New End Studio

This is Like a Little Cornucopia

2013-05-16T18:52:00.002-04:00

Lucy Through a Fish Eye Lens.

Hope everyone is having a great week, being productive, making memories, and easing into the warmer weather. It was 32 with a freeze warning for two days, the next day it was 85 and today is up there warm-wise, too. That's Spring in Ohio. This blog post is a little cornucopia of topics.

Well, I have been practicing a bit with the new camera, and my conclusion is, it must be me. The images are still blurry even with the stabilization setting on, and the macro is a little better, but not perfect.

The camera does have a touch screen option to take a photo, and that was the only way to get a picture of Lucy. She's not one to pose, not for two seconds, not for 1.5 seconds. The fish eye lens made some funny images, and poor Lucy is all nose in this one. At the bottom of the page, you can see her in normal focus. I mention that for karma's sake.

I had to separate the sandwich to cut it.

I found myself in IHop looking for a muffin or a piece of pie and a pot of tea, but they don't have anything like that (tea, yes.) The last time I was in an IHop it was a bad experience, so today I gave them another chance, and they passed.

Since I took the camera with me, I thought I'd snap a quick photo of my plate. The lighting is a little dim, I didn't use the flash, but there are some details showing up, like the moisture on the knife and the texture in the spinach.

This was artisan grilled sourdough bread (2 half, but large slices) with lots of tasty veggies cooked in scrambled egg with a variety of cheeses. A little dish of fresh fruit- nice, was my side instead of potatoes. Trying to limit my carbs, all in all a good meal for $4.99. No, this is not a paid post; LOL.

I want to give a reminder about the Inspired by Four series. Next Friday, May 24th, is the fourth Friday of the month and our second challenge with linkup. Have you chosen a word yet? I have and need to get the work finished. Anyone who wants to join, please do. Read the link above and you will be all set with info and links too.

Take good care my friends, have a great weekend. I will be continuing to declutter the basement and upstairs. The garage is half filled with things to donate or put in a yard sale. It will take me a few months to declutter the whole house with my pace, but it will be done!

Any Yard Salers among the readers? Tips? Spill!

Kicking it With Heat and Tang on a Cracker

2013-05-10T09:01:00.000-04:00

In trying to put together some quick, inexpensive, semi-low calorie and taste good meals I put this little idea together for shrimp and hummus on crackers. Crackers aren't usually low calorie due to the fat content (which makes them nice and crispy when fresh) but the shrimp and hummus have a way of balancing out the rest. They are more filling than just cheese and crackers, plus a benefit is that shrimp and some other seafood are an aid for relieving pain.

This isn't about that retro powdered drink, from the 1950's "Tang" this is about fire and tang in a meal, not bland. The hummus fires up the shrimp here...

Here's my meal of crackers with Fire Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, topped with pre-cooked medium size Shrimp and then sprinkled with some herbs and Sesame Seeds. I was surprised at how filling this was. I thawed out too many shrimp so some of the crackers have two, and the 12 ounce bag will last me a while.

I'm trying to experiment with foods I don't usually eat in an effort to let go of some if not most of the foods I turn to for a fast meal when I am in too much pain to cook. My freezer has mostly vegetables, but there are also mini meat loaves and meatballs, I cooked and froze, plus blueberries for yogurt and oatmeal (I hate to eat oatmeal but do because it's filling and healthy- steel cut oats) salmon, and chicken. There is the occasional sugar cone with nuts and ice cream, but I am going to give them up! Well, maybe not.

This hummus has a kick to it and the red pepper is probably good for getting Vitamin C and helping a slow metabolism. I guess you'd have to eat a lot of pepper for that, but every little bit helps. I'm not a pepper lover, at least not the very hot ones, yet this has just enough heat and tang to it.

Foods are like key ingredients in a pantry for better health. It's picking the right ones and leaving the bad ones on the shelf that is temptation. (I am more regularly leaving chocolate on the shelf and not in my cart.)
What foods do you leave on the shelf?

Refreshing the Creative Muse and New Jewelry

2013-05-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

When I was making this new jewelry as a set, it was meant to be a gift. Then I found out that her style is more to the funky style and chunky size and I thought that the necklace and earrings were not going to be a good fit for her taste and personality.

So, what should I do with these? Wear them or sell them? Keep them together or as separate items? My Storenvy has been in maintenance mode, I haven't had the passion for it as when the storefront was initially opened and during the first year or so. Storenvy was easy to setup and unless you want to customize your storefront and use your own domain, it's free to have a store. No fees! (There are Paypal fees, but at the moment, no Storenvy fees.)

Do you go through cycles with your store- working at it, improving it, etc. and then do you need a break? When your market and niche have been laser focused and you have a plan, what makes you keep to the plan? There are so many distractions and commitments in our daily routines, plus being the CEO of your business and being creative at the same time. Do you have a way to work all of them into a good blend? Other than time management, do you meditate, listen to music, take a walk, or something else to refresh the creative muse?

My desk and shelves are loaded with supplies and after not being able to do anything because of the eye problems, there was a groove I was pulled out of and want to get back to. It was comfortable and messy, with too many ideas and not enough time to complete more than a handful of them. On the blog, I seriously need to have clearer, crisper images, and will be working on that with the new camera- soon.

