to run away from her problems. While I enjoy listening to opera by myself, going to the opera and dressing up and eating out and people watching and coffee afterwards always makes for a memorable occasion. We had a bonus last night too. While we were sipping coffee and discussing the opera at a little restaurant in lower Queen Anne around midnight, who should we see come in but the diva herself, Anita Rachverlishvili, who we just saw perform Carmen had came into the restaurant to eat. She was a lot smaller looking in person, which I found funny. We speculated that maybe she layers a lot of costumes on top of one another.

The above poster is from a 1982 Seattle Opera production of Carmen by David Lund. I am trying to find a print of it, I think it is gorgeous.

38 Things: Donate Blood

2011-10-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

It's nice to get off to a quick start on my list of 38 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 39 with something that is good for other people and not just me. I was in the middle of typing up my new yearly list yesterday and already had donate blood on the list when, out of the blue, the Cascade Regional Blood Services called and asked when I wanted to come in and donate blood again!

It turns out I have some rare blood ( B- ) and they wanted me back in asap, but of course they always encourage anyone eligible to donate as much as they can.

Some interesting facts about blood:

Did you know blood only has a storage life of 42 days?

Red blood cells are produced in bone marrow.

Plasma is the liquid part of your blood that moves around your white and red blood cells and your platelets.

Platelets help control bleeding.

Red Blood Cells are round and tiny. About 3,000 red blood cells end-to-end would equal one inch. An average adult's body contains about 25 trillion red blood cells.

Every three seconds someone needs blood.

37% of the US population is eligible to donate – only 5% of those eligible donate regularly.

How to get involved? Contact your local blood bank and set up an appointment to see if you are eligible. If you have traveled to countries with malaria, you are typically ineligible for a year. If you had hepatitis and even if you are not a carrier, you are ineligible. That's why it makes it extra important that every one who can donate does.

Next time I am at the clinic they are going to do a count of my platelets to see if I am eligible to donate those. They only have a shelf life of 5 days but it takes a good hour for them to draw the blood out of your arm, bang the blood around in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets and put the blood back inside you. Crazy, huh?

Healthy Eats and Reads

2011-10-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

After my husband and I started to take our running more seriously last year, we decided to subscribe to Runner's World magazine. Most of my life I have turned my nose away from athletic magazines because a) I wasn't super athletic and thought you had to be obsessed and all muscled out to buy those sort of magazines and b) I thought they wouldn't have anything very interesting to say anyways.

Happily, my assumptions were wrong (about RW, at least) and I am completely absorbed by each Runner's World and read them all cover to cover. Besides tips for training or stories of athletes or what clothes to buy, they frequently include several healthy recipes. One that caught my eye this month was Edamame Hummus. After googling it, I realized that lots of people have already made this, but thank you, RW, for giving me the idea. We eat a lot of hummus in this family so it's nice to get away from garbanzo beans once in a while.

Runner's World Edamame Hummus

1 package (16 ounces) shelled, frozen edamame

3 tablespoons tahini

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 large clove garlic, smashed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold water

In a large pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a rapid boil. Pour in the edamame. Return to a boil and cook for about 6 minutes, or until the beans are creamy inside and easy to smash with a fork. Drain the edamame and dunk in a large bowl of cold water, about 3 minutes. Drain when cool.

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade or in a blender, combine the edamame, tahini, oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Pulse, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the mixture is pureed smooth. Add cold water, a little at a time, until the mixture is creamy.

Serve with pita and crudites.

OK, let me just admit a few things here. I made this from memory and so I inadvertently changed several things.

1) I didn't cook the edamame and thought it tasted just fine. I defrosted them in the fridge overnight.

2) Didn't add the olive oil and honestly didn't miss it that much although mine doesn't look as creamy as their example.

3) Forgot the salt and did miss it.

4) I doubled the garlic.

To make this cute little shape, I just packed the hummus into a 1/2 cup measuring cup and then inverted it onto the plate. Maybe a good way to serve it would be with a drizzle of olive oil over the top.

I was also thinking it might be nice with roasted garlic or cilantro ir olives mixed into it for a little more fusion cooking!

38 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 39

2011-10-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well, another year has gone by and that means another list of things I want to do. This is my third year of The List. I never quite finish it all, but that really isn't the point. It is there to get me to think outside of my comfort level and get inspired to create new things. I also like when I write up a new list because I get all inspired and productive for a little bit. In fact, I've already made an appointment to donate blood tomorrow. Yee Haw!

38 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 39

1. Paint a really big painting for our new house.
2. ~~Re-do the floor in my new studio.~~
3. Have a crafty night with friends.
4. Finish my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2012.
5. Donate item to an auction.
6. ~~Donate blood.~~
7. ~~Make a table runner.~~
8. Throw a themed brunch.
9. Make a balsamic glaze reduction.
10. Make my own bitters.
11. Eat sushi in Seattle.
12. Build a new headboard or platform bed frame.
13. Visit an out of town art exhibit.
14. Visit the Bellevue Art Museum.
15. Finish Novel.
16. Sew a skirt.
17. Run a half marathon.
18. Get off the continent.
19. Host a big dinner party outside in our new garden.
20. Make ravioli from scratch.
21. Create an animated short.
22. Tour a candy or chocolate factory.
23. Make/buy/modify a new coffee table with a mid-century modern theme.
24. Large felt installation.
25. Felt a funky hat for myself.
26. Paint a painting for a friend.
27. Better photo set up for pics on ETSY.
28. Sign up for Outright bookkeeping.
29. Design new garden for new house.
30. GET A DOG!!!!
31. Mail gifts unexpectedly to friends.
32. Make a charm bracelet.
33. Blog 200 times.
34. Perfect a gluten free cake or cupcakes.
35. Paint on silk.
36. Full day at Olympic Day Spa.
37. Pay toll for vehicle behind me next time I drive on the Narrows Bridge.
38. Bike to Point Defiance, run the 5 mile drive, bike home.

52 Weeks of Mail: Week 1

2011-10-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

I love the feel of screen printed cards. This card by Slide Sideways (Two artists from Tacoma, no less) is my first mailing in the 52 Weeks of Mail project! This is where I send one handwritten card, post card, or letter each week for a year. Lots of folks are participating; it is not too late to join in the fun!

This week's card was pretty easy since everyone I know is having a birthday this week. I guess us Libras have to stick together. So I decided to send this lovely card to my friend Rosie since her birthday is Friday.

I embellished the envelope as well.

Yay for friends and mail!

52 Weeks of Mail Starts This Week!

2011-10-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

52 Weeks of Mail, the project where you send a piece of hand written mail each week for a year starts this week! They are trying to get 1000 people participating on their Facebook page: get over there and join!

I'm very excited because I have decided that half of my letters will be written to my legislators, senators, governor, mayor, etc. If we all wrote one letter a week, nay, a month to the people who represent us and not based on special interest groups, think of the interesting conversations that could occur!

Pliable Fabric From Everyday Materials

2011-10-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was my first session in my certificate of Fiber Arts course and I have been a little too excited about it to actually sit down and distill my thoughts into any coherent explanation about what is going on inside my brain. The good and the bad thing about these classes is that they are held in 7 hour long chunks and so you get really, really, inspired and overwhelmed all at the same time. We spent a good amount of the first day just talking and I am happy to say it wasn't boring talking. It was interactive, thoughtful, and happy talking. But then we have to go back and work alone in our studios until the class gets together again 3 weeks later. 3 weeks! (It's because of the Husky home games. Class is not scheduled on the same day as home games which sounds like a good idea to me.)

