Embrace Life, Thursday, November 5, 2015

I fear I will have to apologize in every post until I do better, for the poor pictures…Taking a picture without being able to SEE what you are photographing is quite adventurous, but it is what it is and it will do until I find a new camera…so Use your imagination that the colors are bright, vivid and have no glare!

It started on an unseasonably warm November Day in Middle Tennessee. 

Everything was going well when I decided that I wanted to give Tracy’s stamp that I had won a try.  I just had a simple project in my mind and knew it wouldn’t take too long.

I began to read the directions on the back of the stamps, and that is when I took a turn down the daisy hole (sorry, there were no rabbits in sight)…

The directions said to  “stamp on scrap paper the very first 2 or three times to prime the stamps”.  I had no scrap paper where I was sitting, so I just decided to try them on my 8x10 canvas that was in my lap and I would just paint over it~~no biggie.

  

I stamped and stamped and stamped, and then ONE MORE stamp for good measure…I got up to go wash off the stamps because I was not going to use them until I had, in my mind, covered the canvas in pretty bright colors and then I was going to STAMP on top of that for a hippie-style daisy…it was going well…

I came back and pulled out the white gesso and painted it in criss-cross patterns to give some texture….still going well as I pulled out ye olde hairdryer.

Things suddenly took a turn…not your normal style of painting…after all, I have been creating something since a little kid, and I am now OLD and know that all projects have a proper logical order and in painting, one should always paint the back ground FIRST and build from there…yeah, Momma said that since I was a baby, if she said the sky was BLUE, I would say, “No, it’s (insert color here)…”  I am saying that I knew my colors as a small child and THAT is the story I am sticking to (it had nothing to do with me being a disagreeable child who argued since she learned to speak…heavy sigh.)

I thought I would just pull out a color and paint the petals and the center and it would give me a direction to go to when I would place the flowers at their proper time~~LAST.

Diarylide Yellow filled the centers/leaves/stems and  Pyrrole Orange colored the petals (ok…I painted 38 pumpkins for an order yesterday and I needed to know that Orange could be used for more things than just a pumpkin!)

Ok…I kinda like that…so I pulled out some of my favorite colors and just started painting in the background  (careful and don’t get on my petals, the mind YELLED!) with Quinacridone Violet (what is wrong with just saying VIOLET??) and then Quinacridone Magenta (really?  I’m Southern…what do you think that is going to sound like when I attempt to say it???)

Next came some Cobalt Teal Hue and some Blue Green Light on the leaves/stems….OH YES…Pretty colors…see how they change colors as I add layers…I love playing with these paints!

 I roughly dry-brushed my favorite color, Phtalo Turquoise (again???...what is that word…ok…so, I am at least familiar with this word from my one watercolor class in college…see Mom, I did learn something other than to burp on command!)…Look how it changes colors with each color I paint over…isn’t that the coolest thing ever!  Can I tell you how much I love COLORS!

I thought I might as well go with it now, so I pulled out the Carbon Black and outlined the flowers…I really should have taken more time with this, but I was just playing…still learning how to do this style…

This experiment sure had taken a dark tone, so I pulled out the drywall tape and scruffed in some Titanium White and added the word to the top…added some curly q’s and I am calling it DONE and you know what…I LIKE IT!!  I did attach the “embrace Life” with Matte Medium.  I had stamped it on the envelop that my stamp came in…I need some more work on stamping the words…so I went over the words with my black pen…

OK, Tracy, I will absolutely understand that the next time you have your husband pick a number, that you will tell him to pick a number between 1-100, but stay as far away from 79 (or whatever my number happens to be) as possible…I’m sorry…I KNOW this isn’t how we are SUPPOSED to use stamps, and MAYBE one day I will do better, but I sure am not going to promise that!

Thank you, Tracy, for the inspiration that you give to me and to countless others…your caring heart shines in your creations and I am so glad that our paths have crossed…

If you don't, Please follow Tracy on her website/blog to learn the PROPER way to do things!  =)  This will take you to Tracy's website.  You can also join her on many Monday Nights to see her create a project in about 1 hour (find them on You Tube)...You can LIKE her also, on facebook...she is EVERYWHERE and of course, she is the DecoArt Education Coordinator...my FAVORITE products and I am so happy to be a Helping Artist with DecoArt!!  Yippie Skippie!

I know, Tracy is thinking “please, don’t let anybody see this, please, don’t let anybody see…OH HI, everybody!”  but you are far too kind to ever utter what is going on in your head out loud (well, most of the time.).  Thanks for letting me play with some of your toys.

Tonight, I embraced LIFE…I LOVE life and am so blessed to simply create…I wish Blessings to YOU…~charlotte

My supply list: I apologize for any misspelled words...

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics:

Diaryliade Yellow,

Pyrrole Orange

Quinacridone Violet

Quinacridone Magenta

Cobalt Tea Hue

Blue Green Light

Phthalo Turquoise

Carbon Black

Titanium White

Gesso White and Matte Medium

After Church Dinners, Sunday, January 26, 2014

Sundays take me back to times gathered around a table sharing a meal with friends or family.  When I was younger, people would go to each other’s homes after church, but as we got older, this practice stopped…a lot of things have stopped from the “old days”.