So, what about it? Are you in a groove with your creative work and business, running smoothly along and taking a break to feel refreshed? What's your inspiration?

Diaper a Banana? Baby Your Bananas to Make Them Stay Fresh Longer

2013-05-06T08:57:00.000-04:00

Sounds crazy right? Diaper a banana? Here's the thing, when I buy bananas I look for the greenest, least ripe ones on display, but buy yellow ones if that's all the store has on offer. What happens when the bananas sit in the kitchen? They get ripe and must be eaten within at the most three days. After three days I have to make Banana Cake/Bread. I know, not a hardship to make and eat cake, LOL. However, it's eating one or two bananas each day that is the problem.

Why did I diaper my banana stem? I was standing at the counter waiting for the kettle to boil. The ugly end of the bunch of bananas is, well, it's ugly and gnarly, all ripped and darkening and it's in my line of sight. At that moment of not wanting to see the ugly end and having turned the bunch around more than once to hide the stem end, bruises get more pronounced and numerous from all the shifting of the bunch in the bowl, I ripped a small piece of paper towel off the roll and wrapped it around the ugly end- essentially, diapering the banana end. And then I laughed at the sight of it, but left the paper wrapped around the stem. Weird, right?

You know what happened next? Over the next few days the bananas continued to ripen and then all of a sudden, they stopped. They didn't get soft, they didn't get black, there are very few spots and this is good. Not having to eat the bananas in two days is good. Not having to make cake is good (sometimes.) The bananas were yellow when I bought them and here is a photo of the banana that is on Day Ten after coming home.

Since I had this accidental discovery I searched the web and found where people have been wrapping the ugly stem end with foil, newspaper, or plastic wrap in an effort to slow down the ripening. The results are varied. Some suggestions were to wrap the whole banana and to separate the bunch. That sounds like a lot of work. A popular suggestion is to refrigerate the bananas. The peel will turn black, but are supposed to be fine to eat.

I think I'll stick with my little paper towel diaper or maybe go crafty with a decked out cardboard tube from empty rolls of paper. Hold the talcum powder and rash creme.

Inspired by Four Letter Words Fourth Friday

2013-04-25T22:06:00.001-04:00

Did April go by in a blink of an eye or what? Here we are at the fourth Friday and it's the first link and show your Inspired by Four Letter Words work. The only four letter words we are using are ones that you can say on tv and not get bleeped. Cool, calm, done, many, moon, able, book, vase, and so on... There is more info in this post.

Link your blog post to the list below. Pin your work to the Group Board on Pinterest, please leave a comment on the Group Board HERE for an invitation to the Board. Pinterest will send you the email/invite, accept it and you are added to the board.

Closeups

My work was inspired by decluttering and coming across an old "Clue" game. That was the start of an idea for a collage using items from the Clue game. The word that inspired me, was "mask." I had a 100 plus years old book that is too fragile to use in most ways, and one of the stories in the book is called, "The Mask." From there, I incorporated a made up fairy tale, wing(s), tree, lady, road (map), moon, flag, and you get the idea. I used several four letter words.

The Mask

The photos are a little blurry and the scanner was not cooperating either. In a week or so I should have a new camera and hopefully the photos will be improving. You can click on the images to enlarge them.

Magazine clippings, acrylic paint, watercolors, pens, wrapping paper, transfers, book pages, maps, cardstock, game pages, and acetate were mounted on cardboard. Size is 8 x 11 inches.

Mark your calendars for next month's link, May 24, the fourth Friday. Choose your own Four Letter Word and start making, writing, sewing, photographing, beading, etc. Any way you choose to express the inspiration... Hope to see you then.

Now let's see what you made and Thank You for joining this slightly different challenge.

Pillow Fight! Send Me a Feather and a Four Update

2013-04-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Source
I used a free photo from the Morgue File and edited with text, etc.

Coming in midway through the story...

The one time I thought I would not get an answer, the strange thing is, I asked for a feather, a single solitary feather, don't ask me why I chose a feather, I just said what popped into my mind.

When I got to my destination, the whole front lawn was covered in feathers. It was as if there had been a huge pillow fight on the lawn or the skies opened up and feathers rained down, or there had been a wild duck party and brawl- I don't know how the feathers got there.

What I do know is that I was stunned to see hundreds perhaps thousands of feathers where there should have been none. People looked at them, but no one said a word, as if they didn't acknowledge it, it wouldn't be real.

Did I take that this as my answer? I did not. If people can talk themselves out of believing, they will and they do. So I did. There was no way that little ole me would get masses of feathers as a sign when I only wanted one, one in an unexpected place, one where no one else but me would see it and know that it was put there just for me.

What did these hundreds of feathers mean? Was it a joke? "Hey, you asked for a sign- is this good enough for you?" These many feathers left me walking on air, maybe these really were sent as an answer. Maybe it does matter what I think, say, and do on a daily basis. Maybe He heard me. But, no, this was too much. I couldn't be that one girl who gets the answer she is seeking.

You ask for something, but do you really want it? What's the risk? What's the harm?

Which brings me back to what popped into my mind. Maybe it was one of those premonitions where the phone rings and you know who is calling, or you decide not to go somewhere and you later find out that there was a car accident or something like that in the place where you would have been. Maybe my nose was tickled two miles away by the masses of feathers and so I asked for one because it would have been outnumbered and that would give me a reason to disbelieve. I don't know.

