WIPS - Ode to Corn

Working on a new series

Ode to Corn No. 1

Thank Heavens for Mondays...

I'm back sorta, I managed to ressurect my 12 year old computer so am now able to resume printing fabric, editing photos, and continue writing on the newest eBook. As to when my other computer will be fixed, well lets just say that at this point I've given up on my other computer I have a solo show I'm hanging at Mary Greeley Medical Center this coming Thursday and I want to focus on that task instead.

Ode to Corn No. 1
One of the new pieces I'm finishing for my upcoming solo show, natural dyed cotton and silk fabrics, machine stiched using Aurifil Cotton threads.

My eBooks are available still!!! In case you were wondering with all of my computer troubles yes the ebooks are definately still available!  The eBooks live on a seperate server, I knew several years back that this would one day be a very imporant thing to do. 

Whilest cleaning my wet studio I found two copies of the Mark Making with Nature DVD in my stash, this is your last chance to obtain a physical copy of the DVD before I digitize it and make it a digital download only! 

If your interested in a copy of the DVD please email me the price is $49.95 plus $4.95 shipping 

Love Is...

Kind, Patient, and Generous with ones body heat!  John catching a few zzzz's with Pepper cuddling on his chest, and Angel by his feet... and yes I need to vacuum that carpet yikes!

Spagetti Sauce

Mrs Guidicessi's Spaghetti Sauce:

2- 12 oz can tomato paste 1 medium onion
2- 15 oz can tomato sauce 1 tsp. sugar
1 - 2 lb good stewing meat salt and garlic salt to taste
(you may combine park neck, 1 jar mushrooms, whole or pieces bones, veal, or chicken)

Wash and dry meat that has been cut into serving size pieces and brown in 2 T oil in large saucepan, at least 4 qt. size.

Add chopped onion, cook until soft, watching constantly so it does not burn. 

Add tomato paste with seasonings, be careful of salt, do not add too much, as you can add more if needed. Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, then add tomato sauce, after it has simmered another 10 minutes.

Add two tomato paste cans of water and simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours, checking it periodically. If it is too thick add a little water.

You may also add 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper and 1/2 black pepper for a spicier sauce. Better to have too thick as you can add water. Altogether cook the sauce at least 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours. slowly, covered. Add the mushrooms with the tomato paste and sauce.

That is the basic recipe. Instead of sugar I use 1 tsp. anise seed ground in a mortise and pestle. Instead of garlic salt I use 3-4 cloves garlic minced. I also add 2 tsp basil and 2 tsp oregano. I also do not use the stewing meat.

Meat Balls
1 lb ground pork butts, lean
1 tsp black pepper
2C bread crumbs
2 tsp sweet basil
1/2 C grated Romano cheese
salt and garlic salt to taste
2-3 eggs (according to size)

Place meat in a large bowl, season with salt and garlic salt. Pour bread crumbs over,add cheese. sprinkle black pepper and crushed sweet basil. Add eggs and mix as if you were mixing a meat loaf. If the mixture is too stiff, moisten with a little milk until it is the consistency to roll into ball. About an hour and 15 minutes before the sauce is to be served roll into balls about two inches in diameter using milk or water to moisten hands. Drop into sauce and do not stir until balls are nice and firm.

Instead I use 1 lb breakfast sausage from Fareway ( local midwest grocery store) and 1 lb lean ground beef. Four slices regular bread turned into crumbs in the blender. You can also make the balls smaller.

Computer Issues - STILL 022312

Well after spending 28+ hours installing the new platform, etc the computer crashed and refuses to be revived. Will know more this coming weekend, hubs is letting me use his computer but it doesn't have the bells and whistles that my machine has, unfortuantely.

Computer Issues

Well after spending 28+ hours installing the new platform, etc the computer crashed and refuses to be revived.  Will know more this coming weekend, hubs is letting me use his computer but it doesn't have the bells and whistles that my machine has, unfortuantely.

What to do redux!

All ripped out!

I'm much happier now, I should have ripped everything out several months ago!!!

New Harvest Pieces - WIP

Two almost done four more to go!

What to do???

I started picking the flowers off and am now debating removing the corn as well, it's flat and does nothing for me.  An option would be to hand couch some more yarns onto the piece to make it more dimensional... or maybe not.

More Frames

Raised panel frames 3x9 inches that John made for me for a new series.

A stack of deep faced frames for my textile work ready to recieve glass, bumpers/spacers, and artwork!

The master and his craft!

Coat number one of black stain now applied to the framing stock.

Framing Material

Frames in Progress

A new batch of deep faced frames for my textile pieces in progress.  So far the framing material has been cut out and sanded multiple times, now for the staining process, these will be black.  I'm truly blessed because my husband is willing to make these for me.

Office Update 021512

Well the computer is still on the fritz!  There are a couple of things that are not working in my favor and one of those is that my power supply, a whopping 650 watts and top of the line back is 2006, is now out of date and too small, I need a minimum of 850 watts to do what I'm doing. 

My fear was what am I going to do now???

 Hubs tells me tonight that the east bedroom, our guest bedroom, is on it's OWN circuit breaker and it's a whopping 20 AMPS!!! How lucky am I, well this does present a challenge because this means I'll be moving my office AND the guest bedroom.  The flip side is more cleaning and down sizing.

Today I spent the day power cleaning my studio, organizing, etc., and spent a whopping 60 minutes stitching.  Tomorrow it'll be more like three hours of stitching.

Photos tomorrow of what I'm not sure but you can be assured there will be photos.

Studio Update 021412

Drying rack now organized, the rest of the studio space through the arch.

Hutch put back together and my work area finally organized.

The second tray finally has paint!

The first tray with it's rather "organic" paint job.

Hutch Update 021212

Shelves are finished, as finished as they will get for the dead of winter, and installed!  Now to load them with the rest of my inks and paints.

Studio Update 021212

Waiting on one of the large shelves to finish drying before I start putting heavy items on it, waiting for paint to dry/cure can be torturous!  The two floral teapots on the top shelf belonged to my mother, they really pop against the verdant green color.

Crayola Twistable Crayons

I grew tired of digging them out of their little plastic containers so I put them in white hobb nail milk glass container I had sitting on a shelf, collecting dust of course. 

Pretty in Pink - Hat Detail

Computer Issues

I'm still having computer issues, and am using hubbies computer in the interim.  We are hoping to have the audio issues dealt with tomorrow, sounds simple but in fact this particular issue won't allow the computer to boot up properly.  In the mean time I'm getting LOADS of things done because I"m not on the computer, which makes this experience quite the eye opener!

Studio Time

Spending time in the studio stitching this afternoon, enjoying the sunlight streaming through my window.

Constructed Cloth Yo-Yo's

Silk throwster's waste made into a sheet of constructed cloth backed with a piece of my silk chiffon fabric that was compost dyed. I made the fabric in December and didn't get any further with the project, last night I was browsing through my flickr and was greatly inspired by Nellsembroidery constructed cloth Yo-yo's and thought I might try it with some of my own constructed cloth made from silk throwster's waste. They are wonderful!

I will be using these, and some that I'm manipulating, for a new canyonlands piece I'm working on.