I can remember the hustle and bustle of Mother in the kitchen trying to get things ready for the meal after church as she tried to hurry us along to get up and get ready.  At my house, the meal wasn’t the problem, the CLEANING of the house was the problem…As a FLETCHER, I BELIEVE it is our heritage to NOT throw anything away…sigh…

In TRUE SOUTHERN form, a meal was not merely a meat and three, but at LEAST a two meat and eight…HEAVEN forbid that one should serve SOMETHING that was not liked by SOMEONE…In my family alone, choosing two meats was not easy for I had a brother who ate NO chicken and NO soup or Gravy and another brother who ate EVERYTHING, EXCEPT liver…My Father liked what he liked and he had NO problem with the things he didn’t eat, he just left them for others, BUT he DID want his gravy with EVERY meal that warranted gravy!

Country Ham, Roast and Chicken were staples at my house.  Hot Chicken Salad was gobbled down as LONG as nothing crunchy was put in it…sigh…yep, that was DADDY…Personally, I love water chestnuts as long as they are cut into smaller pieces…I don’t like the BIG pieces…Celery just adds to the flavor in my opinion!

Mother was one of the BEST bread makers around and thought NOTHING of getting up and making biscuits…and her yeast rolls were some of the best things to EVER be placed in your mouth—EVER…That was most everyone’s favorite part of having company, because she would have at least four pans of rolls…Toasted Buttered rolls the next morning is a TREAT that I still miss.

Two of my favorite things to have when we had company was a spinach salad with HOMEMADE Poppy Seed dressing and then to have Homemade Shortbread served with fresh fruit…oh my…I’m hungry JUST thinking about it.  Oh, and frozen Cranberry Salad is ALSO one of my favorite things too…it is SO pretty on a plate.

Mother taught me that making food PLEASING to the eye was just as important as it being healthy AND if you would choose foods from all the color groups, then usually you would have most of your vitamins covered.

I thought I would share some recipes today for quick and easy things that I LOVE…To me, taking time to prepare a HOMEMADE meal for those you love is just one of the best things you can DO…AND when you place your feet together under a table, I think there is NO PROBLEM that can’t be solved by sharing the burdens of the day…TOGETHER really is the BEST place to be…Enjoy being with those you love and don’t FORGET to tell them that you love them…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte♥

Poppy Seed Dressing

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon grated onion

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon celery seed

¼ cup vinegar

1 cup salad oil

Approximately 1 Tablespoon Poppy seed (optional…and LESS if you don’t want as many…well, duh, huh!!)

Combine all ingredients except vinegar and oil.  Beat thorough as you dribble oil and vinegar alternately.  This makes a grand glossy dressing to serve over fresh or canned fruit.

My favorite SALAD to use this dressing on is:

Baby Spinach Leaves

Slices of well-drained Mandarin Oranges

Pecans that have been toasted

Scottish Shortbread

1 cup of BUTTER (NOT margarine), softened

½ sugar

2 cups of flour

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Gradually add flour and beat on medium until smooth…It will take about 5 minutes to beat this with your mixer.  Spread evenly in a ungreased 9x13 pan.  Bake in 300 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until lightly brown.  Immediately after removing from the over, prink all over with a fork and cut into small squares.  BEST served at room temperature.

Avis’ Chicken Casserole

1 cup cooked rice

½ cup chopped celery (finely chopped)

2 cups cut up cooked chicken

2 Tablespoons of chopped onion

1 can cream of mushroom or chicken soup

¾ cup mayonnaise or salad dressing.

Mix all together and place in a baking dish.  Top with

1 cup corn flakes (crushed)

2 Tablespoons of melted butter…Mix these two together and place on top of the chicken.

Bake 40 -45 minutes at 350.

Frozen Cranberry Salad

1 can of WHOLE cranberries—mash with a fork to break up the big pieces

1 large can of crushed pineapple, drained well

2 large Bananas, mashed

1 Regular Sized contained of Cool Whip, thawed (the original recipe called for REAL whipped cream, but Mother couldn’t have dairy food, so I made this change)

A couple of hands of mini marshmallows

A dash of salt

IF you wish, you may add chopped pecans, toasted

AND if you really like SWEET, add a can of Eagle Brand milk…I don’t, but it is good!

Mix together and place in cupcake wrappers placed in a cupcake pan to hold their shape…You can also place this in a square container…just be sure to remove for a bit so you can cut it!

This recipe can be served frozen…BUT if you want to make it a refrigerator Salad, use a can of Cherry Pie filling INSTEAD of the Cranberries…My niece LOVED this and she called it PINK SALAD…for some reason, I don’t like the cherries frozen as well as the cranberries!

Happy cooking QUICK and EASY!  =)

Both of these patterns can be found as INSTANT downloads in my etsy shop...click  HERE to go directly to MY SHOP...=)