Our first homework is to make pliable fabric out of everyday materials using only one type of fastening per sample. We have to make a couple of samples with mechanical fasteners and a couple of samples with adhesive fasteners and then 1 large piece of yardage using our preferred material. It's making us get away from the "preciousness" of art materials as well as get our creative vibes moving.

My first sample is buttons connected with a mechanical fastener (waxed bookbinding linen). This took a surprising amount of time.

Next I am going to try drilling these clam shells and see if I can connect them with either floral wire or jump rings. I am thinking a sort of chain mail effect.

It's fun to experiment! I am also going to work with wine corks (we own a lot), cardboard boxes and packing tape (lots of this laying around since we are in the middle of packing), and coffee filters. It's unfortunate I can't spend more time on this since we are in the middle of moving but at least in 3 weeks we will be moved and I can seriously focus on this work.

A Litte Cuteness

2011-10-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

Spending the last few days entering full cleaning and packing mode and getting ready to show our house to potential renters. Only, I keep stalling to check email or look at Facebook or things like that. And a friend of mine posted this video. I love Pixar shorts!

Too cute not to share. And takes my mind off packing!

Lost Forever

2011-09-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

You know what is lost forever? The 3 hours I wasted today at Fred Meyers, JoAnn Fabrics, and Michael's looking for art supplies for my new Fiber Arts program I am starting tomorrow.

The instructor sent us a long list of things to acquire with only 2 days to get them and I have been a little peeved at how little time 48 hours really is.

The funny thing is that most of the items I have--scrap fabric, ribbon, twine, paper, etc. I already packed up not thinking I would need them and now I am unpacking boxes to get back to them! I guess the instructor is just having us bring these easy, on hand items for experimenting the first day since it is a 7 hour class and we need something to do. I was assuming I would bring my wool goodies. Guess not.

But the worst part of this whole scenario (I am actually very excited about this course, don't get me wrong by my ranting) and what this whole posting is really about is the state of goods for creative storage.

I am talking about art bins and scrapbooking folders and sewing boxes. I had an image in my mind of a simple medium sized box with a handle to put my goodies in. I don't want to buy anything too flashy yet since I am not exactly sure how my storage needs will progress through out the year in this program. However, I was baffled and amazed by the amount of choices for these fancy bins. Bins with collapsible shelves and pull out trays and on wheels. Or not on wheels. And fabric or plastic. Most of all, I was baffled and amazed by the prices.

$89 for a crafty storage container??? You have got to be kidding me! Even the most simple box with handle was still over $20. I don't know why I have missed out on knowing about all the fancy containers available in the world. There were entire rows of crafty storage at JoAnn's. Do people seriously spend more money on their storage than the art supplies themselves? Especially annoying was that a lot of them were in ultra feminine patterns and colors like pink and pastel blue.

I realized what I really wanted was a tackle box. But I didn't want to haul myself all the way back to Fred Meyers so I popped into Goodwill on the way home thinking I would look for tins at any rate (I found 3 really nice ones to cut up for art) and found the above art bin for $2.99. Yep. Pretty smug with myself right now. It has glitter stuck down all inside it and a label on the outside that says "Glitter" so I ended up with a girly bin after all. But is will work for now and it was cheap.

It will probably end up being too small. But better than then $89! I think I would be embarrassed to take a $89 bin into art class.

52 Weeks of Mail

2011-09-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

In the last couple of years a lot of people having been jumping onto the 365-days-type-of-projects bandwagon. As in, take a photo every day for a year or maybe you have heard of the Skull A Day started in 2007 by Noah Scalin. I know enough about myself to recognize that those are projects I am not detail oriented enough to participate in. I would probably be zealous for a week or two and then let it drop off.

Well, some of the folks at ETSY have come up with a new project; one mainly to advertise the cards sold on their site I think or maybe they were put up to it by the United States Post Office, but I like it and I am going to participate myself.

It's called 52 Weeks of Mail. All this project is about it committing to mail one personal piece of mail per week. To anyone. And each letter can go to a different person all year long.

As I have been cleaning my office in preparation of moving, I have found dozens upon dozens of hand made cards I have purchased over the years (always trying to do my best to support independent artists!) but never sent or given to anyone. I may try and make a few cards of my own too. I am excited about this project because it will inspire me to create small little works of art and to connect with people I may not stay in touch with. Or maybe I will send surprise cards to my friends and family just to say hi. You should participate too! Go to the 52 Weeks of Mail Facebook page and click "like" and there you go! This project starts October 9th, so you only have a little time to think about it. I will be posting photos of my cards as I move through the project. Fun!

Let the Madness Begin!

2011-09-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

After a week of back and forth, the owners of the house we really want accepted our offer!

*****Yay!*****

Okay, that is all the time I get for celebration. The inspection isn't until later in the week, and knock on wood that it will turn out just fine, but we are starting to clean and organize now because we will need to get our house ready to show for rental in about 4 weeks. Plus packing. Plus I start my Fiber Arts course October 1st. Plus studio tours are coming up. YIKES! In the teeny tiny event that something falls through and we don't get the house, then at least we are doing some major cleaning, purging, and fixer upper stuff.

These boxes are just full of fabric and patterns and photos. Plus there's 2 more big bins behind them with more fabric. I am not allowed to buy fabric anymore. Seriously.

Based on some simple calculations it looks like we will need at least 150 boxes. Probably 50 of them alone will be art related supplies of mine. It is very hard for me to give up art supplies. Every time I do it, I regret it a day, a month, a year later. Breaking up is hard to do!

A Good Idea for a Good Cause

2011-09-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

It's starting to get chilly in the evenings and I really hate sweat pants. I feel like I lose my dignity a little every time I wear them, so I decided I need to upgrade this winter to something more stylish to wear around the house.

Enter Punjammies. I first heard about these on the Pioneer Woman. Of course after she mentioned it on her blog they all sold out. Which is fantastic. But I couldn't get any and promptly set the matter aside in my brain. Then all these chilly mornings triggered the thought all over again.

In case you've never heard of them, Punjammies are comfy cotton pajama bottoms made by women in India who have been rescued from prostitution and slavery in aftercare facilities that teach them new skills to start new lives.

It's a topic close to my heart and I was happy to be able to purchase a pair. Get yourself over to their website and buy some Punjammies! Holidays are right around the corner.

Artist Trades

2011-09-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I took part in a little sidewalk sale. I didn't sell anything except one little barrette so the whole thing was rather a flop.

But I did make 2 important connections.

First, I met up the artist behind Glitter Mortis that led me to commission a portrait of Boba Fett.

Second, another artist walked up and said she liked my felted tweets and wondered if I would be open to a trade? I said sure! So I picked out this little Art E. Choke Portrait. Cute, huh? I love artichokes but I do feel like they fight against you a little as you try and eat them so I thought this image was fitting. I am going to hang it in the kitchen of our new house, whenever that all happens.

Anyways, the artist's name is Krista Jefferson and her website is Wild and Whimsical.

Check them both out! Happy Saturday!

Healing Cuts in Style

2011-09-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

Working with tin (and sharp, barbed felting needles, come to think of it) means that I cut and poke myself. A lot. Nothing serious. More like a zillion tiny paper cuts all over my hands all the time. Usually I just wrap the wound with masking tape and keep going. But the other day at the store I saw these designer band-aids and I thought, why not?

Now I look classy in my studio!

Porridge Weather

2011-09-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

It's like somebody flipped a switch and now our late summer is over and we have moved into Fall. This is my favorite time of year, so I am not complaining; I am over-joyed. When the weather is cooler in the morning my skin feels better and I just feel like I can breathe easier. Obviously, I was meant to live in the Pacific Northwest my whole life.

