Casting a Wide Net. Also - a Cute Fox.

Okay - I've been wanting to ask this question for a long, long time.

Thanks to this supremely boring article, I learned that if you have 100 friends on Facebook, your first level "friends of friends" network is actually 27,500. That's a lot of people.

That means, I have a potential "friends of friends" network of about 350,000 people. And that doesn't include Splitcoast, Twitter, real life, etc.

That's a great number for a statistical sample. And as you know, I'm a scientist. Pfft. Anyway...

We occasionally get pizza delivered. God bless America, by the way, land of the free, home of the brave, place where people bring delightful Italian snacks to your door for not very much money when you're too busy to cook, yet starving.

As a loyal customer of two pizza places in particular, I have received many opportunities to participate in surveys for these businesses, which supposedly occasionally result in a $1,000 cash prize for a lucky survey taker.

I used to work in a service business, and customer surveys are very important, so I always take them for brands that I care about and connect with, with or without the lure of a potential cash reward.

However, a curious person like myself wonders to herself, usually at 3 AM when a cat wakes her up, if anyone in her network of 350,000 people has actually been the recipient of such a prize.

Since the sample population size is valid, I'm asking you to ask - has anyone you know won one?

If not, my suspicions that this is the Big Foot of foodservice may indeed be fact, not conjecture.

Let me know if you know someone, or even know someone who knows someone who has won a survey prize.

In the meantime, please enjoy this RIDICULOUSLY ADORABLE FOX from the Life in the Forest set that will come out in the Occasions Mini Catalog - SQUEE!! He DOES make me happy.

Stamps: Life in the Forest, Happy Watercolor (let me know if you need a catalog!)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: Crafter's Companion Marker Cardstock

Accessories: Touch Twin Markers: Y141, YR21, R2, B63 (twin)

Loveyameanitpleaseaskeveryoneyouknowandreportbackthxbye

Blue Snow, Of Course!

I had my monthly class yesterday and despite the frigid temperatures, we had a blast. It was also my customer Christmas party, so everyone went home with a prize.

One of the cards we did was for a VSN challenge by Lee - to create snow in a color. Well boy that color choice was hard - NOT.

I saw this technique in Tootsy's gallery on Splitcoast and I thought it was so cool.

What I did was cut a snowflake with my Festive Flurry Framelits out of the chipboard that comes with every package of Designer Series paper. I taped that to the back of my Core'dinations Coastal Cabana, and used the sanding block to sand it, giving me a ghostly blue snowflake for my background. Then I just added a precut, silver glimmer snowflake from the Festive Flurry ornament kit - I'm having a class on this next weekend, by the way, if you'd like to come - and a Frosted Finishes embellishment. It's so sparkly and cool. I think they enjoyed it.

Now speaking of blue things - I had a little fun experimenting today with my Pan Pastels, now that I've cracked them open.

I am no good at drawing, but I still made this fun portrait for an art journal page in under 7 minutes.

Want to see how?

I have a video tutorial over on Project Reanimate, because it involves a little recycling. To see it, follow me to my Making Faces tutorial.

Loveyameanitbye.

Sir-up or SEAR-up?

It's amazing how words and colors make people feel. This week, a lot of people posted the Pantone color of the year.

Here it is.

And here was my reaction:

Me too, kitty.

Me. too.

Radiant, my hiney. It's so dull and awful. It seriously makes me feel ill. 

But some people love it! What part of our brain determines whether a color makes us gag or squeal?

My theory is that it's the same part of our brain that makes us cringe when people pronounce something a certain way.

Take syrup for example. When Bobby Flay said SEARup this morning instead of SIRup, I wanted to reach through the TV and tape his mouth up with some radiant orchid duct tape. But he'd probably say the same about me if he heard SIRup.

Then there's CARmel and CARAmel. I'm a carmel person, personally. CARAmel gives me an eye twitch.

And don't get me started on PREEEEsentation. Really - don't.


What makes you twitchy?

Cold weather makes me twitchy. But not if it's only on paper. Tonight I'm hosting a Virtual Stamp Night Challenge for our Up to SNOW good VSN - the challenges are completely adorable.

My challenge is for you to get nekkid and STREAK!!

