For The Love of Art

Scales!

2011-10-30T13:44:00.001-07:00

Its almost Halloween! Yay!

On Friday at work, we all got to get dressed up for Halloween, I decided i'd be Medusa. I curled my hair, bought a can of Green Hair Spray (about 3.00) and put some rubber snakes in my hair (bought a bag of 20 for 4.99 at Spirit.

The best part, was the make up. I put a fishnet stocking over my head, and with some green face paint on a cosmetic sponge, I stippled over the fishnet. Before i pulled the fishnet off, i went over the "scales" with some green and gold eyeshadow to add some metallic flair. (not seen in this picture).

I suppose this trick would go good as well if you wanted to be a mermaid (fish scales) or a reptile for that matter. Just use different color face paint or eyeshadow.

Pulling it off was very easy, and if it wasnt so last minute - i would have probably done more on my face, neck and arms. Go crazy! Its really fun!

Help Wanted: Inspiration Please!

2011-09-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

I need some help with finding inspiration in nature where I am. Is that a loaded request? I think it may be.

I come from a small town in California, less than 30 minutes from the beautiful ocean, within a valley full of beautiful green growth and vegetation. I loved those chilly mornings when i'd step outside to walk to school and see a sea of morning dew drops on the lawn that made the grass look like a gorgeous glistening green blanket of glitter. I miss the bees in my backyard collecting pollen from the flowers my grandmother grew in her backyard, and most of all, I miss the seasons....the beautiful golden and burnt - orange leaves when Autumn came, the cold winter nights, and the warm summer days watching kids play through sprinklers. ahh....
Wait. Don't get me wrong, I didn't move to hell...just Arizona.

Arizona is nice, the weather is great right now, and the sunsets where I live are nothing short of amazing but I can't seem to find that kind of beauty here. There's no morning dew, and if there was, it'd be on my rock - garden. No grass where I live - unless its crab. There's only two seasons here, Hot and Hotter, and those beautiful flowers in the backyard in California? Well, those have been replaced with cactus. Fields of vegetation have been replaced with desert, and the only time I see kids outside during the summer, is when they're walking home, drenched in sweat and look exhausted. As i'm typing this, I realize that I may just be homesick, but I think it's something more. Even as I type this and look out my window, all I see is brown -- and traffic. Lots of it. Where is that beauty here? Should I have stayed in my hometown valley instead of moving to the city? Do I have to travel miles away to find mother nature's sanctuary?

If you happen to live here, don't take this post as a Phoenix "Knock", take it as an opportunity to help me out. I'd really like to spend a day with my camera finding the inspiration that I haven't come across just yet. Maybe i'm just not seeing it. And if you know where its at, come get me, i'm just a little west outside of Phoenix in a small town called "El Mirage".

Home Made Churros

2011-09-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

Home Made Churros!

So, over the past couple of months, I've been doing a lot of experimenting with cooking. I find it to be difficult at times because i'm somewhat of a picky eater, and my live in boyfriend, well...let's just say he rarely eats anything that isn't meat and potatoes.

One thing I can ALWAYS experiment with however, is sweets. WE BOTH LOVE SWEETS, and if they're homemade sweets - well, that's even better.

This week, I made home made churros - and for the first time making them, I can confidently say they didn't turn out bad. I had to tweak a few things but i think i finally have a recipe i've developed worth re-doing again.

Unfortunately, I wasn't wise enough to take pictures of the process, but at least I remembered to document the recipe and take after-pics. Here's what you need:

♥A piping bag and large star-tipped pipe make the churros much more attractive but if you don't' have one, you can use a ziplock baggie with a hole cut in the corner to squeeze the dough from

Dough
♥A cup of Water
♥ 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
♥ 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of Sugar
♥1/2 teaspoon salt
♥ 1 cup of All purpose Flour
Optional - 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract - I use vanilla extract in almost everything, i just love the flavor it adds

♥ about 2 quarts of oil for frying. Don't worry if its not exactly 2 quarts, you just need enough to make sure the churros are covered in oil.

Topping
♥ 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon mixed on a cookie sheet or paper plate

Turn the pan with the frying oil on to a medium heat, the oil should be VERY VERY HOT when you put the churros in.

