Rain's TADD and Nicole's FFO

 

Today Bleubeard and I are joining Rain's TADD.  I am still typing with one hand, since I believe I pulled a muscle in my left shoulder and hand.  If I thought typing with one hand was hard, try peeling a banana using one hand only.  It is impossible.

   I created this journal page for a challenge at Art Journal Journey in October, 2021.

  I showed this as a second look last month on the 2nd.  BTW, there are tons of faces, so Bleubeard and I will be joining Nicole and her Friday Face Off.

  Of course, I have to include a visit to Hatman Jack's.

  Both men's and women's hats are made and sold there.

For the dinner date,

I made these scrambled eggs I call my Chili Relleno hack.  I love chili rellenoes, but I don't like making them.  They take an entire day to get them just right.

However, I have found a way to make something that tastes similar, but without all the preparation time that is required to make them.  This is my own recipe, but I will share it with you.

Ingredients

4 eggs

2 T butter

1/2 can (2.25 ozs) chopped green chilies 

3 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1 onion diced thin to medium

6 ozs Monterey jack cheese cut into small chunks

1/4 c half & half

Directions

Heat butter over medium to medium high heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook for about six minutes until onions are translucent.  

Add chilies and cook for about three minutes more.

In the meantime, whisk four eggs till blended, then add half & half.  Blend

Reduce heat to medium low, then add eggs and milk to skillet.

Using a Teflon or wooden spatula or spoon, turn eggs as they start to form on the bottom of the skillet. When eggs begin to gel, add the cheese.  

Cook another minute, then remove from the heat. Do not allow eggs to overcook.

Thanks for dropping by today.  Bleubeard and I hope to see you at Rain's TADD and tonight at Nicole's Friday Face Off.  We will be by, but be aware, I am typing slower than usual and Bleubeard doesn't know how to type because he doesn't have opposable thumbs.

 

It's written in the stars and drinks

 

UPDATE:  I'm having trouble leaving comments.  I keep gettin "Failed to Publish." If you don't hear from me right away, that is why!!

It's once again time to join Erika our host this month at Art Journal Journey.  By now you may know her theme is RED.

Today's journal page is entitled "It's written in the stars." I've included a few detail shots, too.

Besides the fact these are faces, which means I can join Nicole and her Friday Face Off, I am also paying homage to Black History Month.

This entry is all about layering.  I started with a sheet of red dotted scrapbook paper, over which I layered a sheet of red paper with the white swirls and stars.  To that I layered flowers from an old calendar over a piece of washi tape.  Next, I added the three TH paper dolls.  I tried to write the words using my white gelli pen, but the words didn't show on the paper.  It was at that time I wrote it using my new pink Posca pen.

 

I also decided to join Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date (TADD) since it features Drinks this week.  Here are a few I have shared in the past.

  This was taken before I got my new porch.  I am drinking from one of my favorite mugs, Taylor and Ng. Not sure what loose leaf tea I was drinking, but you can see the tea ball in the ashtray that is NOT used as an ashtray.

  Speaking of Taylor and Ng, I am drinking red raspberry tea while tying some sage so it can dry.

  Since we were on the subject of Taylor and Ng, I love these even more now that I know they are considered collectors items.

   Although I couldn't get this image to enlarge, in the heat of summer, there was loads of time to dye paper, fabric, and gather tea bags for art. Of course, iced tea was usually on the menu.

For Thanksgiving, I always bring out my Grandmother's Old Curiosity Shop china. I use it from Thanksgiving through Christmas. The copper I will use any day of the year.

I called this Homage to my Grandmother.  The glass of tea and the pitcher (which looks surprisingly blue in the photo) belonged to her.  The quilt top was one I found in her stash after she died.

  Before my craft room table got cluttered with lots of tools and supplies, I actually served tea in here on occasion.  I was drinking Red Rose English Breakfast tea, a product that was originally sold only in Canada, although beginning in the 1970s, it became readily available in supermarkets in the US. It is a "fair trade tea." Red rose tea comes in a bag and I fixed two portions. One is in my carafe, the other in a plastic container. Both were sun tea and are now quite dark. You can see the ice cubes are melting from the heat of the day.