Hang on, you freaks - keep your clothes on! Wait for instructions please! :D

Here are all the details of the challenge - so at least keep your clothes on until you read them.

We're giving away Fan Club Memberships too so you'll definitely want to play.

For my challenge sample, I used this week's Mix-Ability challenge for inspiration. Kyra challenged us to use Versamark and chalk or pastels, so I decided to bust out my Pan Pastels that I bought in Santa Fe in 2012 and still had not opened. (Shame on me.)

I taped this stencil down over my Whisper White card base and then used my Ranger blending tool to apply Versamark all over the cardstock.

I removed the stencil and used a sponge to apply Pan Pastel in Ultramarine, Phthalo Green Tint and Hansa Yellow Shade.

They have such a soft feel to them - it's not like chalks at all - it feels more like a very silky makeup powder. I'm in love. They work so well with Versamark.

Since I wanted the technique to be the star of the show, I chose just a small greeting from Christmas Messages and a little snowflake from Snowflake Soiree. I added a teeny rhinestone to the center and voila - a streak!

Now that is a very self confident streaker!

Now, I have to bring you another crockpot recipe.

Dina sent this one to me. I modified the recipe of course - the original one called for fish sauce, which reeks like roadkill, so that wasn't an option. I always substitute ponzu or hoisin, or sometimes a mix of the two. For this recipe I used ponzu. Also, for some reason, once again the internet brings us a recipe without salt. I don't get it. So I had to use a lot of added salt. I like my peas crunchy, so I did something different with those. Finally - it needed heat - I don't think Thai food is completely done if it doesn't make my face sweat. I added a LOT of pequins - more than most humans would like - so use cayenne to taste if you want to spice it up. It is INSANELY delicious. Even my completely anti-soup human LOVED it and came back for thirds.

Enjoy! Then take your clothes off and come play in my challenge!

Thai Crockpot Chicken Soup

2 tablespoons red curry paste

2 12 ounce cans of coconut milk

2 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons ponzu or hoisin

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into 1/4 inch slices

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 heaping tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

40 chile pequins, crushed, or serrano, Thai chili or cayenne for heat 

1 cup frozen peas

juice of 1 lime

cilantro for garnish

cooked white rice

salt, to taste (it needed 4-5 teaspoons)

chopped peanuts 

Mix the curry paste, coconut milk, chicken stock, ponzu sauce, brown sugar and peanut butter in a 4-1/2 to 6-quart slow-cooker bowl. Place the chicken breast, red bell pepper, chiles, onion and ginger in the slow cooker, cover and cook on high for 4.5 hours.

Cook the rice in chicken stock instead of water. (I toast my rice first - I think it tastes better that way.) When the rice is done, add the frozen peas, stir and replace lid, while you stir the lime juice into the soup.

To serve, put rice in a bowl and pour the soup over the top. Garnish with cilantro and chopped peanuts. 

(Original recipe)

Whisper my name.

NOW You May Pass Go and Collect Your Holiday Cheer

In my one woman crusade against being rushed, I am now pronouncing that you can OFFICIALLY begin to think about Christmas with my full blessing.

The last few pieces of pumpkin pie are lingering in the refrigerator, and the turkey is being transformed into pot pie and tetrazzini, so now, and only now, is it appropriate to look forward to Christmas.

So it is said, and so it shall be written. Here endeth the lesson.

Yesterday was Small Business Saturday and I did it up right. We went to Renegade Craft Fair and bought Christmas presents from local artists. And perhaps a few things for ourselves. Then on to Blue Genie - which is also a craft fair, but the artists are not at the booths - it's set up more like a store - very relaxed, fun, no-pressure event. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable to walk past an artist without buying anything, so this event takes that discomfort out of the equation.

Then we had lunch at Salt and Time, a local restaurant, the owner of which we met at a Renegade Craft fair a few years ago while he was trying to build up his business. Now he has a beautiful brick and mortar butcher shop and deli and it was really incredible. Highly recommend if you are in Austin any time soon.


Last stop of the day was at Austin's completely amazeballs independent bookstore - Book People.

I have a present for nearly everyone, and nearly all of them are handmade, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Now for the enabler alerts.