That is what happened. I took the road of uncertainty and disbelief, leaving the feathers on the ground and the dream unfulfilled.

What do you think, Fact or Fiction?

Making More With Four

Just a Reminder/Update to our Four participants, or if you haven't read More Making Do With Four and would like to know what it's about, take a quick read and then on Friday, April 26, (next Friday) come and link up to show us what you made. Looking forward to all the variety!

I set up a Group Board on Pinterest for us to pin the items we have made. To pin, leave a comment on the board so I can send you the invite. Here is the Group Board Link.

The Victory Goes to Currants and a Scone Recipe

2013-04-15T08:56:00.000-04:00

Quick and Easy Currant Scones

I was in the mood to make Hot Cross Buns for Eastertime, but once I remembered the buns needed yeast as they are a dough concoction, I set about making scones instead.

You know about liking certain foods and not eating others, well for me that food I don't want to touch are the innocent Raisins. I know, they are really grapes, and so are Currants, but for me, Currants are the only way to go. So, if you want to make a substitute in this recipe for raisins either Golden or regular, go for it. Any diced, dried fruit would work.

Quick and Easy Currant Scones
Makes about a dozen as pictured.

Ingredients:

2 cups Regular Flour
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
3 tsp Sugar
Pinch of Salt
3/4 cup Milk
Little milk to brush on top of scones before baking
Currants, About 1 cup or less, depending on your desire

To rehydrate your Currants and make them moist and the scones even better, Put your currants in a teacup or small bowl, cover with hot water and allow to soak for at least 20 minutes. Drain off the water completely before adding the currants to the mixture. Rehydrating them makes a big difference, you can do this for raisins the exact same way.

Stir Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Sugar, and Salt (all the Dry Ingredients) together until everything is well blended.
Add currants. Stir to coat currants with a knife. A regular table knife, not a spoon, it makes a difference as the spoon keeps collecting the dough and the knife will be easier to wipe the mixture back into the bowl.

Add Milk, stir after each 1/4 cup. Let rest for a few minutes. Now Preheat the oven to 400F.

Roll out mixture onto a floured surface with a rolling pin or use a clean pipe or a floured glass.
If you need to regroup the mixture and reroll to get more out of your work, just add flour to surface as necessary so mixture doesn't stick.
Cut out your scone shapes with a biscuit or cookie cutter or a glass or mug or just use a knife.
Let rest for a few minutes.

Place in greased pan with sides of scones touching. Brush tops of scones with milk to get a browner, finished look.

Bake for 11-14 minutes. Put them on a rack to cool. Can be served warm or cold. Slice in half and spread on the butter and jam. These scones go well with tea. Enjoy!

This Time Tomorrow

2013-04-10T08:58:00.000-04:00

Countdown- feeling lost 10; eating a boatload of Cadbury Mini Eggs 9; picking up the Basil and liberally pouring it into the pot when it was supposed to be Parsley 8; thinking about shutting down 7; letting someone's evil backstabbing get to me for a bit 6; the computer not working for a few days even after forking over a chunk of money to fix it 5; eye problems 4; avoiding the scale 3; finding a new tumor on Lucy 2; deciding this is all water under the bridge 1. My week in review.

Now, instead of sloshing about in self pity I want to share some posts with you that have just recently turned up in my Dashboard Reading List.

There was a blog I haven't seen updated for months and all of a sudden 45 posts appeared in one day. Other blogs aren't updating at all. A few blogs I never heard of and didn't follow have been appearing. Believe me, I don't want to read about fish species and where to catch them. It may be that I will have to check out the readers that others are switching to once Google Reader disappears- and I don't use that now.

So, this time tomorrow, I will be happy to read about other's good fortune, the presents received, the babies yet to be born, the new adventures and the skills learned. Sometimes when circumstances implode it makes almost everything around look bleak, even when it's not. A break, a step back, breathing, separating from the source of conflict and soon enough I'm ready to jump back in. Not always immediately, sometimes longer than is good, but eventually, as there must be some DNA in me that likes the challenge.

Are you naturally self confident or do you have moments where you waver?

Corn Fritter Confession Plus a Quick and Easy Corn Fritter Recipe

2013-04-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

Looking back, I could not tell you how many times corn fritters were part of the meal on a cold winter day. Mom often made these as a side dish to her stews. She was an adventurish cook. Mom was Welsh, but we ate the cuisine of Italy, Poland, Ireland, France, Russia, Spain, and so on. So, where she got the idea to make a Southern favorite, Corn Fritters or Corn Pancakes, I couldn't say. I'm just glad she did.

After eating them at the stove, I had two more on a plate!

I recently took the plunge and cooked some corn fritters. Why, oh why, did I wait so long to make them? Not sure what you do, but I don't taste test when I cook. I don't sample, either. But, I made an exception for the fritters.