Boil the water, oil, sugar, vanilla (if used) and salt to a rolling boil and remove from heat.
Add the flour stirring until the dough forms a ball (After i see that its mixed together well, i grab it out with my hand and knead it a little bit to make sure every thing is really mixed in there)

Put the dough in the piping bag or ziplock bag and pipe the churros into the hot oil. Fry them for a few minutes, turning them continuously until they are a crunchy golden brown. Drain them on paper towels. I would only cook a couple of them at a time, because too many in the pot will bring the temperature of the oil down, so they won't fry well.

After they're drained from any excess oil, put one churro at a time on the cookie sheet with the sugar and cinnamon and shake it around to get a good coating. ENJOY!

* As an additional topping, you can make a chocolate dip for your churros. I didn't make chocolate this time, but I definitely will try it next time.

* I really like raspberry jam, so I put a little in a ziplock bag, cut a little hole in the corner of the bag, and squeezed some out on my churro. It was AMAZING.

After my first 6 churros, My star-tipped metal piece fell out of my disposable piping bag, so i put the rest of the dough into a ziplock bag, and made small ones. Here's how they turned out. (one of them has gobs of jam on it :) )

Shame on Me.

2011-09-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

I think i might have fallen off the face of the pla--er...cyber planet.

But FEAR NOT! Before I begin to rant about why I haven't posted anything, or where I've been spending my extra time that I used to spend here, I will say: I'm trying to come back, and boy have I got some fun posts coming.

I'm just trying to sort my pictures out, and get some recipes together. Wish me luck!

Crafty Gemini: How to Make Quilted Fabric Postcards

2011-07-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

LOVE THIS TUTORIAL!! Great job Crafty Gemini!

Crafty Gemini: How to Make Quilted Fabric Postcards: "It's Monday! We all know what that means.... a new video tutorial! In this video I teach you how to make some quick and easy fabric postcar..."

A Brand New World...Almost

2011-07-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Hi There.

I think i fell off the face of the planet for a while, and I stopped being me.

A TON has happened over the past month or so, and I think somewhere inside, i'm trying to take it all in. As you know per my very last post, my pup passed away, and it was really heartbreaking. That week, one of my cats started to get really sick, and after several vet visits, they told us there was nothing they could do, and then he went. We have one left, Jack, my fatty catty....and he's so lonely.

Between loss, work, and my new company (my boyfriends' little brother (5) and sister (16) are spending the summer here, I've been exhausted, swamped, and I feel like I lost a little bit of my creativity. I'm working on re-vamping my website and blog, and getting something going, but in the mean time, i wanted to say Hello, and yes, i'm still alive...if anyone out there is still reading.

Thanks.

Kayla.

Love, Loss and Embroidery.

2011-06-10T20:21:00.001-07:00

Lets start with something positive, the embroidery piece I made (last week, which was supposed to be posted last Sunday) was this guy,

a completed Kenny the Koi. I didn't work a three inch round, as I've realized I still have plenty of projects to complete, I figured I could just work them, and upload. Yay. Now that I have that one down, I can post this weeks' project tomorrow.

Now for the not so fun: the reason WHY i'm posting this blog a week late.

To say the very least, it has been a looong two weeks. I lost my beloved pup Obi last Friday, and I just couldn't focus enough to sit down and write about something I have a good time doing -- I felt miserable.

It hurts a lot, and I know its going to hurt for a while, but I have to remember he's in a better place now, afterall...everyone keeps reminding me, All Dogs Go to Heaven.

Obi was my first dog, a Terrier Pit-bull mix...I've always been a cat person, they're independent, and have their own personalities. In fact, when I got Obi, I had two cats already, but when my boyfriend moved in, he wanted one sooo desperately that of course, for the sake of my relationship and my sanity (haha), I caved.

I caved, and I fell in love.

We lost Obi to Valley Fever. He was diagnosed when we first took him in, and was told he'd be on meds for the rest of his life, and for the most part, he was. He only lived three human years, but i'm happy to say, he had a good life. We are so blessed to have been loved by him, and so blessed he graced our household with his fun presence. I just miss him.

Thanks for reading my vents. It's much appreciated.

Speaking of Beach...

2011-05-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

I took a couple of scenic pictures of the Beaches of Point Lobos.

There's a bunny in this picture. Can you see it?