Browsing through my favorite Vietnamese cookbook yesterday, I looked for something that I happened to have all the ingredients for and hit upon Shrimp and Rice Porridge. The word porridge doesn't do much for me so I have always avoided this recipe. Yesterday, however, I happened to have all the ingredients on hand so I gave it a try. And loved it! Of course I changed it from the original because there never seem to be enough vegetables. The sriracha gives the porridge a lively zing and a lovely amber color.

Shrimp and Rice Porridge with Cilantro and Tomatoes
adapted from Quick and Easy Vietnamese by Nancie McDermott
serves 4

1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
freshly ground pepper and salt
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
3/4 cups long-grain rise, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 onion, medium chopped
2 carrots, peeled. medium chopped
1 cup dark leafy greens, like kale, cut into thin ribbons
1/2 cup cooking sherry
1 cup tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon sriracha (chile-garlic sauce) or to taste
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

In a medium bowl, combine shrimp with shallot, garlic, fish sauce, and salt and pepper. Toss well to mix and set aside while rice cooks.

In medium sauce pan bring broth/water to a boil. Stir in rice, return to boil, and then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook until rice is tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in medium sized dutch oven or other heavy duty pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Add kale and carrots and saute an additional 3 minutes or until kale starts to wilt. Add prawn mixture and cook until prawns start to turn pink. Add sherry, tomatoes, and cooked rice with broth. Bring to a light boil and then add sriracha, green onions, and cilantro. Stir for a minute or two and serve immediately.

Looking forward to leftovers for lunch today!

Kinda Fun

2011-09-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

If it seems like my blog posts the last week before have been a little thin on content, there is a reason. I have been a little preoccupied because we were busy getting the giant stack of paperwork together to prequalify for a home loan. Only they aren't allowed to call it prequalification anymore, but it is the same thing. And we had to get all our paperwork together because we found a house.

Actually, we have found 3 houses we like. And we have made offers on 2 of them. The first one we made an offer on was a pretty small house but it's in a pretty good neighborhood and we made a low ball offer and the seller countered with a fair price. Which, under normal circumstances, we would have taken.

However, in the meantime of the 1st seller dragging his feet about accepting our offer, we found a different house. We actually had viewed the house twice before but felt it a little too big. (Our biggest problem has been that the houses are either too small or too big. I think I would prefer too big.) Anyways, it turns out the sellers on this 2nd house sound motivated to sell and so they are willing to help finance so we can avoid mortgage insurance. It's tough when we know we can make the mortgage payments fine but the bank doesn't take my income as an artist very seriously. Now, working it all out will get complicated with lots of paper work involved and we are so lucky with the realtor we have but there is a chance it might not work out and while we will try our hardest to make it work, I am not going to be broken hearted for long about it if it doesn't work out.

Because now we know we don't have to settle for the little house. We can keep looking until we find what we want.

We are keeping our old house to rent out which makes everything more complicated, but it also gives us the breathing room that we don't have to rush out and buy immediately. The market, obviously, isn't going anywhere up anytime soon, so we don't have that pressure either. While we were freaking out about this the other night my husband pointed out that it was awfully nice that we were just freaking out about 1st world problems. Which made us both laugh and realize there is no point getting all worked up over something like a house. We've been good. We've lived in a cheap house in a cheap neighborhood while we saved, saved, saved, and built up credit and equity. We share a car. (An old car.) We are ready to move up a little.

And hopefully, soon, I will be able to start sharing about whatever new home we end up with. But it is exciting. And distracting. And kinda fun.

Let the Harvest Begin!

2011-09-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

This hot, late summer we are having in the Pacific Northwest has been a perfect storm for actually producing some delicious tomatoes for once. You can't get more organic or local than this!

Usually I plant tomatoes and am lucky if about a third of them ripen.

But this year, I am getting dozens per day. I heard a trick that you should stop watering them and that will get them to ripen and so I cut back on the water but we have been having so much sun that that could be the trick as well.

I am thinking slicing up these Romas and seasoning them with a little sea salt. Yum!

Jewelry for Your Wall

2011-09-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

I upped my scale on my tin flowers the other day, just on a whim, for fun, to see what would happen. And I liked it so much I kept making more flowers all week long. I just delivered all of these to Matter! Gallery in Olympia.

I have been saving up lots of larger, interesting pieces of tin knowing that I probably couldn't use them as jewelry but setting them aside. And now I have a great way to showcase them. I love the "Kiss for You."

These are also a nice study in color and form and fun to play with all the different tins I have.

They range from 7" wide to about 11" and look nice in arrangements with other pieces of art or in smaller rooms like the bathroom. I am making some even larger ones too for more dramatic spaces like over the mantel or in the dining room.

Who doesn't want a monkey on a giraffe in their life?

This "Green Jeans" guy was from a Versace perfume tin. Fancy!

I just love working with reclaimed tin! Look for some more of these soon on Etsy!

Some Birds and Favors

2011-09-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is getting married next month and asked me to create favors for the guests. She wants something totally unique that people would want to take home and look at every day versus something cheesy like M&M's with her photo printed on them.

I came up with these tin birdies. Some are going to end up with hangers on them and the others are going to be on metal stakes so they can be placed in a flower pot. I think they might end up being used as place card holders at the dinner as well.

I love making things for my friends!

37 Things: Commission a Piece of Art

2011-09-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

I don't like corporate, mass produced art. Meaning: "art" that you buy at Ikea or World Market is not art. It might be pretty wall covering, but it is not art. I like to be surrounded by unique, handmade pieces. This item on my list of 37 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 38 took a little longer than I expected. I tried to commission a painting from another artist about 6 months ago but I think she must have been busy because after a few discussions about it, I never heard from her again.

So when I saw the work of GlitterMortis, I jumped at chance of commissioning a piece from her instead. She creates funky pop culture portraits using paint and glitter. I was browsing around on her website and saw a ton of Star Wars characters. I have always held a special, twisted place in my heart for Boba Fett. When I lived in a nasty basement apartment 17 years ago, a friend of mine spray painted an amazing Boba Fett on my door. I have had a Boba Fett action figure hanging from the rear view window of my car for 11 years. I don't know why, but this bounty hunter is my favorite. A glitter portrait was an obvious and instantaneous decision. My husband likes it too.

I will definitely be making this a yearly commitment to buy a piece of art from a fellow artist. It's a win win: a little gift to myself and supporting an independent artist.

What I Ate: Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes

2011-09-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do around here. Between running around and looking at houses to buy, getting paperwork together to pre-qualify for a loan, and weird issues with my camera, I am a little behind on posting. I have a big backlog to get to and I will be posting like crazy for the next few days so be sure to check back!

OK, so besides trying to buy a house, I have been making other life changes. I am training for another half marathon (my second this year!) and I have joined Weight Watchers. I have always had a problem with portion control and after injuring my foot last year while training, I ended up gaining nearly 20 pounds! This just had to stop. I have taken up the running again and realized I need professional help with the nutrition and portion sizing. I am not one to diet and I am against fad lose-weight-fast! hype so you won't be hearing much in the future from me about this endeavor. You might just notice that my recipes are all looking extra healthy.

So far I love it. I am just doing it online-- (no group weigh ins for me, thank you!) It has only been about 18 days on the program but I have lost 5 pounds and have barely tweaked what I normally eat; I am mostly just eating smaller portions and using less oil while cooking. I have also stopped eating refined sugars and white flour. Yet I am still drinking red wine and putting half and half in my coffee. But I was starting to crave a sweet now and again and luckily my new Runner's World magazine has a chocolate cake recipe that uses black beans, applesauce, oat flour and agave syrup. Sounds weird, but it is pretty healthy and good to eat before running or after dinner!