Here's my confession: Yep, I ate three as soon as they were not scalding hot. Right there at the stove, I stood and ate. That's not perfectly round- Eat. This edge is skewed- Eat. That little one- Eat. Mind the drool as I type this. You know what? I'm not ashamed to admit that I ate them hot off the pan!!! Overindulgence once in a while is a treat. ♥

Quick and Easy Corn Fritter Recipe *See Notes

1 can of Creamed Corn
1/2 to 1 cup of Flour
1/2 to 1 Tsp of Baking Powder (Skip BP if you want a very flat fritter.)
1 Egg

Heat a pan on the stove with some oil, less than 1/4 cup unless you are comfortable with more oil.
Beat the egg in a bowl.
Put Flour and Baking Powder in a medium size bowl.
Add the entire can of Creamed Corn, liquid included, into the flour mixture.
Add the beaten egg to the mixture.
Blend until all combined, no need to beat.

Batter should be like a thick pancake, but not dry, heavy, or stiff. If you need some moisture, add milk.

Test the oil first to see it is hot enough by dropping a little batter from the edge of your spoon into the oil, it's ready if the batter starts sizzling right away.
Drop by spoonful, whatever size you are comfortable with, into the Hot Oil.
Let fritter cook for about 3-4 minutes until Golden Brown, then carefully turn to other side (flip) to cook.

Remove cooked fritter to a plate, line it with paper towel if you want to absorb some of the oil, otherwise, eat and enjoy! Pour on maple syrup or honey or use a sweetened butter. I use just a little plain butter, and even without butter, they are delish. ♥

For a fancier or more complete meal, add to batter:

Shrimp or Ham (cooked and finely chopped)
Onions or Scallions (diced or chopped)

*Notes: I am hesitant to specify exact amounts of Flour and Baking Powder as this will correspond to the size of the can of Creamed Corn. For the small can, about 6 ounces, start with 1/2 cup Flour and 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder. For the average size can, about 12 ounces, start with 3/4 cup and 3/4 Tsp. You get the idea. Over the past few years all sorts of food products in the USA have been downsized (but upped the prices), so originally this was a can of 16 ounces, but shrinking as we breathe.

Now that Winter is finally being warmed up by Spring, what Winter food or beverage are you going to shelve until it's all chilly and snowy again? Hwyl fawr Hot Chocolate. Hwyl fawr = Welsh for Goodbye.

More Making Do With Four and an Idea

2013-04-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

What kind of April Fool pranks have you gotten away with? When I was young I put a layer of salt over the sugar in the sugar bowl. My poor Dad got a cup of coffee that morning that was a nasty tasting surprise.

That was the first and last time I ever did something like that. Although I helped my sister put banana peels inside his shoes that morning, too. Oh, the things you do when you think you have license to get away.

They weren't very nice jokes, but no one was injured and I did feel bad about what my sister and I had done. He needed to change his socks and my lessons in thrift and wastefulness were reinforced! I do forget the punishment and by the next day it was all quiet on the homefront.

So, I had an idea about using four letter words, not the naughty ones, not the vulgar or offensive ones, (not judging or bleeping) but ordinary words that are four singular letters with a certain affect in our lives. Ordinary, weird, powerful, alluring, cringeworthy; leaving out the other 22 letters leaves but four to make their point.

Today's word is, "More," and that April Fool's Day long ago showed me that one joke was plenty and two were too much, it was more than enough. Do we ever have enough? Are we looking for more? More money, more love, more freedom, more food, more friends, more time? More can be very good- more clean water, more medical care for people in need, more blue skies on the weekends, more hugs, more flowers, more gas mileage, and on...

Take the Image as a Reminder

Will you join me in a four letter words inspired post? Show your creation, it can be art, jewelry, needlework, poetry, photo, anything you'd like that ties in to the theme. If you have a story or recollection, share that if you like. We could connect these posts with a linky list if there's interest.

Here are some four letter words to get started:

pray drum glow aura fade toss mend liar rise gild tool

blot free tint tail draw wink clue fire pipe soul boat rush hand

ride tear cart slip belt work girl wall bury band tire line duck scar

Select one of these or one of your own, such as an animal, or object, or other word that provokes a mood or has special meaning to you, just choose a four letter word.

TOO MANY WORDS? Choose one of these: ATOM DAWN RUSH TIME POUR NAIL

How does April 26th sound? We could post our Four Letter Words on the 4th Friday of each month. For me, I feel that once a month is manageable. Any takers? Hope you will give it a try and have fun with this idea to get minimal with four letters and make a visionary statement, a point of view, an artistic idea...

Some more words to choose from:

keep hold lull iron give step gang mess knot coil loss time love room

mean lack full sink pain zest move nest glee ease dear hurt nice gall

sore hard well take cold warm cure high airy link dump long baby sing

face grin weed sigh game doll play dice arch shoe salt joke cafe word

life flat wild good deck bird hope ruin show wish dude safe fish ogle

fool tank bead wise file ring type nose star hero sign halo note lion barn

odor herd hobo hair last snob meek vain tiny pomp club term will open mate

shut fair evil idol cage self done oven rage coin pure cast name tone safe

His Best Gift

2013-03-31T01:00:00.000-04:00

We repurpose and transform products and pieces of products. We recycle, rip apart, and rebuild to make something better, more beautiful and useful.

Sometimes a gift is not to our liking and it sits there unused, or you donate, toss away, or regift.

Today you get His Best Gift!
May the promise of Easter fill your heart
with peace and joy!

HAPPY EASTER!

Easter Greetings From the Peeps and Me

2013-03-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hope Your Easter is Happity, Hoppity, Warm, and Chocolatey.