Whimsical Hair - heehee

Seashell by the seashore :)

2011-05-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

I used my trip to visit my family in California as the perfect moment to capture a picture at the beach. What better way to showcase a stitched round?

The shell came out beautiful, it was drawn by my cousin Jason. My Mom helped a bit with the satin fill stitches, and my sister helped set up the picture. It was a family ordeal! :)

Point Lobos :)

RAINBOW CUPCAKES!!

2011-05-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

How To Make Rainbow Cupcakes

Yay For Rainbow Cupcakes!! I couldn't help but try to make these bad boys once I dreamed about them. I did a little searching online, and found great pictures, and tutorials (see Dainty Squid) But I needed to make my own -- try it out for myself, you know? Guess what? It was A*W*E*S*O*M*E. Wanna make some? Do Ya? Huh Huh? Okay, check it out:

What you'll need

A Box of White Cake Mix - I used Golden Vanilla cake mix just because I prefer the flavor over plain white cake The only problem with this cake mix was the color. Golden Vanilla has a yellowish tint to it (Hence the Golden part of the title) So the colors weren't as vivid as I would have liked them to be. The color in the batter still came out bright, but I know it'll look a lot better with the white mix -- you decide :)

Frosting - Any Frosting will do. Again, it was about preference for me. I bet a pink frosting would look adorable!

Food coloring - your choice of colors. Feel free to mix!

Paper Cups - you cant have cupcakes without paper cups silly! I wanted white cups or translucent (do they make those?) But of course, the grocery store by my house didn't have any, so I used plain pastel colors.

Directions:

After you have all of your ingredients, make the cake batter according to the box. Then separate the batter into several different bowls (however many colors you want in your cupcakes)

Try to add equal parts of batter in each bowl, if you don't get it quite right, don't worry. You can make a couple of cupcakes all one color - or dual color, whichever! Put a few drops of food coloring into the batter, and stir like crazy, start with a couple of drops first, then add if you want a darker color. Be creative, just because you only have Red Blue and Yellow doesn't mean thats all you're limited to, MIX AWAY! Blue and yellow make green, blue and red make purple, remember your art classes people!

After you have your pretty batter colors, then comes the fun part.

Put the paper cups in your cupcake pan. Then with each color, add a little bit of batter into the cups. Depending on how many colors you use, you'll have to watch how much of each color you put in the cup. Remember, dont fill the cup too much, about 3/4 of the way is good enough.

As you layer the colors in, DONT STIR IT OR TRY TO SPREAD IT!! The colors will start to "run" into each other, and youll end up with a mossy green or gray color cupcake. :x ick!

It's a little time consuming getting all the layers in, so make sure you have a while to make them. If you decide you're "over it" before you're done, play with it. I ended up with 8 or 9 actual "rainbow cupcakes" three pinks, 3 greens, 3 blues, 2 purple mixed with pinks, and 2 green mixed with blue. however you want to do it is fine, they ALL taste the same!

after you have your cups filled, bake them according to the box. This is what you end up with:

YAY! Tie -Dye Cupcakes!

Be sure to let them cool before you frost them (if you want frosting at all). And Enjoy! Bon Appetit!

Epic Failure = Massive Success!

2011-05-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

The title might not make too much sense yet, but it will in a second.

I decided I can't stick with the "Round-A-Day" for the nest 365 days...WAIT! Before you hate me listen up! I'm not quitting -- promise. I've just changed it a bit, to a "round-a-week" Posting a picture a day was impossible for me, especially with work the way its been lately. Coming home at 6:00, making dinner, shower, and embroidering a decent picture all in one day just wasn't working. I figure I can definitely post a picture every Sunday -- thats definitely doable. AND by spending a week to stitch up something cool, I can take my time on it, and make them better, i'll work harder. Also, I can get back to my other projects (fixing this website, making tutorials, sewing bags, etc) Its kind of a win-win for me.

With that said, Here are my last daily roundies. 05/09/11 - 05/14/11 From now on, one will be posted every Sunday.

Abstract Paisley

Hide and Seek Flower

Wee!

Tiki Tiki Tembo's Kite

Who I Am (Today is my birthday, and I just turned 24!!) 05/13/11

Springtime is here

Hi...again.