My favorite find of yesterday was this STUNNING laser cut felt peacock purse from Keeper Goods.

LOVED these floral illustrations by Ginably.

Gorgeous terrariums by Urban Anonymous.

And in the non-local, non-handmade great deals category - via Kristina Werner - a great deal on a nice little sewing machine!

Whew. That was a lot of shopping!

Time for a little handmade of my own.

This is for today's Challenge Chick's December challenge - which I'm hosting!

The challenge is to shed those winter layers and make a one layer card.

I got all tricksy and used the INSIDE of my card too, thanks to my oval framelits. Heh. Booya!

I used the Northern Lights technique AND the glowing lights technique on a masked portion of the inside of my card. Then I stamped the little deer from The Cat's Pajamas in black. Hard to see here, but I sprayed the masked "snow" portion with glitter spray so it's all sparkly.

I cut the oval in the card front with my oval framelits. Then I stamped the greeting from O Holy Night in black on the front. Simple!

This is our last challenge for 2013 - come play along - use keyword CHXDEC13 on Splitcoast!

And with that official pronouncement behind us, feel free to begin your merrymaking.

Loveyameanitbye.

Happee Fangsgivings!

I remember when my grandfather - my mom's dad - came to Thanksgiving in Texas when I was little. He always wanted to go on a walk.

It's not usually very cold here at Thanksgiving, but this year it is, and one year when he came it was. For some reason that particular walk was very memorable - stomping around our neighborhood, freezing, watching little swirly winds carry the leaves around. Not really anyone around, to speak of.

I was pretty young - maybe the reason it's so memorable is that it was the first time I really remember Texas feeling like autumn. Doesn't happen very often, you know. :)

If it's not 30 squillion below zero where you are today you should take one of these quiet holiday walks. Bring a little stir-crazy human. Maybe they'll blog about it in for- er, twenty something years.

 

 

Stamps: Magnificent Maple

Ink: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait, Pumpkin Pie (see how I did that?)

Paper: Whisper White

Accessories: Birch Drinking Straw, flattened, rhinestones

 

Oh! And happee fangsgivins <3 me & hand turkey :).

 

Glowing Lights

At almost EXACTLY this time last year, I was reading along in the Splitcoast forums  and found a thread where someone was wanting a blurry Christmas light effect on her card.

As always happens, a genius - in this case Gregzgurl (Sue) - popped along a few posts later and figured out how to do it.

So since sometimes Beate leaves the place unlocked, I snuck in and did the tutorial today on just that - glowing lights. As Sue says, it's really pretty simple - just a dot of white gel pen and my pastels, which I've really been neglecting. They are perfect for this technique.

  And it doesn't have to be Christmas lights either - I think it's adorable for little skyscrapers.

That incredibly perfect greeting is from Feel Goods.

Wanna see a video on how to do it? Sure you do - you're off today right? If not, just watch it at work. :).

Loveyameanitbye.

So Two Cats Walk Into a Bar... Naked

I have really weird dreams. Many of them recur, like this one. And we've all had the dream about accidentally going to school or work nekkid, which I really don't understand. How can we all have that one dream in common?

Not too long ago, I was working, and Maddie came and sat next to my arm and just howled in my face until I took a petting break. I made the mistake of putting a soft, flannel leopard scarf that I bought in Central Park in 2001 on my desk next to my keyboard so this poor, deprived animal could be near me during her 16 hours of daily sleep. This scarf is awesome - so heat reflecting that I've actually used it as a coat in the intervening 12 years on those odd cold days, so she loves it. Most days, both kittens are smashed together on it while I work. The advantages of working from home.

But boy, do they dream. I can see them running, they cry sometimes, and very frequently Maddie eats in her dreams, with hilarious little smacking sounds.

Sometimes the dreams are so terrible that one or the other of them will shoot straight up in the air and off my desk and go collect themselves in another room. Poor little things.

So my question is, when animals dream, do they dream impossible things like we do? One time I had a dream that a car I was driving turned to newspaper and fell apart. Do cats dream that they're chasing a mouse, but then that mouse turns into Sherlock Holmes and they help him solve a mystery? What are a cat's imaginary images, I wonder?