God Bless Each and Every One of You.

Happy Easter from Gloria. ♥

Make a Burlap Egg Cup and a Felt Egg Cozy

2013-03-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

Ways to Dress Up Your Eggs or Keep Them Warm

I have for you today a quick and easy Easter inspired craft using bits 'n pieces of ribbons and trims from my, "all mixed up scrap fabric drawer." No matter how many times I have organized it, the drawer always produces a Treasure Hunt. I think I like that sense of discovery! This also requires an empty T.P. roll or other cardboard roll, such as Waxed Paper, Foil, etc. You can get several cups from the longer roll, and a few cups from a T.P. roll.

If you were with me a few months ago, I wrote about my adventure in sewing a Rosary Case. Well, it was time to climb that mountain again, the sewing machine mountain. I successfully scaled it! Of course, the thread came out of the needle a few times and I didn't have to change the bobbin on this project, so I may have just escaped the usual mountaineering accidents. On to the project...

Click to Enlarge.

The image is pretty self explanatory, don't you love that expression, it's kind of irritating, but anyway-

Cut an empty toilet paper roll in half or thirds. Eyeball the burlap by wrapping it around the paper roll and cut to fit. Use glue to attach burlap to roll. Cut out your trims and glue them on; allow to dry and then you have a nifty Easter Egg Cup.

The felt egg cozy uses two pieces of felt, cut the same size, approximately a three inch wide semi-circle. This will fit a large or xl egg. Go to two inches wide for a small or medium egg. I sewed along the outside, so there are no turned seams. Hand sewing is also a good option.Glue or sew on ribbons and trim.

Now I'm inspired to find my egg cups and buy some new ones, maybe a thrift store discovery, too. Soft boiled eggs in a cup, how nice on a cold morning.

If you eat eggs, what's your favorite way to cook and eat them? If you don't eat eggs what's your favorite breakfast?

She Sells Seashells at the Seashore, Painting Over a Memory

2013-03-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

To heck with the natural look, I put a couple of coats of metallic paint on these seashells. Use a stiff brush to get into the grain and swirls. Look at the textures of your seashells, if you have any. They are fascinating up close. Forget that seashells are the houses lived in by the creatures, you may have eaten them! LOL

My usual practice is leaving things looking natural, but these are very old shells from my childhood days on the Jersey Shore. They aren't in perfect condition and there was some discoloration. I decided I may use them as props in photos or display with my collection of Sand Castles and other seashells. Two coats of paint just about made them look like something in a fancy schmancy store jewelry case.

The paint didn't make my wistfulness for walking on the beach and running in the waves disappear. One day I hope to leave footprints on a beach, okay, maybe not footprints in these polluted times, but sandal prints. I could live dangerously and roll the slacks up to my knees and kick about in the water in the cold autumn winds. If it's warmer, picture me in a sundress, that's my style, too.

There's also a canvas in progress on the desk. At this point there are 3 or 4 layers and I hope it will have the finished look I am imagining when it is all done. All you can see in the image is the wet glue and a star peeking through. There are more layers, glazes, and embellishments to apply before it is ready to be mailed.

What's your attachment to childhood collections? Rocks, shells, toys, books, ...?

Your Blank Canvas One Dish Meal for Lent or Anytime

2013-03-23T11:00:00.000-04:00

Deep in the heart of winter I made this one dish meal a few times using slightly different ingredients. It's so easy to make and you just season it according to what your tastebuds prefer. Just because it's almost Spring and Lent is almost over, doesn't mean this is too heavy to eat, not yet anyway.

It's a little more browned than I like, but still tasted very good.

Ingredients

Half a bag of Frozen Shredded Potatoes (from a bag about 22 ounces or a bit larger bag)

Thawed Peas and Carrots, about a cup or however many you like

1 or 2 tins of your preferred Tuna or Salmon, Drained

Shredded Cheese, your favorite, about 4-6 ounces, or a full 8 ounce bag if you like more.

Seasonings I Used

Horseradish

Minced Garlic

Onion Powder

Your Choice of Liquid Enough to Mix all Ingredients together, but NOT make it soupy.

Cream or Half and Half or Milk (I used Lactose Free Milk)

You'll need about 8 ounces, depending on if you use all the ingredients listed.

Add more milk if mixture is too stiff.

Optional

Bread Crumbs

Paprika

All mixed and ready for the oven.

Preheat Oven to 400F

Take out your Casserole Dish and set it aside.

Either mix all the ingredients in the Casserole Dish or in a bowl and pour into the Casserole.

Top with breadcrumbs and Paprika.

Bake for about an hour until you see it bubbling throughout. Check the center of the meal with a knife, if it's hot, then you're good to go, otherwise cook longer. I found making it with all these ingredients, it took close to an hour and a half.

Some people might like to leave out the Tuna and Veg, this will make it cook quicker. You could add diced ham or cooked and crumbled sausage, whatever strikes your fancy. This is like a blank canvas, you have the basics, just add your own touches.

Are you hungry yet? What's your favorite comfort food?

If the Calendar Says Spring

2013-03-22T01:55:00.001-04:00

If the calendar says it is Spring, it must be springlike weather somewhere. As I write this, it's 18F and it has snowed through blustery winds, both big flakes and little ones off and on for the past few days. The flakes drifted down, covered car windows, and then disappeared in a mysterious way. It's too cold to melt, so where does snow go when you aren't watching?

