It was MY BIRTHDAY! Friday, October 30, 2015

What a Great Day...

It should always be fun to CELEBRATE!

I wanted to share the AMAZING Gifts I got from my friends on My Birthday!

These are gifts from people that I have never met!  HOW awesome is THAT!!

These people have become friends because of common interests, and YES, it is probably easier to be friends with people you have NEVER met...ROFL...

This was my birthday present to ME.. Made by the absolutely talented Wendy Young of Olde Moonlane Primitives

Christine is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met!  She is talented, funny, giving, supportive...I wonder if the wool on that sheep is real...it felt AMAZING!

This is so special.  Lisa lives close to where they have a SECONDS FIESTA WARE sale and I LOVE this stuff!  I had told her that I think of her most every time I turn mine over to wash it...She bought these and painted them for me...She didn't know I would get them on my birthday...SOOOOOO special...and the sweetest note was enclosed.

Lisa sent me this gift as a JUST BECAUSE gift, but funny that it got here on my birthday...Aren't these two pins great and THAT snowman ornament is Fabulous!!

Wendy's Aunt made these for me!!  I LOVE them...and chocolate and a hand made dish cloth...and Charcoal's ornament is just THE BEST EVER!!

I LOVE these...a sitting frog and a frog magnet and CANDY...and yes, this is where Charcoal STOLE the snickers...ugh...I think Lisa must use a ruler to cut her paper...I have never seen such PERFECTLY wrapped gifts...I just put on mine that Charcoal wrapped them!  ;)

Wendy and Her Aunt Sheree designed the frog and Sheree made it...there is soap, Candy and FROG CANDY!!  Oh and a kitty pop that Wendy made!!Another very special gift!!

The frogs sure did remind me of my mother...It is fun getting this collection going...My friends REALLY must want me to find my prince...kissing all those TOADS has gotten old, so ONLY PRINCES from now on!  ;)

Getting these gifts, made me WANT to be more thoughtful...I wish I would remember birthdays and special days, but it just isn't what I do...I do other things, and that is ok!

Wendy, Sheree, Christine, Lois, and Lisa....THANK YOU VERY MUCH, said the BIG MOUTH FROG!!

I got a lot of FB wishes yesterday too...PLEASE KNOW that I did finally find them to READ them, but they would NOT let me comment on them....I have tried EVERYTHING I know to do...SO please accept my big old huge THANK YOU!  I did not delete any and I wish I could explain what happened, but I have no answers...I just can apologize and move on...

Thank you for helping to make my day special...I look forward to MANY new adventures as I hopefully journey ONE MORE TIME around the SUN...I wish you MANY BLESSINGS...~charlotte

Comfort Food, Tuesday, October 27, 2015

It is a rainy fall day in Middle Tennessee...the kind of day made for sleeping and for being lazy and for eating COMFORT FOOD.

Yesterday, a college friend posted asking what COMFORT FOOD her friends suggested for a horrible day she had experienced...she decided on Mexican and who can blame her~~ooey gooey cheesy goodness and warm tortillas!  yummmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeee!

Don't think for a second that Charcoal doesn't know what a buzzer in the kitchen means!  He is on the move!!

At my house, Potato Soup was the cure all for just about anything~~to heal an upset tummy...to nourish a hungry soul...to prepare when nothing sounded good or a run to the store was badly needed....ANY TIME.

Now, when I share with you HOW we made our Potato Soup, most of you will YAWN!!

The way it came about was quite out of necessity.

Although we lived on a Dairy Farm, no one in my family really liked milk...to this day, I do not like the taste of MILK, but if you put some chocolate in it, I'm good with it...Mother was allergic to dairy products.  Luckily, we were able to support the industry through the cheese and the ice cream that Daddy ate~~cheese could NOT be cut too thick for my daddy!

I NOSE you have something I WANT...I can smell it AND I can SEE it!

Mother would start to save some of the potato soup without milk for her.  Since she couldn't taste ours to season it as well as she seasoned all of our food, I could taste the milk and did not like that at all.  I would ask her to set some aside for me without milk and one day, Mother asked if Daddy wanted milk in his and he said NOT NECESSARILY...so Potato soup became:

1 onion, chopped finely
LOTS of cubed Potatoes
Water/Salt/Pepper

Place the top on the pan and bring to a boil, turn to low as soon as it boils and cook for 10 minutes!!

OH MY GOODNESS...the thought of that with a pan of crunchy hot cornbread cooked in a skillet makes my mouth water now!!

Don't hate me because I live such a FLAVORFUL EXCITING LIFE!! ;)

As I got older, I discovered this soup was the basis for lots of other additions~~a frozen bag of California Veggie...replace the water with chicken broth...add some peas and carrots...how about noodles...AND might as well throw in some chicken...(Isn't this called Chicken Noodle Soup??)

Tonight, I wanted potato soup for my comfort food, but then I thought some chicken broth would make it homier...then of course, I added some chicken and threw in some tortillas for some added depth...I almost had chicken and dumplings!  

This made me want an open-faced cheese sandwich~~another childhood memory.