These are just the things I think about every day.  Then sometimes I stamp.

I made this card for a Hope You Can Cling To challenge. I sponged a faint grid onto the background through drywall tape. Then I stamped the tree from Branch Out in black, and made the snow with the stamp in that set and Coastal Cabana ink, which I also sponged around the edges. Then, I took my awesome refillable acrylic marker and made white snow on top.


What are you doing for Thanksgiving? I've seen some interesting posts about regional differences in food. I remember the shock and horror of my uncle's oyster stuffing one year when we visited Maryland. No. Just no.

I made a FABULOUS side dish yesterday from my friend Blair that you must try - I think I'll bring it on Thanksgiving.

It's called "paleo" which I always find hilarious. Real paleo people lived to be about 23 years old. Not really sure that's what the paleo diet people are shooting for.

Regardless, it's delicious. Here is the original, and below, with my modifications.

Cauliflower casserole


    2 heads of cauliflower
    4-5 pieces of bacon
    6 green onions
    1 stick of butter
    ¼ cup heavy cream
    6 oz of chèvre (goat cheese)
    2 tsp. salt & pepper to taste

Cut the cauliflower into florets, and boil until soft. Drain.

While cauliflower is cooking, bake bacon in oven on 400 for 15 minutes or until crisp. Drain on paper towel and then crumble.

Wash & chop up green onions. Saute them with 2TBS butter in saucepan until soft. When finished, add to cauliflower with rest of butter, cream and salt and pepper. Mash with a potato masher. Add chèvre, crumbled bacon and put in buttered baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Eat. Whisper my name.

It's like creamy, cosmically delicious grits, sort of. So amazing.

And the Only Appropriate Response is Gratefulness.

Stamps: Joy to the World

Paper: Watercolor Paper

Ink: Whisper White, Reinkers

Accessories: Faber-Castell XS Pitt Artist Pen

"And the only appropriate response is gratefulness."

Perhaps the wisest sentence I've ever heard.

This video is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

EnJOY.

The Girl's Got Moxie

I don't remember my life before everything I owned had a smudge of paint on it.

I remember that it existed. I just don't remember the details.

I don't remember when I didn't like sushi.

I don't remember a lot of things.

But I do remember the day I discovered Cath Edvalson and the Moxie Fab blog.

I'm weird about challenges. I'm too right brained for some and too left brained for others.

Her challenges spoke to me. They were the perfect blend of inspiration and flash. Her style is very bold, and her challenges were bold.

My favorite cards I've EVER MADE I made for Cath's challenges.

Here's one. Here's another. Here's another. Here's another.  Here's another.

As I go into mourning that she is leaving Paper Crafts and Moxie Fab World, I feel such a deep sense of gratitude for her that it's hard to feel completely sad.

Cath - you made me a better artist. I love you. I'll miss you, but I hope that whatever is next for you is also a part of my life.

Thank you for being so sweet and gracious in real life - I felt very star-struck when I met you at CHA even though you are the most down-to-earth, humble lady in our industry.

Bless you and wherever your new path brings you. You've got moxie, and little else is required.

I made a card for her and our hop today. (To see the full hop list please click here.) I wanted to send a "just keep swimming" message, as well as  a nod to the orange and blue style path she set me on with her challenges.

I used an old Stampin' Up! set - Oriental Brushstrokes. I created the background with a credit card and ink and acrylic paint. The turquoise paint was applied with the end of a piece of drywall tape. After I stamped the image in black, I filled in the fish with Crystal Effects - you can sort of see the shine here.

God speed, Cath. :)

If you came here from Shemaine, then your next stop is Jenn.

Thanks for coming by!

Meet Me At The Vanishing Point

I took a drawing class last weekend with Eve Larson.

It was hard. And most excellent.

We spent a lot of time on perspective, which was really cool. One exercise was to work on the vanishing point, and she turned it into a sweet love story.

There are these two little lines.

They love each other, but they are parallel, so they go on and on and on, never to be together.

But in this one magical place, they meet.

They meet out on the horizon, at the vanishing point.

Everything will be okay in the end. If it isn't okay, it isn't the end. :)

I made this card using today's Northern Lights tutorial on Splitcoast. I was really taken with her sample.