There is hope for Spring returning as there are signs of it in the neighborhood. Birds have come back and are serenading me from about 4:30am until mid-day and then they take a break, where they fly to, I don't know. Maybe they are having a snooze or collecting food and building up the old nests.

Sitting down with tea and something to read, I settle in to hear the birds start gossiping once again. Their music is beautiful.

Except for one bird who faithfully scratches his bony toes over a chalkboard and screeches, that's what he sounds like. He does this every day at 2pm. Every day. He continues for an hour or so, you can't tune him out. So annoying. Wish I could get him to a bird relocator and place him in a different neighborhood this year.

The Aceo Challenge Blog requested theme this month is Think Spring, so here is my card. Everyone is welcome to participate, you have until March 31 to submit your aceo.

Mixed Media Wall Cabinet for Altered Oz 2013

2013-03-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

Now that it is finished, here is the reveal of the wall cupboard, or is it cabinet? This is my mixed media and anything that was lying around was fair game that could be glued or painted and affixed to the interior "cabinet."

First is a closeup of two of the three shelves I made over for Celebrate Oz, the Altered Oz blog hop.

I pinky promise that all the photos were resized, tidied up, exposures fixed, etc., etc., and yet the photos are not as good as they can be. It's one of those unexplainables. If you see holes, that's the open holes for the screws to hang this cabinet on the wall. I didn't have time to hang it up before taking the photos. You can enlarge the images by clicking on them.

Linda Oma's of Olde Baggs 'n Stuft Shirts is the Ringleader for this fun event. Last year I participated and if you want to see the art and jewelry I made for that, just read this post. This year the theme for Celebrate Oz is, "Altered Oz." You can interpret that any way you like, so I went just a teensy bit to the dark side, not too much, no scary parts, at least I don't think it's scary- odd, maybe, scary, nyet. This altered art is making me Russian, what????

Anyway, here is a closeup of the bottom shelf:

I decided I will put some of Lucy's paraphernalia in the cabinet, so there are just a few doggie type bits, although you could consider these a nod to Toto.

Magazine and newspaper clippings, ribbons, scrapbook embellishments, beads, curtain rings, rubber rings, fuzzy balls, and more are all inside the cupboard.

For the door I used several layers of paint, glitter glue, ribbons, paint pen, and laundry marker. I took last year's clip art and painting and made a color copy and then just accented those.

Wall cupboard in Mixed Media for the Altered Oz event,
March 2013.

I was going to embellish the shelf edges and the back of the door, but I soon discovered that the door wouldn't close if there was anything with any thickness on it/them. It will stay like this until I figure out what to fill in the open spaces on the door.

The cabinet was originally a stock oak type cabinet which I painted three times and sanded in between each coat of paint. The door has a mirror on the outside which I left intact. When it's hung on the wall, no one will no what evil/weirdness/altered universe lurks inside.

There are about 30 plus bloggers participating in the Altered Oz event. I'm going to enjoy clicking through that list and visiting the others.

I've tried to end this post with a question for you as I usually do, but this is stumping me tonight as I write this on the eve of Celebrate Oz. I'll say instead, "Take care and watch out for yourselves as you walk forward on life's YELLOW BRICK ROAD!"

Four Words From My Sponsor

2013-03-12T23:49:00.001-04:00

Do you get this message sometimes? "Live first, Blog later." Maybe it is all the busyness catching up with you or appointments to keep. Household chores, errands, cleaning, cooking, ... All the normal things usually taking up your time, before you ever get to put brush in hand, or needle in thread, or beads on a wire... and then to blog about it.

I manage to have a nearly tech-free Sunday each week. Well, I try to anyway. For me, it is necessary to give my eyes a rest and my brain a chance to focus on other things than whatever is on the computer screen.

I try refreshing my soul and nourishing my heart towards the bigger picture. I am not always successful. If I turn the tv on and see chaos, corruption, and brutality- well, there goes any refreshment I was seeking.

Putting on music, or just listening to the birds sing, to get that quiet feeling, for me the house needs to be almost silent, that is nearly impossible to secure. Why did it used to be so easy to tune-out the static and buzz, even just a few years ago. The older I get, the quicker time passes, the more fragile life's balance has become front and center. There is no escaping, it was always like that, but becoming aware is a blessing, I suppose.

What about you? Do you tune out the chatter and buzz on any given day? Does it help you to focus or feel renewed and energized?

When You Get a Bouquet, Say Yes

2013-03-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

~~Take a look at the left sidebar. Not the top, keep going?~~ (ETA: Skip this part, the image was removed, but you can still see it down in the post.) Do you see it? Say, "Yes, I see it." Got it? I know you do. Flowers, gorgeous inventions. We wouldn't have so many perfumes without flowers.

Every so often I buy myself a bouquet of flowers. Sometimes they are big and bright, other times they are soft and muted. When I'm in the store, even if I don't buy, I always take a glance at the assortment. Sometimes I walk right up to the flower display and smile. I just can't help it. Bouquets of flowers are awesome, especially in the long midwest winter.