Mother "got" to take Sunday Night off from cooking...EACH of us usually made ourselves an opened faced cheese sandwich~~slather it with Salad dressing and chop off some American Cheese from the 5 pound block that was always in our refrigerator.  We would sit around and see the first one who went to the kitchen to get the cheese, and of course, that person "got" to cut a slice for everyone...it was quite a strategic operation to wait until just the right moment!

Yep, Charcoal gets his own sammie...and look at that yummy cheese melted onto the pan~~perfection!!

I have discovered that most any food becomes comforting when you are sharing with those you love!  I am so thankful that I was raised around a table that expected us to be present and to participate each and every night...We didn't eat before we said our blessing, and I believe to this day, I am receiving blessings because of those said by my parents...HOW BLESSED I AM...I send blessings to YOU...~charlotte

Live Thankfully, Saturday, October 24, 2015

I have to admit that I have jumped on the band wagon with both feet!  I am having so much fun with the DecoArt Media Line!!

I also have to admit, when it was introduced, I thought WHAT IS THIS?  And I kept seeing it and I kept wondering the same thing!!

Somehow in my mind, I thought it must be paint that can be used for media...such as coloring on Poster Board or paper or to paint cartoons...I had no idea...NOW, to be honest, it CAN be used for these things, but it is so much more!!

I have another thing I must admit...I can't say the names of these colors!...sigh

 BUT it doesn't matter...I am in love!  I can learn to fake a name here and there!

The question I keep getting is WHAT is this and WHY do I need it...

WELL, first of all, IF you are a true painter, you ALWAYS need another kind of paint, right??

These paints lend themselves to mixed media, but PLEASE don't limit them to just that...they can be incorporated into all of your work.  If you want to make something RUSTY, you cannot do without the Quinacridone Gold~~it is magical.

The paints are HIGHLY pigmented.  They are bright and vibrant and do no lose their intensity when added to the mediums that are available (crackle paste, paste).
These colors are transparent, but DecoArt would not let you down, they came up with a tinting base that you can add these colors to to make them opaque! 
You can stack the colors on top of each other and still have the base coat shine through...You can paint on top of your newsprint/music and it tints the paper without covering up your original object.

I thought I would share one of my projects.

I began by covering my canvas with Crackle Paste and let it dry overnight...I randomly covered 5, so I could have fun playing...I added it thicker around the outside edges and on the thick canvases, I added it to the sides, also.

I started by cutting my sunflower petals too big!!  YIKES!  But have no fear, scissors were near!
 

I then started by adding yellow to the center.  I wiped it off of my brush by spreading it on other sections of the canvas.  My thinking is light in the middle and darker on the edges.  I guess I had beginners luck, because I didn't have to wipe off a lot of paint.  It kinda came out neat the first time, but just keeping adding colors until you are pleased with the look.  I WISH I could figure out a way to make a living by doing only backgrounds...YES...it is THAT fun!

I really thought I was going to paint a larger pumpkin with just the word THANKS, but it didn't happen that way.  I drew a couple of pumpkins but did not like them, so I was happy with this.  I started by adding Orange and it was TOO orange, so I started grabbing colors of darker oranges and toning it down.  I added the darkest color to make the pumpkin sections.  I did this with the edge of my brush and just blended it in.  Then I ended with adding some yellow for a highlight in each section.  The stem was done the same way.  I just added the brown and added lighter/darker colors until I liked it.

Right click to save the picture to your computer if you need it...remember to cut the flower petals longer to go behind the circle so it will be easier to assemble!

I painted the petals of the sunflower with all the colors left on my pallet.  Let me tell you, it takes just a very very small amount of paint.  I put out a dollop smaller than a dime.  I painted half of my petals darker, thinking they would be the BACK petals.  I lost some petals during the process of attaching them with Matte Medium, but no problem, no flower is perfect...I like the uneveness of it and think it adds to the charm~~that is my thinking and I am sticking to it!!

The center was painted with brown and then a little Carbon added to the left side.  I added dots of white/yellow/black.  

I printed my words on the computer, cut them, painted them with the paint on the pallet,  and attached them with Matte Medium.

When everything was dry, I outlined everything with a 10/0 liner brush and Carbon...I added random clusters of Carbon Dots...Sealed with the matte varnish...SO EASY and there is no right or wrong to doing this!!

Never be afraid to try new products and new styles because this is how we grow as artists...Do not say you CAN'T, but instead DO...you will get better with each attempt!  I'm still growing and loving it!

Happy creating...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte

These are the colors/mediums that I used.  Do not feel like you have to use all the colors I did...honestly, some of them really didn't add much, so I didn't use enough to matter, but I thought I needed to list everything! ;)  I am in love with the Turquoise colors...they have stolen my painting heart!

DecoArt Media

Fluid Acrylics:

Diarylide Yellow

Green Gold

Phthalo Green-Yellow

Quinacridone Magenta

Cobolt Turquoise Hue

Quinacridone Gold

Quinacridone Burnt Orange

Pyrrole Orange

English Red Oxide

Raw Sienna

Burnt Umber

Titanium White

Carbon Black

Matte Medium

Gesso

Crackling Paste

Other Supplies;

5 x 7 Canvas (a stand if you wish)
Brushes of your choice and a good liner (10/0)

I used scruffy brushes

Dictionary Page

Words of Choice (I printed them on the computer)