The only thing I changed was to put them in cupcake pans instead of mini loaf pans. Note: This does seem to use up an awful lot of dishes to make and really makes a huge batch. I am going to try and freeze some and see how that works out.

Chocolate Bean Cupcakes
adapted from Long-Run cake by Gesine Bullock-Prado

1 cup applesauce
1 15.5 oz can black beans, drained
1 1/2 cups oat flour
1 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup agave syrup
2 eggs
1/4 cup coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F.
1. Blend beans and applesauce in food processor.

2. In mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

3. In electric mixer, blend eggs and agave syrup at medium-high speed until eggs get light and foamy.

4. Switch mixer to low and add coffee. Once mixed in, add bean/applesauce mixture and vanilla. Beat until combined: you may need to scrape down sides of bowl with spatula.

5. Add oat flour mixture all at once and blend until combined, starting with a slow speed so flour doesn't fly everywhere.

6. Divide batter into cupcake pans sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 20 minutes.

Makes 18. (For all you Weight Watchers fanatics, these are worth 3 points each in the new Points Plus system.)

I ate 2 and they were very filling, very dense and gooey at the same time. I will make them again. They are also gluten free if you can find oat flour that is guaranteed gluten free. The Bob's Red Mill Oat Flour I used was not certified so I can't make it yet for my friend who is a celiac. My husband liked them but thought they tasted more like a breakfast muffin than a dessert. And this coming from a guy who usually doesn't like dessert.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Trying to Drink Sparkling Water the Eco-Friendly Way

2011-08-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

We like to drink sparkling water at our house instead of cola or other expensive non-alcoholic beverages. I usually buy the 2 Liter bottles of the lemon-lime sparkling water in the Fred Meyers brand. But it is expensive over time and I hate having to recycle all those plastic bottles. Now we can reuse 1 bottle over and over because we broke down and bought our own SodaStream! Several of our friends use these and now we have jumped on the home soda bandwagon.

Our local gourmet grocery store carries them. They make soda with a simple CO2 container that you can exchange back at the shop when you use it all up. But one CO2 canister should last 60 liters.

You fill the water container with cold tap water and then it takes about 3 seconds to carbonate the water and then, if you want, you can add any flavoring of your choice. The regular flavorings work out to about 8 calories per glass of water. You can buy diet flavors too and "natural" flavors as well. We were a little skeptical about the natural: they all contain fake flavors. Just get over it, people!

So far I have just had the lemon-lime, but it is tasty.

We also bought some extra bottles so we can have them chilling in the fridge and then try out some of the other flavors. If you like to drink sparkling water, this is probably worth the up front cost. It doesn't have to plug in since it is powered by the CO2 canister so it doesn't have to be kept up on the counter. Nice for entertaining too. And you can use a lot of the flavors for mixing cocktails. Who knew?

Eastlake Apartment Boogie

2011-08-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Last night's dinner at Canlis was amazing. It was food opera: I don't even know how else to explain it. Sparkling rose in the bar. Steak Tartar and three types of Yellow Fin Tuna shashimi to start. Followed by crisp and refreshing salads and then a tiny shooter of wild onion vichyssoise. Perfect medium rare Filet Mignon and mushrooms swimming in a butter bath. Tasty wine after tasty wine. Million layered banana with chocolate and more types of chocolate. Scotch.

Heaven is right up there in Seattle with perfectly coordinated waiters that ironed the table cloths right on the tables and a pianist that took our requests for the British group the Cure and the French composer Satie with equal style and grace.

I was so inspired by the meal, I painted this painting today for our friends that took us out. I am basking in happiness.

37 Things: Make a Piece of Wearable Art That Has Felting on It.

2011-08-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking for a while about this item on my list of 37 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 38. I definitely wanted to make something a little funky, a little eye catching, and definitely one of a kind and I got the idea for a Faux Fox Stole after seeing some done in crochet. I thought the idea would translate better to felting. I am satisfied with my results. And I only consider this my prototype; I plan on making another one.

Originally I was thinking to make this in time to wear to the Seattle Opera in October. (We are going to Carmen: can't wait!) But some friends invited us to go to the Canlis in Seattle with them tonight for a birthday and that is such a swanky place, I thought it would be fun to make it in time for the dinner. It took me about 4 days, working about 2 hours per day. I spent about 20 hours sketching and thinking about it first!

All the main body parts were done by wet felting. At first I was going to have the legs attached to the body from the start but in the end I made them separately and then needle felted them on after I figured out how I was going to wear it. The eyes and nose were done with needle felting. I love the little white tip I put on his tail. I am wearing black for sure, so it will really stand out. I attached a barrette underneath the head so that I can clip it on to any part on the scarf. I may need to change that part on my next one but for now it works great.

Now I need to go and figure out the rest of what I am going to wear tonight!

Sangria For the Masses

2011-08-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

We hosted a big Sangria and Mexican food potluck last weekend and had about 25 people in our house. It was loud, the food was delicious, it was fun, and my Sangria was a big hit. I borrow this lovely dispenser from my dad whenever I am making Sangria. My secret to this Sangria is that I add a lot of sparking water to it to lessen the alcoholic punch and the guests don't even realize it!

Red Sangria

1/2 bottle brandy (1 1/2 cups brandy, pear preferred)

1-2 oranges cut into half and or quarter slices

2 limes cut into half and or quarter slices

2 lemons cut into half and or quarter slices

2 apples cut into 1" pieces

bunch red grapes

pineapple (optional) 1" pieces

3 bottles of inexpensive Rioja (tempranillo)

1 can frozen limeaid concentrate

1 quart -1 liter sparkling water, lime or lemon flavored

Mix brandy with cut fruit and let sit over night. Next day drain brandy from fruit.

Mix everything together (accepting reserved fruit) Serve on rocks with a few pieces of soaked fruit in each glass

It is nice if you have unsoaked lime wedges for additional garnish and a maraschino cherry.

This is very easy to tweak, depending on what you have on hand.

I've Got My Eye on You

2011-08-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I was catching up on my Mad Men on streaming Netflix--I have only just started season 2 and am really enjoying the sets and costumes. I am not one that can be idle in front of a television, so I set up my needle felting supplies and ended up with this little guy after watching 3 episodes in a row.

For some reason, I can never have enough Octopus art in my life!

How to Use Up All that Zucchini in Your Garden

2011-08-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

We are having a giant Sangria and Mexican food potluck at our house today and I just had to stop in the middle of my cooking to share this delicious dip I just made up. OK, if I looked into it, I am sure someone else has already thought of this but I call that parallel evolution and still consider this my own.

In honor of high summer and the zucchinis bursting at the seam in the garden, here is a yummy vegan sandwich spread or dip to use up all that summer squash you are ignoring!

Jennevieve's Smokey Zucchini Dip

3 large zucchinis, sliced angled in 1/4" plus thickness
2 chipotles in adobo sauce
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
1 Tablespoon olive oil
juice of one half lemon
smokey sea salt (I used my new Alderwood Smoke flavored Sea Salt from Libertine Tacoma)

Grill zucchinis. Don't use any oil, just lay them out on a hot grill and turn regularly until they have nice black marks and they are getting mushy. Allow to cool while prepping the rest.

Combine garlic, chipotles, and cilantro in food processor and pulse until blended. Chop up zucchini in large dice and add to processor. Blend well. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Adjust seasonings to taste.

This is spicy! Today we are using it for a tortilla chip dip but I can't wait to make sandwiches with this!

To Friends!

2011-08-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

I received 2 special gifts last weekend.

My friend Patrick just got back from Columbia and brought me a whole bag of goodies, but this clay serving dish is just gorgeous. The weight and feel of it is very substantial, very handmade. The spoon is also clay.