The last bouquet was all miniature carnations. I'd never seen those before, they just made me take them home. They were so perky and petite and practically jumped into the cart. These minis conjured up images of tea parties and teddy bears with dolls and my grass, leaf, and twig salads. Even as a young girl I knew one day I'd be eating the green stuff!

They are darn hardy flowers, too. I had them for almost three weeks, I really enjoyed them. They brightened each day for me. As the life for the bunch was ending I wanted to do something other than drying them out to remind me of their gift to me. Not a gift as in, I bought them, but a gift of their scent, colors, liveliness, and company. Divinity and Nature from the Original Creator.

There you have it. Take the petals off the flower head and save all the best parts of the stem and buds. Once you start pulling or cutting off the petals you'll see other parts of the flower that weren't visible before. Such as little green softnesses, yes I made that word up, and thin stringy moist shapes- all those things that go into making a flower so special and amazing and it didn't even need any help from us to be so beautiful.

I put the petals in a large bowl and the stems in a separate container as it made it easier to sort and select. Put some background down, I used colored cardstock. Arrange your letters using the petals and the other flower parts as you like. Keep wagging tails out of the area or your petals will go flying off the paper! (Lucy likes to be in on the action.)

March 10 is the three year anniversary for the blog. I said yes to this endeavor, and hope to continue as long as I am able and the technology exists. It (technology) changes so fast, doesn't it?

I want to say that you are my Vitamin G: girlfriends, blogfriends, readers, commenters, a bouquet of varied and colorful souls; and I appreciate each and every one!
Thank you for your energy, jokes, gifts, and sharing this space with me.
You make this blog smell better!

When you have the choice, if at all possible,

Gloria

♥

Question: What's your favorite once in a while treat you give yourself?

Quick Pinterest Tip for Blogger and Blogspot Blogs

2013-03-08T05:23:00.001-05:00

My Pinterest Boards

See the Pin it button in the footer of this
post, it's on the right side?

Why would you want a Pin it button on each blog post?

It can make it easier to quickly pin directly from the blog post, rather than using the Pinmarklet (bookmarking) in your toolbar or searching for the blog's Pin it button on the sidebars.

Individual Pin it buttons may help by giving correct credit and authorship with direct linking to the blog post.

Boost your marketing efforts and the blogs of other designers. This would be helpful for Team Members sending readers directly to the source of the product, whether it's jewelry, art, food, or something else. You can go directly to the blog or you can still use the other way and link from the shop, whichever is preferred. As a buyer, I like a mix- both blog and shop.

If it's easier to Pin, it may also bring in more pins from outside Pinterest. Do you keep seeing many of the same items pinned over and over again? It can become less interesting and monotonous with all of that repetition.

Not every post is Pin Worthy, but when it is, then having the button makes it a snap to save to your boards and share. I'd like to see the Pin it button on more Blogger posts in the blogosphere. What about you?

Tip:
Julie Ann Art wrote an easy tutorial for the New Blogger Interface (she also has written one for the retired Blogger dashboard) and provided the code to insert the Pin It button. (I found her tutorial after clicking through Casey's Pinterest linky.)

Clicking on the little button at the bottom of the post brings up every image on the blog page. Just select the image as you usually do.

I tried the button on the right side, then on the left side, I tried it in the Post Template as one of her commenters did, and I settled on what you see. I may change the color, but I think it looks snazzy as-is.

I told you this was going to be a quick tip. Bookmark if you don't have time to read the tutorial right now.

Now I'm going to be bold and ask you to follow my Pinterest boards and the Blog if you like. Thanks and hope this tip has helped you.

Sneak Peek for Celebrate Oz, Who IS Behind the Mirror?

2013-03-06T04:00:00.000-05:00

Take an ordinary wall cupboard, paint it, sand it, repeat two more times. At the last moment before you stencil and paint some more, have a brainstorm while laying in bed late at night, so that you can't get up and make noise while working on said brainstorm.

This cupboard has been travelling with me since at least two house moves before where I now live. I think it used to be in a powder room, but I can not say for sure, it may have been elsewhere. I decided to do something with it.

Altered Oz is the theme of Celebrate Oz, the blog hop where we will be revealing our projects on March 15. See the button on the right side bar? It's not too late to join us.

Last year for Celebrate Oz I had nine projects including earrings, necklace with pendant, an aceo (pocket art), two paintings, and three painted clip arts on paper. Check out that post HERE.

By the way, that brainstorm? I didn't use it, I'm on a totally different tangent. Must follow the Yellow Brick Road wherever it leads me. At least until the scary apple trees start throwing their fruit. That part of the original Wizard of Oz used to scare me (along with the flying monkeys), but I could see that the trees were rooted and they couldn't follow Dorothy and friends plus Toto, so they were not SO scary after all.

Did anything scare you in the Wizard of Oz?

Cookies! Leave it to beaver...

2013-03-04T08:20:00.002-05:00

Over the Christmas holiday I tried making the Rolo Cookie recipe that apparently, most people knew about, but I only discovered back in December. I kept stumbling across blog post after blog post, from college age people, to young moms, and so on and they were all making the Rolo cookies and had been making them for years. Well, okay, I am definitely not a member of the Cookie Clique. If you are, skip this post and come back on the 10th, next Sunday at 10 am EST. Or before, too.

A few ingredients for this
chocolately good cookie.

