Spooky Stuff Update

So, do any of you remember my post that was back in April of this year about gettin' spooked? I talked about the show "My Ghost Story" on the Bio Channel and told you I would keep looking for the video of the story that really freaked me out. I found it! I watched it again and it still gives me chills. If this happened to me, I'm not sure I could ever sleep alone again! The episode was called "Creepy Sleep", it's the first part of this video and here it is...

 Let me know what you think!

Metallic Sun

"Metallic Sun"

 My entry for July in Nicola's book for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Sketchbooks. Actually part of the entry. I split my month in two this time since Nicola has such a great large book. I discovered a couple things with this painting. One is that I think I adore metallic paint. Oh the shine! I must get more. I tend to like shiny gaudy things. I only had copper, purple, silver and an antique copper that worked. I used metallic markers for other colors with mixed results and I liked using the paint more than the markers. I added black Sharpie marker after the initial coloring was finished and I like the result, kinda reminds me of an Aztec look plus it gave it more detail. I might revisit this Metallic Sun in the form of a canvas when I get some yummy metallic paints. I'm also thinking some distressing in the form of antiquing might be cool.

I listened to blog talk radio (ARt and Soul radio)for the first time last night by Lesley Riley  and she was interviewing New Mexico artist Darlene Olivia McElroy. I went to her website as I listened and explored her site. Her artwork is fabulous and I was drawn in to her techniques. She has videos on her website where she graciously shares techniques. Check it out if you have a chance. She also has books that I'm thinking about looking up. The blog radio can be replayed anytime I think (at least I replayed it after it had broadcasted). Just wanted to share :)

Have a great day!

Giveaway Book is Traveling On...

I'm so happy to report that a giveaway that I had quite a while back that I called Sisterhood of the Traveling Book is making it's way to another creative spirit and she's again a Creative Sistah no less! Don't get it confused with the Sisterhood of the Traveling Sketchbooks. I liked the name so much I named my next project after it with a slight twist. (Read the original idea here)

So it first went to T over at Poppy Place and then it went to Jennifer at Jewelry By J.P. (A Creative Sistah) and she's just announced on her blog that it is now going to Kim the Queen of Arts! This is exciting for me to see something I came up with actually benefiting others and being enjoyed.

To see the list of people that the book will eventually make it's way to go here. In the end, after everyone has had a chance to read the book I'm hoping the last person will have a giveaway themselves and keep it going. I will be adding a post about who has the book as I get word. Check back soon! :)  Enjoy the book Kim!

Paint Party Week 21

Sweet Summer Night

Week 21?! Holy Schzznics! I've missed a few. But I'm back in the saddle again. This is "Sweet Summer Night" another addition to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Sketchbooks project. This went in Kathy's book for the June installment. I just finished it last night, so I'm behind on the project too. Oh, if anyone is interested in seeing a bunch of the sketchbooks in one place, we have a Facebook page called Creative Sistahs. Come on over and like us ;)

School starts next Wednesday yippee!/boohoo - I'm having mixed feelings... Asher, my son, is going to all day Kindergarten but that means I will have more time to get things done. That also means no more snoozing until 10:30ish everyday and staying up until 2:30 am anymore. Ugh, that I won't like. Cause I've grown quite fond of a life of leisure. I can tell you one thing though, I won't be making any of that damn tomato sauce!

Happy PPF! Visit all the Uber-Creative people here ;)

Live and Learn part 3,891 or Homemade Canned Tomato Sauce Hell

They say if you can't be a good example then you'll just have to be a horrible warning. So... I'm sharing my experience with dun, dun dunnnnn.... canning homemade tomato sauce.

Oh the visions I had of jars and jars and jars of a thick, rich, complex, yummy homemade better than anything you could ever buy canned tomato sauce from the fruit of my efforts in my veggie garden. What I've ended up with after using 35 pounds of my fresh from the garden tomatoes was three and three quarter quart jars of possibly the longest, exhausting most expensive cooking process ever.

my 1st big pick of the season

blanching

peeling

 First offense, I used my primo tomatoes for this project which happened to be from my first of the season big bumper crop, which are always the tastiest you know. Okay, I did devour a few with salt and pepper before the long torturous adventure but we wont' count them cause I had to share them with my family. Picked fresh the evening prior to said slave labor.

After hours of washing, blanching and peeling all these beauties I then had to core and get the seeds and juice out of every single tomato. A totally thankless job and time consuming beyond belief. You would think there would be some easier way to do this, maybe there is but I'm unaware of it so I did it all with a paring knife and my fingers. I honestly don't know how anyone would do this more than once in their lifetime. Maybe that's why Ragu is a huge and profitable company.

I started this project at four in the afternoon. First mistake. Second mistake - I did it by myself. Had I known, I would've had a friend over to help. Preferably one that hates tomato sauce so I wouldn't have to share.

Slaving away for hours it is now about 11:00 pm and I've finally got every tomato peeled, seeded and juiced and in the biggest pot I own besides my big canner. I follow the directions from many websites that tell me to now reduce my tomatoes by one third for a thin sauce and by half for a thick sauce.  Easy peasy I'm thinking after all this neck straining feet killing work.

skinned

They didn't say anything about the tomatoes burning to the bottom of the pot! Oh son of a @!*%! Well so now I'm trying to regulate my now fire roasted tomatoes (a.k.a. burnt) into a gentle simmer... three and a half hours later (yes, that's what I said... 3 and a half) it has only reduced by like 1/8th. Ugh... I'm going cross-eyed with exhaustion and trying to pull out the little burnt flecks floating around. So I decide that sleep will win out and I take the whole thing and put it in the refrigerator and finish Tuesday. No telling what that will do to my end result of now a smoky-ish sauce. Jeesh... but I'm not giving up dammit.

I drag myself out of bed at 9:30 and pull the pot out of the fridge and get it back on the burner. It wasn't even cold to the touch. It probably spoiled everything in my refrigerator, too. So back to simmering. I finally felt it was reduced enough by 1:30 in the afternoon (!). That is seven hours folks. Besides it probably not having any nutrients left in it at all, I probably will have an electric bill out of this world.

reduced - finally!

Excitedly, I have my jars ready and start ladling the sauce in and start to realize that there is no way this will make 7 quarts like the directions said it would. I manage to scrape out three and three quarter jars out of the pot and start canning. They are still in the canner as I write this and it is 3:30 pm.

filling up a whopping 3 3/4 jars

lonely tomato sauce

The number one thing I've learned from this expedition is that unless someone has some magical formula to reduce time by like 100 times, this is my first and last time I will ever make canned tomato sauce. I don't care if it turns out to be the best dang tomato sauce I've ever tasted. Liquid gold, texas tea. Nope, that's it. Never again. Chocked up to be yet another lesson learned. Did I mention that my husband hates spaghetti?

Homemade & Canned Tomato Sauce - my final cost = probably about $50 a jar