I also received a hostess gift at our dinner party from my friend Ann. Thank you, Ann!

This is Alderwood Smoked flavored sea salt from a local Tacoma shop, Libertine Tacoma and it is delicious with an extra smokey kick.

As I was admiring my gifts, I had a thought. It's like peanut butter and chocolate!

They belong together!

We are having a Mexican/Spanish themed potluck and Sangria party this weekend and I think this will be perfect on top of some roasted jalapenos!

A los amigos!

Mixed Felt Flower Tutorial

2011-08-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

I've seen a lot of tutorials for making fabric flowers whether twisted and sewn or the layers cut out and glued or stitched together, I have yet to find a flower including needle felting and fabric. So I decided to make up my own that combines needle felted wool and felt yardage.

You will need:

felt fabric at least 18" in width

handful of wool roving in a coordinating color

felting needle (size #38 ideal)

needle and thread

scissors

Fabric Tac glue (optional)

First cut a piece of felt fabric 1" x 18". I used felt made from recycled plastic bottles but wool blends are nice too. You don't need a ruler, just eye ball it.

Next you will snip along entire piece, every 1/4" to about a 1/4" from the edge. Don't worry if you cut one or two (or five) too close to edge. We will be sewing this all together so it won't fall apart.

Note: I am using my new, ergonomically correct SoftTouch scissors from Fiskars and I love them! My hands usually cramp up when I am using scissors but not with these babies. You could also use a cutting wheel too.

Set your snipped fringe piece aside while you work on the center of the flower. Take your handful of roving and roll into semi-loose cylinder. You don't want it too loose, however. Needle felting works best when you compress the wool.

Begin to poke with your felting needle. Remember those felting needles are sharp! Keep rotating the wool and poke from all sides and keeping it firmly compressed. Try to make the bottom flat and the top rounded. Poke, poke, poke!

By starting with a cylinder, you should end up with a raspberry shape.

At this point you could add felted or embroidery accents to your flower center, but I am going to keep mine simple. You want the wool to be fairly compact and compressed. You will be sewing to it so if you make it too wispy it might not work.

Now you are ready to assemble your flower. I like to start by using a little bead of Fabric Tac at the end of the fridge piece. This just helps everything stay in place while you sew and is not necessary.

Start by rolling the fringe around your wool ball with the flat part of the fringe against the bottom of the ball.

Roll three times around ball and then sew in place. Start with a secure knot.

Once you have sewn the whole way around, wrap the rest of the fringe flat around the base.

Finish sewing securely by stitching the entire way around. You don't want your flower falling apart!

Ta da! You have finished a felt flower!

At this point you can add a pin back or barrette or sew it onto something. To add a barrette, simply cut a piece of fabric to cover the base. Apply Fabric Tac all over base. Slide circle of fabric through barrette and place on glue, adding glue to top of barrette. Allow to dry overnight for a fabulous felt flower barrette!

Once you have made a few, it will be hard to stop! The bigger flowers I made by sewing a 1" by 9" cut fringe piece to the needle felted center and then finished it with a 2" x 18" cut fringe piece.

37 Things: Blog 175 Times

2011-08-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe I have hit 175 blog postings in 10 months. It seemed like a daunting amount of posts at the time. Next year I will need to set my goal a little higher!

My backyard is looking luscious right now. The mint shrub is in full bloom and the bees are as excited as my neighbors at an all you can eat buffet. My veggie garden is on full throttle mode as well. The zucchini and leeks are pretty boisterous. And my tomato plants are spilling out of their little cages all over the place. They never make it into the kitchen. I stand in the shade and pop the sweet cherry tomatoes right into my mouth.

I moved my Adirondack chairs out of the way for our big dinner party and I am liking them in this spot in the shade. Perfect reading spot.

I still have many items to complete on my list of 37 Things To Do Before I Turn 38 but I am in progress on a few of them and I am satisfied that the most important ones have been completed. (Get off the continent, run/walk a half marathon, donate blood, throw a fundraiser.) Two months to go before I start my next list!

37 Things: Throw a Dinner Party for 20

2011-08-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite things on my list of 37 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 38. The same thing happened as last year. We ended up being 18 at table. So I just need to change my goal to Throw a Dinner Party for 18. Why fish sauce as the lead photo? The menu was a Southeast Asian theme and I admit it, I buy my fish sauce based purely on a photo of a baby holding a bottle of fish sauce with a picture on it of a baby holding a bottle of fish sauce.

The menu:

Drinks

*Singapore Slings

*Gin with Lime-aid and a ginger simple syrup

*Rose and Red Wine

Appetizers

*Spicy peanut/cashews

*Wasabi Peas

*Spicy Canteloupe with basil

First Course

*Fresh Spring Rolls with a Peanut Dipping Sauce

Main Course

*Vietnamese Salad with Grilled Pork Salad, Hanoi Style with Nuoc Cham sauce

Dessert

*Cream Puffs with a Chocolate Glaze and Mint Garnish

The key to throwing a big dinner party is making lists. Making lists and picking out food that can be prepped in advance. And having a good friend come a little early to help you put everything together. Unless of course, you can afford to hire a waiter. Which I should have done, but oh well, the hostess doesn't really need to talk to everyone anyways! I hit the ground running at 8am in the morning and didn't stop for any breaks until the guests started arriving at 5pm.

The Singapore Slings were a big hit. We made a big pitcher of it so it was easy to hand out drinks as people arrived.

I was able to prep everything for the spring rolls and then pass off the assembling to my friend Greg. He was a superstar helper.

The weather was perfect. We had to divide the party up into two tables to fit everyone comfortably in the back yard.

Dahlias were the flower of the day. I purchased 3 bouquets at the farmers market that morning and then our friend Rosie showed up with this beautiful bunch as well.

Bonus: my new, extra long felting table works perfect for entertaining as well!

Assembling the salads was fun. Vietnamese salad is one of my favorite dishes to make and eat.

I like to take the time thinking about the appearance of the dish as much as the flavor of the dish.

There were very few leftovers at the end of the night.

With just a few stragglers at the end, we set up the fire pit and relaxed! It took 6 dishwasher loads to get everything clean. Now I have a few days to relax before hosting our wine group this coming weekend! At least that is a potluck so it won't be as crazy.

Cat in the Box

2011-08-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

I am busy trying to get organized for a little sidewalk sale tomorrow and then our dinner party for 20 this Saturday and what am I doing?

Watching Maru videos of course!

You can never have enough Maru!

37 Things: Donate Blood

2011-08-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

This was a fairly simple and easy thing to do on my list of 37 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 38.

However, sometimes the easiest things to do are also the easiest things to skip.

Today was a busy day. My husband Trevor was running in his fourth (yes, fourth!) half marathon. I had to drop him off at the start of the race and pick him up at the end. In the middle of it I found time to run 4 miles myself. Then I dropped him off at the house to shower and collapse and went with some friends to "Woofstock", a dog adoption fair at the University of Puget Sound. I saw lots of cute dogs but since Trevor wasn't with me, I couldn't take one home. Then I went down to the Proctor Arts Fest to see our friend Antoinette who had a henna booth set up. On the way to her booth I saw the mobile blood donation bus and thought, "This is it. This is when I am going to finally donate some blood."

I had to fill out some paperwork since it was my first time donating in Tacoma. They had to check my iron level, my pulse, my temperature, and my blood pressure. Everything checked out so they were able to take blood. It was a little crowded on the bus but I felt like a jerk because it was so easy to do and I really had no excuse. I am not afraid of needles or blood so this is pretty easy for me. Turns out you can only donate once every 60 days, so I can't donate again until November. And I am ready to get another tattoo and was wondering about what happens when you have a new tattoo. But it turns out in the state of Washington that as long as you go to a licensed tattoo parlor, you can donate without any wait period.

