House Hunting and Art!

Hello! Sorry I haven't been around in a while. My husband and I are still house hunting. We've been looking most evenings we have off (no church, etc). It has been crazy. We thought we'd found a home we liked, but upon a second investigation, we found evidence of foundation problems. We decided that wasn't the house for us! Or well!

We were out of town last week to a wedding of a friend of family we known since she was born. Her parents actually got my parents together! It was fun. Since we've been back, it has been crazy with houses and the end of the year at school- all kinds of stuff!!

Oh, I wanted to post my latest artwork. I couldn't post it until I gave it to my mom because she reads my blog from time to time. It was her mother's day present! She liked it very much!!

I'm glad she was pleased with it. It took me lots of time to complete! I'm still working on other art, but is slow going. I just don't have the time I'd like to have. I'm nearly finished with a house-warming triptic for some friends of mine. It is three large 12x24 canvases that all go together. It is meant to go over their couch. I should have it finished soon!

Today, I'm off to make a few ribbon bookmarks for the librarian at the school where I work. She asked me to make them as gifts for her parent volunteers! I HAVE to get them done today because Kevin and I might be off to the lake tomorrow or Monday!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Memorial Day, and I'll try to be back more often. (This summer, I'll be doing a lot more posting since I will have more time!) See you soon!

Back with new art! (And an Award!)

Ok, so I've been gone for a while. My husband and I have had so much happen! My husband's grandmother (who we have been living with) took a fall at the end of February. She broke her hip. She had replacement surgery. She was in rehab and then a nursing home (to continue the rehab). Well, last Thursday, she fell and hit her head. She died that morning. My husband was devastated since she raised him. He took all of Easter weekend off for her and for the Easter play we were in at church! That weekend was nuts. I'm glad to say my husband is doing much better now- he misses her, but he isn't sorry about the choices he made. We are now trying to get her stuff taken care of, the house cleaned up and fixed up and then we plan to sell it. We are starting to look for a house of our own. We basically put our lives on hold to help her out; we moved in to help her not even a year after we were married. Now, it is our time to have a home and live as newly weds! (Please don't think I'm selfish!)

Second, I have many paintings in the works, etc. This one got finished this weekend!

What do you think? I really like her. I've been a member of the World of Whimsy class with Tam here. She has taught me so much! This is one of the first works I've done since the class. I actually based my girl's clothing off of Emily at the Black Apple. Here is her post where she is wearing those clothes (more or less!) She has an incredible blog if you haven't run across it yet!!!!

I guess that is all for now. I hope to have more art and more posts! Don't forget me even if I'm gone for a while.

ETA: I just found out that Anne nominated me for the Renee Award!

The Renee Award was created by Bella and Ces in honor of their friend Renee.

In Bella's own words: "this is a brand new award and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow. I hope it finds it's way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak, giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns..."

There are no "rules" for claiming this award, but I would suggest the following:

• Thank the person who nominated you for the Renee Award.


• Click on the picture above to see it larger, then download it and post it on your blog.


• Mention the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.


• Nominate others to receive the award.


• Comment on their blogs to let them know you nominated them.


• Visit Bella, Ces, and Renee and let them know you received the award and passed it on. Consider linking your blog post to them, too.

Now, I need to nominate others for the award. I know so few of the actual bloggers of the blogs I read. I'll post the ones who have really inspired me (in no order)

Emily at the Black Apple

Shonna at Twisted Figures

Tam (Willowing) at Willowing.org or her ning network here.

Nicole at A Roof of Ones Own

Nancy at Vintage Papers


Those are just to name a few. There are so many! Maybe I can add some more later.

Kristin

Good News and Bad News

Good News: There is another giveaway of some very beautiful cutout (collage) sheets! Check out Kristin at Retro Cafe Art Gallery! She is giving away some awesome collage sheets and cutout packs! Go check her out- but do it soon. Her giveaway happens tomorrow!!!

Bad news: my husband and I lost another cat today. Our cats live outside- they are basically strays we feed and take care of. They live in our backyard which isn't fenced. Well, this morning, there were two pit bulls and another mutt running around. They attacked one of our cats. She had been picked up by the dogs. I believed she died instantly. We chased the dogs off and buried her. She was still warm when we put her in the ground. This is the third cat we've had to buried due to violence. Two were attacked by dogs- pit bulls at that. One was shot with a beebee gun!

It aggravates me greatly that I live in a neighborhood where people are so careless to let their dogs run free with out consideration of the consequences. Please, I beg you, take care of your animals, and whatever you do- DON'T take them for granted.

As far as my art goes, I hope to post some more soon! Sorry for the delay in posting new art! Hope to be back soon!

PS: I'm attempting Macarons again today. Cross your fingers!

Life and Another Blog's Giveaway!

Ok, well, going back to work put a damper on my blogging and baking and doing art! :( Hopefully, I can get some things done, soon!

Oh, my husband and I have finished off the beautiful macarons! I'm so ready to make some more. Hubby is off on Saturday, so we are going to an art museum to see the King Tut display. However, next weekend, I plan on making the beautiful yummy things- this time in Strawberry/Coconut (hubby's request), mint/chocolate, and one other flavor, maybe! I'll keep you posted!

Ok, finally, I was on Twisted Figures to see her newest work. She had a post to this giveaway going on Cameron's Blog. If you haven't seen Cameron's blog, she seems to be a very talented Mixed Media artist. I just found her blog, so I will be spending some time on it! Hope you will find it as awesome as I do!

See you soon!

Happy Macaron Day!!!

Happy Macaron Day! In Paris, if you go to Pierre Herme's bakery, you can get 4 macarons for free if you make a small donation. It is a way to raise money to help cure diseases, I think. (My French isn't that great anymore!) Anyway, I decided since I can't go to Paris and get free macarons, I would celebrate by making my own!