2011-05-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week for me, the past seven or eight days have been insane! Lot's going on at work, lot's going on at home. My boyfriend and I are planning a vacation to California at the end of the month, so its been a little hectic trying to prepare for everything. Drive? Fly? 4 days? 5? Who knows.

I also turned 24 on Friday! Birthdays are always fun, but it seems like I've been celebrating all week. Today I decided i'd get my rounds posted from two weeks ago, so I can finally start catching up on snapping my rounds from this last one. I'm hoping by Sunday, i'll be all caught up on my photos and my postings. I'm really trying to take good pictures, I think thats my problem. I keep saving all of my little "embroideries" for a fantastic picture, and i'm just not getting it...PLUS my good camera broke last week, so Ive been stuck with the cruddy one, ugh. Oh well, it'll have to do. Right?

I found the two missing pieces, here they are plus a couple others I made for two weeks ago.

Here's 05-01-11 17 of 365. This was my boyfriends birthday, so in his honor, I asked his opinion on what I should make. He LOVES basketball, so thats what he wanted. He wanted it to look like a kid drew it. I think it came out quite cute :)

05-01-11 17 of 365 "Babe Loves Basketball

"Cinco De Mayo" 05-05-11 21 of 365

"I LOVE Lucy!" 05-07-11 23 of 365

"Happy Mothers Day" 05-08-11 24 of 365

As stated earlier, i'll be posting the others by Sunday. :) Hope you all have a great week!

Create

2011-05-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

22 of 365 Whatever it is, Create It. ♥

Spool O Thread (Kinda)

2011-05-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

20 of 365 05-04-11 Spool O Thread (i'm not entirely sure what happened to the bottom there.

Broccoli Tree

2011-05-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

19 of 365 ME: It's a tree! Boyfriend: Looks like Broccoli. US: Its a Broccoli Tree!!

Albert Einstein

2011-05-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, uploading my roundies once a week is sooo much easier than once a day, the problem im facing now, is somehow, i'm missplacing them!! >.< I really have to be more organized, so after I find the two i'm missing (05-01-11 17 of 365 and 05-05-11 21 of 365), I'm promising myself i'm going to get a bag or folder or something and keep them there. I think its because I work on them all over the place, bathtub, room, kitchen, car, wherever. In the meantime, here the few I have :)

I just have to say, I LOVE This picture of Albert Einstein, its the BEST:

So, I decided to make a roundy interpretation of it. Enjoy! :)

E= MC2 18 of 365 05-02-11

Technological Romance

2011-05-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

16 of 365

Ohm

2011-05-02T20:26:00.001-07:00

15 of 365

Serotonin - Happiness Hormone

2011-04-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Serotonin - The Happy Hormone 14 of 365

Panda Love

2011-04-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

13 of 365

:) x 2

2011-04-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

12 of 365 "Clucky"

11 of 365 "Shine On"

insanity!

2011-04-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

I had NO idea my roudies weren't being posted, i'm so bummed!! I've been trying to do my uploading from my phone, which im sure is part of the problem. apperently all of my posts have been saving as "drafts" and haven't been posting. Since I haven't been on an actual computer, I didn't bother checking, until one of my friends asked today if I gave up on the Challenge. Well! I most certainly did NOT! Although I will admit, sometime after easter, I fell a bit behind, so i'll have to snap some quick pictures and upload as soon as possible for rounds 11 - 13. *embarrassed look*.

Any how, now that i'm finally sitting behind a desk at home instead of at work, I'll go ahead and post my previous rounds.

yay!

10 of 365 04-23-11 Happy Easter! <3

9 of 365 04/22/11 It's Earth Day!

8 of 365 04-21-11 Springtime Flowers

7 of 365 04/20/11 Stick Figure Love

A Girls Best Friend

2011-04-21T21:23:00.001-07:00

2011-04-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

5 of 365. The cuteness kills me, too bad the picture doesn't show all the color and detail. Got home a little late again today, so a bathroom picture will have to suffice. (Hey! It's the only bright room in the house after dark!)

I collect toys, childish I know, but i love it. I love all things adorable and random, much like my little octopus. Enjoy! <3

Phew

2011-04-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so yesterday I did my round, but by the time I was finished with it, it was too dark to take a decent picture, so I saved my picture taking for today!! I think i'm going to have to stitch my round, and upload the next day. Work is killing me!!

Here's the 4th round, 04/18/11 Enjoy!