Now I really have no excuses! As a treat, I had Antoinette henna some lovely chrysanthemums on my arm. And then I had the chance to see my friend Dan sing in the Total Experience Music Choir. And I ate a corn dog! It was a fabulous day.

Making a Shrinky Dink Statement Necklace Part 2

2011-08-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

To learn how to use Shrinky Dinks, read my Making a Shrinky Dink Statement Necklace Part 1.

Once I had all of my Shrinky Dink components colored, cut out, hole punched, and baked, it was time to put the whole thing together. I made 35 little discs and used 26 of them for the necklace. I started by making the individual dangles first. I use stainless steel wire because I don't care about sterling on costume jewelry.

I used several different beads in when connecting the dangles to the chain.

I played with the placement of the sizes and the colors. I have been making a lot of asymmetrical necklaces lately but I knew I wanted this piece to be symmetrical since the components were so busy. It took about 4 hours to make the shrinky dinks (OK, I was watching a movie while I was making them so I am not sure how productive I actually was during a couple of those hours.) And it took me under an hour to put it all together.

I love how light weight the piece is and how it gently jingles when I wear it.

Next I am thinking of making napkin rings or place card charms with my left over shrink film. I also thought too late how awesome these would be as earrings. That will be on my to-do list as well!

Fabric Flowers in Bloom

2011-08-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

Really having fun with the fabric flowers.

I am going to be at the Greenwood Summer Streets Art Fair next Friday with some of these babies for sale.

What I Ate: Turkey Kofta Sandwiches with Roasted Potatoes

2011-08-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Kofta is a style meatloaf/meat ball from Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian cuisine. Frequently in the Middle East it is made with ground lamb. It is mixed with all manner of spices, onions and other surprises. An Indian version has a whole cooked egg in them! I decided to make mine for lunch today a littler healthier (and cheaper) by using ground turkey instead. You can grill the meat or pan fry it. I roasted up some spicy potato wedges and while those were cooking in the oven, I made the sandwiches.

Turkey Kofta-Style Sandwiches with Roasted Potato Wedges
Loosely adapted from Suzanne Husseini's When Suzanne Cooks
serves 2

Potato Wedges (start first)

Set oven to 350F
3 medium to large red potatoes cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into thin wedges. (The thinner they are, the faster they cook and the more crunchy roasted yumminess.)

Toss potatoes with canola oil or peanut oil and paprika, cayenne, generous amount of spicy mustard, salt, and pepper. I like to use prepared horseradish mustard but Dijon works well too. Spread out on sheet pan and bake 30 minutes, flipping once or twice.

Turkey Kofta Sandwiches

1/2 cup lowfat plain yogurt
2 Tablespoons white onion, minced
2 Tablespoons parsley, minced
juice of one small lemon
1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/2 lb turkey
handful parsley, finely chopped
2 teaspoons tahini (sesame paste)
3 cloves garlic, minced fine
1/2 small white onion, minced fine
1 Tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1/4 teaspoon coriander
salt and pepper

2 pita loaves
oil for pan frying
thinly sliced red onion
greens

Combine yogurt, white onion, parsley, lemon juice, and garlic and set aside to let flavors meld.

Combine turkey with parsley, tahini, garlic, onion, molasses, coriander, and salt and pepper. Shape into 6 small oval patties.

Grill or pan fry patties about 4 minutes per side.

Cut pitas in half to make 2 pockets per serving. Spread a little yogurt sauce in bottom of pita and place 1 1/2 patties in each pocket. Top with more yogurt plus greens and red onions. Serve with potato wedges.

Swoon over the deliciousness of it all. Experimenting with substitutions is good. I can't say enough good things about pomegranate molasses: it adds flavor to sauces and dressings and now burgers!

Fabric Flower Necklace Experiment.

2011-08-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

I collect fabric. LOTS of fabric. I have gotten better in the last few years, but I used to buy fabric all the time. I did actually sew with it occasionally but mostly it is stacked in boxes and folded on shelves. I am working on a quilt but that has come to a complete halt since I realized too late I was going to make things very difficult for myself with the way I was piecing everything.

Back to that fabric. I love to look at it and think about all of the things I could make with it and now I have finally come up with an idea: fabric flowers. OK, I know, fabric flowers are like so Anthropologie 2008. But I missed the boat on the fabric flowers and am just starting to make them now.

They are fun to make. I sew mine. I have seen a lot of tutorials that use a lot of glue but I tend to be an anti-glue person. Not sure why because it would probably save me a lot of time. I made about 6 really ugly flowers before these two looked pretty good. I think it may need another chain on the bottom but I am going to wear it a bit before I take it all apart and re-do it.

I still can't tell if it is the ugliest thing I have ever made or if I really love it. I think the red coral may be too clunky and instead needs two strands of smoother beads. Forgive the bad lighting; I just ran outside in the shade to take the photos at the end of the day.

That is Some Pig

2011-07-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, an idea crept into my head that I should try to cook a whole pig. In bits and pieces, mind you, not a whole luau apple in mouth sort of thing. I recruited a friend to assist me in this venture; we would buy a whole pig, freeze it, and then slowly cook it all over the course of a year and experiment with new techniques and recipes.

It seemed a good idea at the time but this friend of mine is always busy and switching from project to project to project and in the end I knew it would probably be me doing it and it would be a little too much. For starters, I would need to buy a stand alone freezer. So the idea was pushed to the back of mind. It would come up every so often at dinner parties: "I had this idea to...." and that was as far as it got.

But just a week or two ago a friend of ours mentioned she was splitting a pig with another friend of ours but she was worried it would be too much for her or her freezer. What could I do but step in and volunteer to buy half of her half?

Well, our little quarter pig became reality and we went and picked it all up today. Turns out it wasn't that big of a pig after all. Poor thing had lived a good life on a farm in a field on Lopez Island but had suffered from a hernia. That's right, a hernia. How does a pig get a hernia? Answer: Forgetting to bend at the knees.

They had to slaughter him. (No hernia surgery for pigs.)

Our share: ribs, stew meat, chops, neck meat, butt, tenderloin, belly, and roast. The neck meat is the only thing throwing me for a loop right now but I will come up with something. I am thinking to cook up some ribs tonight. Now, a quarter of a pig seems just the right size. Maybe if this all works out I will do my Cooking the Whole Pig by myself . We'll see! Our friend Howie nicely chopped this one all up for us. I have a feeling if I buy a whole one that it will be up to me to butcher it. Not sure I am up to that task.

Like Little Pillows of Sweetness

2011-07-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

I first made marshmallows from scratch nearly 2 years ago. I haven't thought to make them since but my sister and her family are in town for the month and my niece wanted to see how they were made. I had casually mentioned one evening while we were roasting marshmallows at my dad's house that I had made marshmallows from scratch and she became obsessed with the idea. So I had her over for a sleep over and we made marshmallows and dunked them in hot chocolate while we played Sorry. Overall, a very satisfying evening. (Or rather, I made marshmallows and she watched.)

Many people are mystified by candy making. The whole candy thermometer, soft ball stage thing can seem a little weird at first. If you are interested at all, read my original Making Marshmallows From Scratch post. They don't take long at all and they really impress people. Also, they taste way better than those stale, plastic tasting ones from the grocery store. Like little pillows of sweetness.

Yard Beautification

2011-07-27T00:13:00.000-07:00

This post could have been titled: How to Make an Ugly Yard Look OK. I don't think this is ideally how I want my yard to look, but when a free source of wood chips came into my life, I jumped on it!