Inspired by many blogs, I decided to give it a try- especially after I got my new mixer. I've been pouring over recipes and tips all week. I found Emily's (The Black Apple) tips very helpful. You can find them here. (Thanks, Emily.) She also posts links to several recipes! I'm attempting cherry vanilla macs today. This morning, I made the batter and they are currently sitting out to form a skin. They will go in the oven shortly, and we will see what happens!

I had some trouble with the macs so far. First of all, my almonds weren't dry enough when I tried to grind them up. No big deal- I put the almonds in then oven at a low temp for a little while. That helped- they were still wet, though. I sifted the ground almonds with the icing sugar and then I proceeded to making the meringue.
I was so proud! My meringue turned out nice with very stiff peaks. Then I folded in the dry ingredients and tried to pipe my macs with a ziploc bag since I don't have a piping bag. Oh, that was messy!!! My macs look much like amebias instead of nice round macs. I can handle amebias.
They have sat out to form their skin. Now, I'm going to put them in the oven. I'll add to this post later after they have baked. I've decided, if they form little feet like they are supposed to, I will continue to make the ganache filling. If not, we will just eat them as cookies, and I'll have to try again- soon!

These are fun, but they are finicky! I'll keep you posted!

ETA: Update #2
Ok, Macs are cooked and out of the oven. They are all amebias, but most of them sprouted feet and most of them didn't crack (a sign that I did beat it right!) They aren't perfect, but not bad for a first try.


See the feet? I was jumping around the kitchen when I saw those. They are very small, but they are there!
Batch one. Not too bad. Many with feet. Only a few small cracks. I baked these with a wooden spoon propping the oven door open.
Batch number 2. Do you see the one perfect mac???? I do! This batch I baked with the oven door closed- less feet and more cracks. Ok, lesson learned!

These are the macs once cooled and waiting for the ganache filling. I'm currently waiting for the ganache to get a little harder, so I can put it in the cookies. I think I might run an errand and come back to see how the ganache is doing! I'll be back soon with finished macs!

E(on Saturday)TA: I did get them done. I made the ganache with cream and white chocolate and a bit of vanilla. It was very soupy. I even put it in the fridge for a while to set. I was impatient, so I put it in a small bag and tried to pipe it onto my macs. It was messy, but they got done!
I decided to freeze them, so the ganache would harden. That helped some. Here are some pictures of the final results!

Than you all for going with me in the quest for macarons. They taste marvelous even if they look weird. My husband is so excited, he is ready for me to make more. He didn't even like the ones at the bakery- go figure, huh? He says mine taste much better! They were fun, and I plan on trying again very soon!

KitchenAid Mixer!!!

Ok, I can no longer contain myself! I got a KitchenAid Mixer this weekend. My husband found it on Craig'slist! It is a 5 quart professional mixer, and it is RED!!!! I'm so excited! It is bigger than I wanted, but who cares, the price was right! I've used it once, and I plan to do some more baking tomorrow and Friday (Macaron day! There will be a post!!).

Unfortunately, I have misplaced the card adaptor for my camera's memory card, and I can't get my pictures downloaded! *sniff* *sniff*. I have a card reader at school that will read that card, but I'm on Spring Break right now. As soon as I can, I'll post the pictures my husband took when we first got it home and the pictures I took of its first use!!!

It is a beautiful mixer, and it works like a dream! Baking will be so much more enjoyable with the perfect tool! (Not that I didn't enjoy baking before, but having the right tool makes all the difference in the world!!)

If you don't understand my utter excitement, let me explain. Ever since I registered for my wedding 3 years ago (maybe even before that!), I've wanted a KitchenAid mixer. When I registered, I registered for a black Artisan mixer. Well, needless to say, I didn't receive it, and I decided that our wedding money was better spent on other everyday items. I had a small hand mixer which was fine. It go me through some baking expeditions. However, this past December, it died while I was making my husband's birthday cake. Then, for about a month, I've wanted a mixer and have been looking. I've had this urge to bake and was unable to do so without a mixer. Then, I discovered some recipes for homemade marshmellows and macarons! They both required a whisk attachment. Yes, other mixers had that, but why settle for something else when I've always wanted a KitchenAid.

At that point, my husband and I kept our eyes out for a good deal. There was no way I could pay full price for a KitchenAid mixer- it just wasn't going to happen. Well, about a week and a half ago, my husband sold one of his trucks which gave us a little money. (My husband gave me $500 to start my Etsy shop which I plan to do this summer!! Whoo-hoo!!) Anyway, just Saturday, he saw a red, professional mixer on Craig'slist. Well, I was out all day Saturday, and by the time he told me about it, I thought it was gone for sure. I emailed the seller, and then waited. There was no news. Sunday, there was no news. We went to church and then to lunch. I happened to check my phone after lunch to see a strange number had called and left a message. Sure enough, it was the owner of the mixer! She still had it! We went straight over there and bought it for $100!!! I was so excited!!!!

I am so excited! As soon as I get my pictures off my camera, I will show you the beauty!!

Ok, a brief bit about Friday. Friday, March 20 is Macaron Day in Paris. Granted, I'm not in Paris, but I'm going to celebrate Macaron day by trying to make my own macarons. I've become obsessed with them- I'll explain more on Friday. Just keep your fingers crossed mine come out ok! I can't wait!

Two New Cards

I've been doing all kind of artsy things lately. Here are my two latest cards. One was for my Pator's birthday (he is an awesome man, and going to a small church, we know him pretty well). The other is for my husband- our anniversary is tomorrow! 3 Years, baby! (and I haven't killed him yet!!!)

I just wanted to share.

Also, I'm working on all I need to do to open an Etsy shop! I hope it succeeds!!! I'll keep you posted on that!