some updates

i was gonna write this last night but i got a virus or worm or something on my computer... it was awful! i couldn't do anything. it's all better now but it took a lot of work and a lot of time to figure out how to get rid of it. so far, so good today and i haven't found anything missing. it was very powerful and i'm still worried some of its files are still lurking and that it could reinstall. but i'm a worrier.

anyway (i say anyway a LOT and i can't seem to kick the habit), i don't have anything finished but have some things i wanted to show. first up, i did take a couple of "process" pics when i did the love art journal page. they are pics from my iphone, not scans so the lighting is bad. this first one i took after i was done inking the page. i used 4 colors- a fading red, pink, light purple, and silver.



the lighting is worse in this one but you can see the purple a lot better here before i wrote all over it. obviously i took it after adding the title.



in my last post i said i was sure i had tons of unfinished knitting projects so i went looking for them. here's a few scarves and dishrags i was able to find. there's only 5 here but i know there's more somewhere! a lot of my crafting supplies are still boxed up in the basement so they're hiding. there's a couple things i can see in my head- one is even a blanket i started quite a while ago.



this last picture is a scan of a doodle i'm working on. i've mentioned it before- it's my hands.



remember i said my hands were small? i wasn't joking! i'm also noticing my knuckles are kinda big- must be from cracking them. i'm getting off track! basically, i don't know where to go from here and there's a TON of white space. i'm getting that white space anxiety syndrome. the fingers were easier because they were contained but now i need to figure out what to do with the palms and with the background. i've considered writing something in the palms- a poem, a couple quotes... not really sure. any ideas are welcomed!! (also, once again, the colors are nowhere near true to life. ugh!)

so, no achievements to post but i'm well on my way. not only am i pushing myself to finish the hands, but i'm also knitting while in front of the tv (if i don't have laundry to fold). plus i've got ideas for at least 2 more pictures (? drawings? doodles? don't know what to call them). what else am i working on?

well, the room that started out as the playroom which is now going to be my craft/art/writing/music (heehee) room is currently what i'm calling the junk room. see, i was going to use a room in the basement but i don't like it down there. most of my stuff is still all packed up and in the basement because i never felt good about working down there. but up in this room, there are boxes and bins and drawer towers and the old dressers from our master bedroom before we got the new bedroom set, etc. you can't really even walk in there. so i'm cleaning it out. i'm really not good at cleaning or organizing so it's really hard. plus, what's in there needs to go downstairs but what's down needs to come up. so the rest of my house will have clutter as things switch places. i have to go through everything, though, and throw out what's no longer useful. old magazines, old mail, things i won't use... it's a process. hmm, i think i'll count one achievement when it's cleaned out, and another for getting my stuff in it so i can work!

i'm still singing! and recording. haha, when my room gets cleaned out i'll be able to get to my guitar and keyboard! ;) oh, we are going to re-do the upstairs bathroom in a month or two so i'm designing that. i started taking measurements and researching flooring options and considering color pallets. also, i've been reading a book. i believe if you want to write, you must read and this writer really is a very good writer. i've never been interested in non-fiction and honestly didn't think i'd like the book but it's grown on me- because of the excellent writing! i'm learning from it and from the author. :)

i know my count is low- nowhere where i should be for being a week into march, BUT, not only do i have so many things almost done, i know when my room is done, i'll be so ready to work!! it's not easy being creative with a tray table in the living room, markers all over the couch, netbook on the floor, in a dining room chair. motivation to get my room cleaned out for sure! i just wish was better and faster at it...

8, 9, & 10

wow, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. i know it's been a while since i posted. i have been working on things, just haven't had a chance to get on here and write about it.

one thing i did was this.


i learned a lot about color from this. the scanner, of course, didn't do it justice. the colors are much more vibrant and DIFFERENT from each other in person. this scan makes a few of the colors look very similar but they're not. i would feel much better if the light green on the outer edge was in the middle more with one of the blue greens on the outside. oh, well. that's why i'm doing this, to learn. i also don't like the dark spots from the layering of the marker color. i'm just using my cheap crayola super-tips on these coloring books so i should expect as much.

i also took some pictures after the ice storm. a few of them turned out nice but not a whole lot that i would consider "creative." here are a couple i think are.


i like the sun in this shot and how the ice on all the little branches sparkle! i'm not sure how i feel about how dark it is at the top.


this one... i like it, especially how the branches in the bakground are slightly blurry. i was cropping it to see what it would look like and accidentally saved it this way. it's just as well; the rest of the rest of the photo is just wooden fence. remember that you can click on any image and then click it again when it re-opens to zoom in!

that's it for today. i'm working on another doodle (my hands) and will post as soon as it's done. i'm in the midst of writing a poem which i'm not sure i'll want to post. some things aren't meant to be shared with everyone. maybe someday. i'll count it, though, when it's finished. i'm also trying to get up the nerve to post the songs i've recorded myself singing. we'll see... my other creative plan is to pull out my knitting while i'm watching tv. i've got several unfinished scarves and washcloths! maybe i'll take a picture to show just how many! ;)

and here's #7

this is another recipe! didn't really think this was the direction my creativity was headed but i'll take it. i don't have time this weekend to write or work on an "art" piece with so much going on and i was feeling kind of bummed about that. so, i decided to get creative in the kitchen again since i could. i'd been thinking about it all day and it ended up being pretty late before i got started cooking.