I've seen the northern lights exactly once in my life. It was the summer that I lived in Friendship, Maine.

Maine is an odd place. When I was little, we went camping there and I remember being creeped out by it then too. It's cold, even in the summer, and it was the first place I ever saw leeches and a bullfrog as big as a galvanized trashcan. It was also the first place I ever had a Necco Wafer (gross), given to me by the old guy that fished on the dock near our campsite every day. That was before you weren't supposed to take candy from strangers. I am still transported back to the moment when I tasted that horrid thing on the dock whenever I see them at the store. Who the heck thought they could call that candy and get away with it?

As an adult, I was also a little creeped out by Maine - the landscape there is troubling to me - I don't like water or coastlines, and the trees there are tall so I can't get a good look at the sky. I'm a prairie girl and it's so deep in my psyche that I just get freaked out in places that look like Maine.

But one night, driving home from my job in Camden, I saw the northern lights. An alien spaceship may as well have landed in front of me - that's how bizarre and terrifying it was. The lights weren't colorful like my card - they were just shades of a deep red. It looked like a big theater curtain rippling across the sky. After I processed the sight and realized it wasn't the end of the world and it was a normal phenomenon, I enjoyed it as one of the most wonderful things I've ever seen. Creepy and wonderful.

Loveyameanitbye.

Oh Deer!

It's opening weekend of deer season this weekend in the Great Republic. The Other has been off hunting all weekend, which means that I have eaten nothing but vegetables and taken art class all weekend. I told Lori I was super excited because this is three days I don't have to eat chicken. The Other loves chicken. I love acorn squash.

Oh, speaking of, you MUST make these Martha Stewart acorn squash that sweet Bev introduced me to. This is one of the best things I've ever eaten.

However, as I do not have any chainsaw wielding servants around the house, let me give you a tip that was not available to me prior to trying this recipe. Stab your squash a few times and then microwave it for a few minutes before cutting it in half. This will keep you from cursing me and/or cutting your hand off. Highly recommend.

Then do this, and whisper my name. :)

AHmazing Martha Stewart Acorn Squash

Preheat oven to 425. After stabbing and nuking your acorn squash, cut it in half as evenly as possible. Slice a wee bit off each end also so that they sit level. Scoop out all the seeds. Gross.

Butter a piece of parchment paper and put it on a cookie sheet with sides, and put the squash cut side down on the buttery paper. Bake for 25 minutes. Pull them out and pierce the insides all over with a fork. I forgot this step, which means I ended up with little buttery brown sugar hot tubs inside my squash - which was fine, but do what I tell you to do please. No back talk. Sprinkle each half with salt and pepper, and then put 1 TBS of butter and 1 TBS of brown sugar in each half. Return to the oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until delightfully soft and squishy.

My friend Rebecca brulees the sugar on top after they come out with a torch, which I thought was brilliant.

I think a tiny dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream on these would be divine, but God knows I can't leave anything without a ton of dairy products alone. 

Best part? No dishes to do!

Original recipe here.

Today is Challenge Chicks challenge day! Sweet Kelly is our hostess today and she gave us this sketch:

So I made my deer season card by taking a full sheet of labels - I used this kind - and running it through my big shot with my Ovals Framelit to make a mask.


I stamped the deer from Remembering Christmas in black on my card front and then placed the mask over it. I patted the label paper on my jeans a few times to remove some of the tackiness before putting it on my card. You can also pat it on your cat or dog - whatever you have handy.

Then I took a long Post-it™ note and tore it in that mountain shape. Keep both halves of the Post-it - you'll need them. I put the mountain shaped one on the bottom and sprayed the top half of the card with a mixture of Tempting Turquoise and rubbing alcohol. Then I took the negative of the mountains and masked off what I just sprayed. I sprayed the bottom with a mixture of Butterscotch and Terra Cotta Adirondack Color washes.

I removed all masks and pierced the left edge for the vertical sketch element with my piercing tool & mat. 

Wow - just noticed - that's an 11 point buck! And I didn't even have to leave the house!

Hope you're having a good weekend. I'm off to day two of my drawing class which I'll tell you about soon.

Loveyameanitbye.