It all started with some friends of ours moving. They have a lot of boxes right now. And then another friend is a source of all these wood chips. So. I put 2 and 2 together and came up with finishing the back yard. Here it is all covered with plastic. We suffered from truly horrible, invasive weeds and covered the whole spot with tarps and plastic for the past 2 years to kill everything.

It was truly awful and shabby looking. I really hated it and spent most of my time ignoring it.

The side yard was looking slightly better, but barely/

So I spent 2 days working and now have a very sore back. I started by weeding everything. Then I carefully overlapped the cut apart cardboard boxes that we had diligently removed all the tape from. Then, I wheel-barrowed in much of the 6 yards of wood chips we shoveled into my dad's trailer and had dumped in the alley. (Two trips in the trailer, mind you.)

This whole side is naught but shade and dandelions, so the wood chips will work well.

I am really liking how the back looks. Okay, after blue tarps, anything will look good, but I love the path I put in and the focus of the Ginko tree. I love my Ginko tree. Also, in the background are 2 small blueberry bushes. They may be small this year, but they both are getting fruit. Hopefully they will grow more next year.

This bit is right by the deck. Now I have to finish the veggie garden and start on the front.

As we were telling our friends that just bought their first house, it really is a never ending process and maybe too expensive or too much work for some. But I would never give up my own yard or space for anything. Ask me again this weekend after I have spent another 15 hours or so and I may be singing a different tune. For now, I am content.

What I Ate: Black Bean Soup

2011-07-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

I don't make black bean soup that often; it requires foresight of soaking the beans and I am usually a spur of the moment sort of cook. But it was a little cool yesterday and I knew I was going to be working in the yard all afternoon weeding and then laying down cardboard and wood chips so I was able to get the beans soaking in the morning. I let them soak for about 6 hours and then cooked the soup for a little over 2 hours. It worked out perfectly.

Black bean soup can have many variations but I stick to a simple recipe. I just cook up some onions and peppers and cumin and then throw in whole, peeled garlic, black beans, and stock. Then I let it cook for an hour and then add a can of whole tomatoes in their juice and a can of corn and cook for another hour. Then I puree it all with my immersion blender. Now, that is some okay soup, but nothing to write home about.

The trick is in the condiments. I like to top it with chopped cilantro, parsley, red onion, jalapenos, and a big dollop of sour cream.

We just went and shoveled into the trailer 3 more yards of wood chips so after I finish my coffee it is back to the grind and then more black bean soup for lunch. But the yard is going to look fantastic!

Making a Shrinky Dink Statement Necklace Part 1

2011-07-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

I've worked with Shrink film in making jewelry before but mostly I just made pendants or key chains. My friend Kimberly made a pretty awesome leather, wood, and gold wire statement necklace the other day and it inspired me to make another statement necklace myself. (A girl can never have too many statement necklaces!)

Several different brands make "shrink film"--don't worry about finding the Shrinky Dink brand if your local craft store doesn't carry it.

I started by covering three sheets with free hand circle designs with black Micron pens. Draw on the rough side of the film. Sharpies work well too. Make them big. These will shrink over 50%! I think I could have even made these a little bigger. Next I colored them in with permanent markers although the markers smudged quite a bit all over my hands in the process! Note: If you are not satisfied with your drawing skills, you can always print out a design and lay the shrink film on it and trace it. Some people print on the sheets but I think that looks too commercial.

Next, carefully cut out the shapes with scissors. Then punch holes with a normal paper punch. If you forget you can drill them later but that is a pain when a hole punch is so much easier.

Preheat oven to 325F. Lay out a brown paper bag or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Lay the cut out and punched shapes color side up and make sure they aren't touching or they can fuse together. Bake 1-2 minutes. Pieces will shrink and curl up and then lay flat again. Give them about 30 seconds after they have gone flat. Pull out and use a piece of brown paper to flatten the ones that are still curled. Sometimes they stay a bit curled and I don't mind with the jewelry.

Note how much they shrink! The one on the right has not been baked!

I ended up with about 35 little discs.

Next I will begin to lay them out and figure out how I want to arrange my statement necklace.

Click here for my Making a Shrinky Dink Statement Necklace Part 2!

I Heart Wine Parties and Potlucks

2011-07-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

This month's theme for our wine group's tasting and potluck was Germany. As you can guess, a lot of bottles of Riesling showed up at the party. But other interesting wines like Lemberger and Müller-Thurgau made an appearance as well. Once again, I really enjoyed drinking the wine, but I was more interested in the people and the food.

Especially the food. I decided to make soft pretzels and serve them with 3 types of mustard. Now I know in Germany they actually prefer butter on their pretzels to mustard, but I like mustard.

I'd never made pretzels before, but I make bread and pizza frequently so I figured it wouldn't be too hard. And it wasn't. The dough was much like a white bread dough but you cut it into little pieces and make the classic pretzel shape and boil it before you bake it. I looked at a lot of different recipes but ended up using the one from Smitten Kitchen. The only thing I changed was to double the yeast.

These are really satisfying to make and fun for a group activity. Below the ones on the right side have been boiled and you can see how they puff up after just a couple of minutes in the water.

They are really quite cute! The boiling water has 6 Tablespoons of baking soda in it to give it them the distinctive chewy crust. In industrial bakeries, lye is used in the boiling water. But lye is a harsh chemical used to clean drains and straighten hair and most home bakers just use baking soda instead.

Since I was making mini pretzels and they require a little more work, I recruited my husband to help me. While I was boiling the pretzels, he was coating the already boiled ones with egg wash and coarse sea salt.

Pretzels are best eaten on the day they are made and 31 of my 32 pretzels were eaten at the party. (OK, I ate one at the house before we left for the party.) I ate the last one this morning. It was still good, but definitely starting to get soggy. So make sure you have hungry mouths to feed before you start making these or make a half batch!

Next month we are hosting the wine group at our house and doing something a little different by making giant batches of Sangria and requesting that everyone make Mexican food. YUM!

A Dyeing Sort of Afternoon

2011-07-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

I went jogging this morning. A long run: 7.25 miles. And yes, I count those .25 miles. I had big plans to do yard work today but my legs sent me a memo that they needed to rest so I decided not to work in the yard nor lounge around either but get to work dyeing some silk scarves instead.

The Shibori Zebra scarves are done but the extra long plain ones are meant for greater things. I will be covering them with wool to make some poppy nuno scarves. I love dyeing fabric. It is immediate and satisfying but with a twist of surprise in how things will look. I just received a big shipment of silk so I will be dyeing, dyeing, dyeing, in the next couple of weeks!

Cleaning Up the Mess That is My Life

2011-07-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

This is the view on my desk of my new computer hook up. And this was after I tried to clean and reorganize a bit. That circular hub is a life saver; I found it in the check out line at TJ Maxx for $4.99 and it was money well spent. I have four USB cords plugged into the back of my computer and then four more attached to this hub.

I keep seeing all of these supposedly space saving cord organizers but I am not sure how that would work since all the cords are of varying lengths. What you aren't seeing in this photo is also 3 more power cords stretching to the left across my desk to reach the power strip. One day I will be able to have a wireless mouse, keyboard, screen, external hard drive, printer, camera, Ipod, wireless router, speakers, and headphones and then I will be a happy camper. For now I have an extra large monitor to block it all from my view.

The Most Delicious Things in the World

2011-07-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

The most delicious things in the world are often times the simplest and least adorned. Like these perfectly ripe local raspberries. I try to only eat berries when they are in season because the things you get in a plastic clam shell in January taste nothing like the sweet, juicy and tangy berries at the market today.