so, i call this burrito quesadillas. naming recipes is not easy but since is seemed like a burrito type filling, i named it accordingly. this is what you'll need (and please bear with me):

butter
8 whole wheat soft taco or medium sized tortillas
1 lb. ground beef
1 can bush's chili beans, undrained
1/2 8oz container garden vegetable cream cheese
12 oz pkg. shredded cheese (i used mexican 4 cheese)
salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder

in a skillet, brown beef- season liberally with spices. drain the fat and add more of the spices. stir in the beans with the sauce and the cream cheese. the cream cheese does so many things! of course, it makes the filling creamy, it's another layer of cheese flavor, and even though it's not much, hey- it's adding in some veggies that won't be seen. :)

push the skillet to the back burner and heat another skillet or grill pan. use the grill pan if you have it- the grill marks on the quesadilla are so appealing! run a stick of butter over the surface of the pan or skillet and lay a tortilla on top. sprinkle with just enough cheese to cover the bottom. spoon 1/4 of the meat/bean mixture on top of the cheese. then, add another layer of cheese just like the one on the bottom. finally, run your stick of butter all over another tortilla and place it butter side up on top.

as soon as the top tortilla is sticking to the cheese, use a wide spatula and flip it! be careful, you don't want the filling to come flying out! let it cook for another couple minutes to get crispy and golden on the bottom and then transfer to a cutting board. let it set a minute while you prepare the next quesadilla. then, use a knife or pizza cutter to cut into 6 wedges. repeat 3 times- makes 4 total.

you can serve with salsa or sour cream but honestly they are so flavorful, you don't really need it. if you have them, try it, but don't make an extra trip to the store.

i wanted to mention also, that i found software to make mp3s out of my videos. see, when i sing, i play the track on my laptop hooked up to the surround sound and i sing. i record it on my iphone. none of this is any type of quality equipment but it's all i have and i don't need anything else at this point. so, the songs are in video form- and not of my face, but of the carpet since i face it away and down to get the most from the microphone (if you can even all it that). anyway, they are too large to email and who wants to watch my shaky video of carpet?? so i found free software that extracts the sound and converts it to an mp3- or something like that. whatever, it makes me happy.

#6- art journal love

to celebrate the anniversary of launching her first online workshop, connie hozvicka at dirty footprints studio created

her challenge was to create an art journal page about love. there are prizes and you have until tomorrow night to submit your page if you want to join the love! connie is inspirational to me. her attitude about art is one i admire- be fearless. so, today i was.

i've never really done any art journaling but it's something i've always wanted to try... i've been thinking about it since her post on monday and today was the day. i did things i've never done and am happy i did it! here is my love page.

i know it looks a bit messy but it's the first time i have really embraced my handwriting and drawing on something permanent. it's mine so i will love it. all i used was a bic mark-it ultra fine point marker and a few sharpies for the little bit of color. the background was really fun to do. i took a fading red, a light purple, and a silver ink pad for stamping and inked the heck out of the paper. i like how the red turned out pink since it was running out of ink. if you want a closer look, click on the picture and when it opens, click on it again to zoom in. anyway, my very first art journal page is complete and that's that.

#5

so, i hadn't considered counting this, but my mom said, "why not? creating is creating!" ok, maybe not those exact words... anyway, here is a new recipe i came up with. and hey- this time it will be written down so i can make it again! i made a quiche once (the only time i've ever made one) and i have no idea now how i even made it. sucks, cuz i'd really like to have it again sometime.

here's the deal with me and cooking. i don't really like following recipes. here's what i usually do when i think of something i want to make. first, i look up recipes so i get the basic idea of what i need. for example, with the quiche, i had no idea how many eggs i needed or how much other stuff, how long to bake it, or at what temp. i THINK i did sausage, mushroom and asparagus... that combo sounds yummy to me. i don't even know what cheese i used. anyway, after i get the basic idea, i get to work and i do what looks, smells, and tastes right to me. i add or subtract or substitute and eventually, i have a delicious meal but the "recipe" is often lost forever in the cobwebby part of my crazy brain.

anyway, a few nights ago i decided i wanted white chicken chili. but again, i had no idea how to make it. my aunt had written a recipe for it in our family cookbook, but when i read it (and i read it over and over), i just couldn't get my head around it. so i got online and looked it up and most of the recipes i found were pretty much the same. apparently, there's a few basic ingredients in chicken chili and that's really all anyone puts in it- chicken, white beans, green chilis, and chicken broth. some people start with onion and garlic and some add some spices. that's it. it didn't seem like what i wanted but i started with the 4 basic things. i knew i wanted it spicy so i added chili powder. then i thought it needed "brightening" so i added lime juice and cilantro. then i added corn cuz i add corn to everything- i love the slight crunch it gives. that all helped but it still wasn't right... then it hit me! i wanted it creamier! i only had 1/2% milk so i thought for a minute and then proceeded to dig out a can of cream of chicken soup from the pantry. ahhh! perfect! the only thing i would have done differently is, for the amount of soup i made, i'd have added another can of green chilis. here is the recipe:

3 cans (undrained!) of white beans
1 1/2 cans chicken broth
1/2 (or so) rotisserie chicken- already cooked
2 tiny cans chopped green chilis
juice from 1/2 lime
handful minced cilantro
1/2 bag of frozen corn
1 can cream of chicken soup
as much chili powder as you want

just get it all in a big pot on the stove and let it cook for a little while. it doesn't need to be on the heat too long. that's it! so yummy. i melted some cheese on top in the bowls and dropped a dollop of sour cream on top. i like both those things on regular chili. what do you think? did i create a recipe??