For the rest of us newbies, here is the recipe, but my disclaimer is I didn't follow it- No Surprise.

ROLO COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 Box of Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 Eggs
1/3 cup of oil, usually Canola Oil
Rolos unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet or use a non-stick sheet.

Put cake mix, eggs, and oil in a bowl and mix until well blended. It will be a dough consistency, not batter.

Take a piece of dough, flatten it then put a Rolo in the
center and close up the dough around the Rolo.

Place about 2 inches apart and Bake 8-10 minutes.

This is supposed to make 4 dozen. It made 14, that's almost 3 dozen less than promised. The dough was way too thick. I even added water to try and thin it out. Afterwards, I checked various sites and they all had the same list of ingredients without water or other thinning liquids. You can see the result on a cooling rack in this post about the Cranberry Sugar Cookies.

In the image you see the two toned candies. I used mint chocolate candies in some and Rolos in others. You must chop up the harder chocolates as they will not melt! Delicious, but you need beaver teeth to gnaw away at a hunk of chocolate like that. Funny and true!

Analysis: I wouldn't make these again unless there was a way to make more than 15. Maybe I'll try again and add more water to the mix. I would definitely try a different candy, maybe some kind of softer mint, as I like the chocolate mint cookie rather than the chocolate caramel cookie.

Did you ever make these? What was your result? Do you see a liquid ingredient missing or not?

It Made the Mail Clerk Chuckle

2013-02-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

With trepidation I waited in line at the post office, well I was the only one in line, so there was no line, only me; which means I had nowhere to hide. When I reached the counter I just boldly placed the bottle on the scale and said, "I want to mail this." Only, I put a little questioning inflection on the "this?"

The clerk who looked to be frustrated and frazzled burst out with a chuckle. Whew, I knew then that the bottle was going to pass her inspection. She said that people mail baby bottles so this was no problem. She actually said that "she mails baby bottles." I took that to mean that the bottle was okay to go through the postal system. We had a laugh and I thanked her.

Jenn sent this cute calendar to me.
Click to ENLARGE.

My Happy Mail Swap partner was Jenn from, Finding My Sunshine in Life. She has a beautiful view outside her door; and her landscape and farm life photos are very inspiring. One of my favorite photos on her blog is mama cow and baby cow and another of horses. Jenn is a dog adopter and has a cute group of furpals.

Paula brought the swappers together at her blog Sincerely, Paula.

All the bits and bobs that went inside the bottle.
Click to ENLARGE.

This was a fun little thing to do. Sorry for the blurry photos, it was one of those uveitis moments. If you enlarge the photo it's a bit easier to see.

I noticed Jenn said she scrapbooked, so I went through my rolling carts, ribbon drawer, and all the other places you might find your crafting supplies, plus punched out some shapes and loaded the bottle.

Thank You, Paula for setting up the swap and Thank You, Jenn for the cute calendar!

What's the oddest thing you ever mailed?

Look What Arrived, the Sneak Peek Revealed

2013-02-21T11:56:00.001-05:00

The special painting has arrived!

Click to ENLARGE.

Stacy has a generous spirit, and unknown to her blog readers, she was running a Secret Giveaway which I wrote about in this post.

We emailed back and forth, she showed me the progression, a list of preferences for me to provide, a tiny change, and voila, Stacy completed the painting and here it is:

If you're familiar with Stacy's blog, "Magic Love Crow," then you recognize her distinctive style and theme, painting crows, often baby crows.

Why am I happy? It's probably needless to say, but I will, "She captured my pups, the ocean, and the mood." I asked her to put one of her famous baby crows in the scene.

The painting is a treasure not only because it was custom made, not only because it shows some important things in my life, not only because it came out of the blue and was a special secret giveaway- but because of all of these reasons.

Thank You So Much, Stacy!

Visit Stacy's Etsy: Original Crow Art With A Touch of Sparkles
Visit Stacy's Blog: Magic Love Crow

From Play to Play on Valentines Day

2013-02-14T09:19:00.001-05:00

Hope you are all having a warm and wonderful Valentine Day. Snow melting, marshmallows roasting, wine glasses clinking, and lots of love to go around, enough for everyone. Don't you wish?

I saw this heart after the tree was pruned.

There's been a little updating on the blog front today. I have been wanting to get rid of the gray in the Tabs and the Footer. I have tried everything I could think of and still haven't gotten rid of the gray Footer. Oh, well.

The Tabs have new titles, deleted some. I moved the sidebars, added an Advertising page and a She Speaks page which is really the "About" page. I was aiming for humor on some of this. What do you think? Funny or Not?

I couldn't resist renaming, "Home" to a twist on the old movie with Shirley Booth and Burt Lancaster, mine is, "Little Sheba Come Home." I felt so bad for her character and Lancaster's character, too.

"Come Back, Little Sheba." Have you seen it? Here's the trailer for the 1952 movie based on a William Inge play. Sheba is the old family dog who has died.

Shirley Booth won the Academy Award and
Burt Lancaster was also fabulous in his role.
I wished more old movies were shown on tv.

Well, this movie is definitely not funny, but it is a slice of life. The trailer doesn't seem to show the seriousness that you would get from the entire movie. There is a video of the complete movie on YouTube if you want to watch it, it's about 90 minutes. You will probably need tissues.

Gloria
2/14/13 ♥