My husband is on an overnight business trip so I don't have to share these and I am eating every single one all by myself and savoring each one as I go. Yum. If you haven't eaten any local raspberries yet this year, what are you waiting for?

Worthy Try to Get to the Mountain

2011-07-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

This was the view from the van as we were eating a picnic lunch on our way to visit Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument last weekend. Even though I have lived in Washington State my whole life, I had never been to see Mt. St. Helens in person.

I was just 6 when it erupted on May 18th, 1980, but it gave me a lasting impression of the power of the natural forces of the earth.

The weather was supposed to be clear up near the mountain, but we had to eat in the car due to pouring rain.

I thought it would be fun to take my nephew up to see it. He lives in Dubai and even though he visits here a lot, he is not quite used to rain. He only had a flimsy sweatshirt as a jacket, but he was a good sport.

We visited two interpretive centers: one outside the park, and one right at the Johnston Ridge Observatory. A very cool, topographical map lit up with multi colored LED lights to show the flow of water, ash, and avalanche.

The clouds cleared enough for us to get a quick peek at the mountain. This photo looks pretty obscured but we could actually see quite a bit of it. I think it must be gorgeous if the weather is clear.

Inside the park a lot of the debris has been left where it landed. Millions of trees were snapped apart and shredded like toothpicks.

If you live anywhere near enough to drive and visit Mt St. Helens (It took us about 2 1/2 hours from Tacoma), I highly recommend the effort. Funny thing about this trip is what is had made me think about once back home. While the strength of a volcano erupting is pretty darn impressive, I was moved by the two movies we watched about the eruption and the people that lost their homes and/or their lives. We can try and chase material things our whole lives and then it can be gone in just a few minutes. Food for thought.

I Love My (Fresh) Vegetables

2011-07-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

During the summer I like to eat my veggies raw. But I get a little sick of green salad. Vietnamese salad is a perfect way to eat a lot of veggies with a lot of flavor, especially when you are sick of plain old salad greens salads. This salad might look complicated, but the components are easy to make and can be prepped in advance and since you don't have to cook the veggies, it is faster to put together than a lot of meals. It is also easy to adapt since you can use whatever you have on hand.

This recipe originally called for two types of pork, but I prefer thin, medium rare slices of grilled flat iron steak. Chicken, shrimp, or tofu would work great as well.

Vietnamese Salad with Flat Iron Steak

adapted from Quick and Easy Vietnamese by Nancie McDermott

For the steak:

1 flat iron steak, roughly 1.3-1.5 lbs

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons cooking oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 bunch finely chopped green onions

For the salad:

1/4 lb dried thin rice noodles, soaked in very hot water for 20 minutes (vermicelli or linguini style can be used, just check soaking times)

Nuoc Cham dipping sauce (recipe follows)

Pickled carrots and radishes (recipe follows)

1 cup shredded cabbage

1/2 cucumber halved and sliced thin

1/2 can baby corn

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 jalapeno, sliced in half, seeds removed and sliced thin

1/2 cup peanuts or cashews

Nuoc Cham:

2 Tablespoons chopped garlic

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon chile-garlic sauce

5 Tablespoons fish sauce

juice of 2 limes

1/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients in jar with lid and shake well. Smash garlic first with side of knife for extra flavor.

Pickled carrots and radishes:

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

1 bunch red radishes halved and sliced thin

Combine water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in pan over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes or until sugar is well dissolved. Transfer to cake pan to cool in fridge or (briefly) in freezer. Once cooled, pour over carrots and radishes and mix well.

Start by making marinade for steak. Make crosswise cuts across steak to aid in marination. Combine steak with fish sauce, brown sugar, oil, salt, pepper, and green onions and toss to coat. Set aside while preparing other ingredients. (OK to be on counter 30 minutes prior to cooking. If marinating early in the day, put in fridge, but put on counter 30 minutes prior to cooking.) Heat grill for cooking.

To cook:

Soak noodles in very hot water. After 20 minutes, drain, and rinse in cool water. Drain and set aside.

Prepare accompaniments. I like to make the pickled carrots and radishes and the nuoc cham first so they have plenty of time to let the flavors meld. Arrange shredded cabbage, cucumbers, baby corn, cilantro, jalapenos, and nuts on a platter.

Finally, grill steak 5 minutes on each side or until medium-rare. Slice thin on diagonal. Can also be cooked in cast iron pan if no grill is available.

The fun part of serving this dish is that you can let your guests assemble their own serving. Start with noodles. Add veggies and then top with meat. Finally add Nuoc Cham sauce and sprinkle nuts on top.

You will never be disappointed with this dish!

Economic Gardening: Expanding Your Business

2011-07-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

The City of Tacoma has a wonderful resource called the Economic Gardening Program.

From their brochure: Our program seeks to grow our local economy by providing businesses with the tools and training that they need to be successful in today's marketplace.

They provide one on one consultation along with free quarterly classes that teach you how to run a more successful business. I have been to about 5 of these workshops. They are hit and miss of course because they bring in different people to talk about different topics and not all of the people are the best speakers or the best organized. For the most part I can walk away with at least a few ideas I need to make my business better. And all sorts of people come to these classes: artists like myself, massage therapists, restaurant owners, professional organizers, retail shop owners, etc. so it is a great way to network.

Today's session was "Four Ways to Grow Your Business" presented by Audrey Godwin. It was a little too business-y for my taste. I know, I know, it is a business workshop, but when people start talking about "synergy" and developing "unique core differentiators" I start to zone out. Why, oh why, can't people talk in normal speak? A lot of people in the class were pretty shy at first because she just jumped into business-speak and then kept asking, "What, aren't you people awake yet?"

Let me give everyone out there some advice about public speaking: NEVER ask your audience if they are awake. It makes them uncomfortable and afraid you are going to call on them when they don't know the answer. So everyone looks down at their notes. We think we are going to the class for her to tell us info; we didn't know we were expected to bark out answers to things we might never even heard of before we walked in the door. It was also tough because she was acting like we are all making $100,000 a year and knew how to map out sales forecasts and track conversion rates at the drop of a hat.

I am making this sound like the worst workshop in the world. She did eventually cool it on the "Are you all asleep?" question and the class got better after she gave us some worksheets to fill out. I took away a lot of ideas for putting together a marketing plan and catering my different products to their target markets. I am excited to implement some of my new ideas. I also might have found a shop to sell some of my products in.

Whether you live in Tacoma or not, if you own a small business, you should definitely look and see what free resources your city offers. I am very surprised more people don't turn out for these classes!

I've Got My (Taxidermy) Eye on You

2011-07-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

I just received these taxidermy eyes in the mail. I bought them on Ebay. I don't really like to bid on items and freak out over bidding wars. When it comes to supplies, at least, I like to buy things that have a "buy now" button. When I first started using Ebay I was very excited over bidding, finding special items, etc, but luckily I kicked that habit. (I still have a whole bunch of fabric I "won" and never used.)

Anyways, I thought it would be fun to try and use these little eyes in my needle felting. They have wires attached to them so that I can twist it or loop it and needle felt it into a critter. Haven't thought of what to use them with yet, just thought they would be fun for some experimenting.

Bead Show Goodies

2011-07-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

I went to a little bead show at the Tacoma Convention center this weekend and brought home some goodies. These red beads are called "Red Velvet" and they really do look like velvet. Those black and white polka dot beads are lampworked glass.

None of this stuff I actually need of course, but I gave my self a $60 limit and spent $57.

These little caps are inspiring me to make a big fancy statement necklace.

And these big hooks, far more than I will ever get to, have such a nice weight and feel to them.

This Afghani bracelet is by far my favorite item. These are all old coins. I am going to take it apart and use them in necklaces.

Bead shows are dangerous!