New Customized Treasure Box

What do you think?

I made a new treasure box for one of Asher's little friends late last week. He was invited to a birthday party and I thought this would be a good opportunity to make a custom treasure box and then take pics so I could try to sell them on ARtfire and Etsy. She seemed to really like it and all the little kids "oooo'd" when she opened it, which is a great sign and made me feel good. Asher was so proud. He had made her a birthday card and couldn't wait for her to open it.

Five is such a cute age. But unfortunately, with fun, birthday parties and lots of kids come lots of germs. The party was at a gym that has gymnastics and they all just had a blast. There were trampolines everywhere, balance beams to climb on and inflatable bouncy houses. But the star of the show was a sponge pit.

Ick.

I refer to it as the Cesspool of Snot. So... today Asher missed school and has an ear infection. Oh well, goes with the territory. I just hope I don't get it, seems like germs just know when vacation or holidays are coming don't they?

Hamburger Stew for a cold winter's night

I've got a recipe to share today and it's perfect for this time of year. With all the big dinner's going on and family over but you still gotta make your normal every day dinners, this is great to have around in the fridge. It just gets better in the fridge as a matter of fact. It's also one of those recipes that you can add or delete whatever you have on hand. It's filling and warm good comfort food. I hope you enjoy it :)


Hamburger Stew

• 2 big cans of whole tomatoes
• potatoes as many as you want
• carrots about 2 lbs.
• onion
• garlic
• hamburger, about 2 pounds
• tomato sauces (according to how much you want to make, i.e. how soupy. Sometimes I use a big can of spaghetti sauce)
• sweet basil
• oregano
• salt + pepper

So the first thing I do is get a big pot and get my sauces and tomatoes simmering with the spices in it. This way they get all yummy and flavorful. The longer it simmers the better. 

Side note: This is perfect for my tomatoes that I've frozen from my garden. If you've never done this, it is sooooo much easier than canning. Just toss your washed and cored smaller tomatoes like roma type in freezer bags and freeze those suckers solid. No blanching, no peeling. When you pull them out of the freezer to use, the skins slide right off as they thaw. Great for sauces, soups and chili's.

I then peel my carrots and cut them up in 1" bites and pop them in my micro cooker with a little water to steam them in the microwave. I like my carrots real soft, so I do this instead of just letting them cook in the sauce.

I'm usually in a hurry, so I cut up my potatoes and usually cook them up in my pressure cooker which takes like 3 minutes. I should probably just toss my carrots in there too. You could also just cook them on the stove or microwave.

Then I fry up my burger with the onion and garlic. Drain the grease and add to stew. Let it simmer. You really could serve it up right then, but I like to let all the flavors come together. Serve it up with some butter bread and there you go. Like I said, it is even better the next day.


Let me know if you try it :)

Pirate Ship Treasure Box

My last art show is over for the year and it was fun. I had a roomie in my booth, my friend Amelia and I shared a booth. That makes the day go by a lot more smooth and it's also more fun to have someone to laugh and gripe with. Sales were decent and I did more face painting which is such a kick. I even wore my own snowflake glitter tattoos. Fun :)


If you saw my last post, it was about a painting of a pirate ship I did. I put that painting on a box and many other illustrations with it. It was the very first piece to sell and here it is :)

I used prints of my original paintings and illustrations so I can recreate this box, although it wouldn't be identical which I don't want anyway.

I'm linking to Paint Party Friday =) Check out the talent!

Ahoy me matey

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful. I had a rather dull one this year. We had plans to eat with Daryl's family but I had been sick and they were 7 and a half hours away, so that fizzled. I had no intention of cooking, so we had to hit the town to see what was open, and not a 2 hour wait. After checking three other restaurants we ended up at Denny's. Woo Hoo. Actually, it was really good but not terribly traditional. I got the turkey dinner, Daryl got a cheeseburger and Asher got chocolate chip pancakes. But we were all happy and we were together so that's all that matters.

On the artfront... I have been busier than a one legged man in a butt kickin' contest! I've got a show this weekend and I'm trying to get some new stuff ready for it and it is coming together rather slow. I've got new ideas but they are not quite coming together, yet.

I've drawn the pirate ship along with other pirate stuff for some boxes I'm making for boy treasure boxes. Or girl, I guess. I mean, I like pirates. Surely some girls do too.. haha

So here it is all painted in. I made the mistake of not using watercolor paper. I used 300 series Strathmore Sketch paper which says it's for watercolor pencils wet or dry, but I got a little ambitious with the water and then added real watercolors on top of it. I tried to iron it with my regular iron which helped a tiny bit, but it still looks pretty warpy. I've seen tricks where they spray the whole sheet of paper on the back with water to straighten it out, but I'm afraid to do that since it's not watercolor paper. Any suggestions?

I'll be 'round to visit all ye skally wags soon.

Treasure Boxes

I've been painting some treasure boxes the last couple days and here's one I call Indian Sun. I have a show coming up and I thought I'd offer some new things for Christmas. Although at the rate I'm creating these, I might not have many to offer!

I had an eye in the center of the sun motiff, but decided I didn't like it. So I filled it in.
 

Then I felt it needed more embellishment, so I started playing around with some bling...

Ehhhh... not big enough and not quite right.

But this... this I like. And so it is.

I have another box that is ready to show you, but I need to take some final pictures to show it off. I will tell you it's a pretty and shiny snake head! If these don't sell at the show, I'll be adding them to my Etsy and Artfire shops.

Thanks to all you guys... my friends, fellow artists, creative minds, and incredibly talented bloggers. You are wrapped up in one as the people who always bring encouragement and love with your comments. I love you guys! Our "little" online world... it is fantastic!