   The tea in the container was for making art.

I put the tannins from green tea to good use when I rusted fabric.

  Of course, you know I love my coffee.  However, here I am dyeing fabric using instant (YUK) coffee.

Here I dyed paper using coffee.

  I use my grungy mug when I work in the craft room or outside.  It has a lid, so there is no chance I will mistake it for dirty paint water and it keeps the elements out of my coffee, too.  Yes, that is coffee in my mug.  I use my red metal straw for everything at home because my neck doesn't go very far backward due to my birth defect which is similar to arthritis.  I was also trying to generate interest in having a Rolodex swap.  Seems there was no interest.

  I altered playing cards by covering them with tea bags.  However, the original idea had been to honor coffee.  It turned out, there were playing card pages that honored both tea and coffee. 

  I think this says it all!

  This was for a black and white challenge.

   I thought I would mix it up a bit by showing the free water I got at Autumn and Art, a juried art fair I attended in September last year.  I shared photos I took on Friday Smiles several weeks in a row.

I have coffee in my altered books.  That is some of my rejected handmade paper (made by me) I used for the background.  

  Another coffee spread in one of my altered books.

Here's another spread in an altered book.

This is from my food and drink altered book.  My friend Halle sent me the blank book.  I love French Roast coffee and cream so much, I had to make a two page spread in my altered recipe book. I think the reason the women look so haggard in the left photo is because they are drinking disgusting Maxwell House coffee! There's no substitute for good coffee ground fresh with each pot.

Then there is this unfinished Coffee altered book (AB).  When your altered book is not complete, it helps to keep it as flat as possible.  For my Coffee AB, I covered it with a bag from Mexico that originally had coffee beans in it.  I wasn't crazy about the coffee, but loved the bag.  That was why I chose it for this cover, along with a copper nameplate I stamped with  the word "Coffee."  If and when I choose to create more altered pages in this book, the cover won't get in the way.  

Granted, I have photos of me drinking buttermilk, egg nog, hot chocolate, and one beer, but I won't bore you with those.  Instead,

  here is tea (my drink/art) and my meal contribution, consisting of strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, and honey dew.  It's the perfect meal in my opinion.  Sorry I couldn't get it to enlarge.

Thank you for your visit today.  Bleubeard and I are thrilled you chose to drop by.  It means more than you know.  We will also be hanging out at Art Journal Journey and Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date (TADD) today and Friday Face Off tonight, so we hope to see you at these blogs, too.

Catch-up Day

 

Today you'll find Bleubeard and me at four blogs and joining their blog hops.  Before we begin, I am having troubles leaving comments on some blogs.  I get "Failed to Comment" that lasts more than a day.  If I don't have access to the person's e-mail, I leave comments to the blog hosts hoping they will contact the person I can't.

  How fortuitous that Fruit is what Rain's prompt is this week.  I've been eating on these mandarin oranges all week.

For the dinner part, I'm sharing the last of my oranges

that I paired with basil tomato crackers and Monterey Jack cheese.

For the art,

I'm sharing this with Erika, who some of you know as BioArtGal, our host this month at Art Journal Journey. She wants to see Red in our art.  

Let me introduce you to my Snow family.

 

Because they have faces, I'm also sharing this with Nicole and her Friday Face Off.

 I created a background by mixing a Staz-on reinker with 91% isopropyl alcohol, then spread it on the 110 lb white cardstock using a makeup sponge.  I cut a square of red paper, then wrote the sentiment using a white gel pen.  The focal image came from my stash.

Now it's time to join Friday Smiles, hosted by Annie (at A Stitch in Time). Let's visit Annie and the other wonderful ladies who also share their smiles each Friday.  I've dug up a few funnies for your Friday Smiles.  There's one in particular Annie might relate to!

 

It appears Vince, the sign guy has been outed and now creates signs for himself instead of for Indian Hills in Colorado (a state in USA).

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I'll stop here.  I'll share more next week.

Now it's time to visit Art Journal Journey, Rain's Art and Dinner Date, Nicole's Friday Face Off, and Friday Smiles.  I hope to see you at all these sites this week.