Egg Noodles and Homemade Broth

Nothing better and super easy to make.

How to make the noodles here.

How to make you own broth here.

Saute your favorite veggies. Add broth. Bring to a boil.

Add noodles. Add pieces of chicken or turkey.

And viola! Best soup ever.

Winter Wonderland

My lovely sister on a lovely winters day in lovely Michigan.

Tree Me

More of my recent work...

Mother natural

Painted on an old cutting board.

the pattern of leaves

Sewing patterns, gesso, house paint, pens and watercolor pencils...

....are just a few of my favorite things.

Home sweet Home

I could go for a summer Michigan day right now.

Craft In America

Since the husband and I got rid of our TV we have been using the awesome PBS website to watch some of our favorite shows. We recently just finished the Craft In America series. I am blown away by it. I want to watch it all over again right now! The stories, themes, craftsmen and artwork are beautiful and honest.

I am so excited to see what my husband will do with all of the skills he is obtaining as a welder. I know he is excited too. I would love to learn more about working with wood. I am thinking of taking a local wood turning class. Something about having the skills to create such a tangible, yet beautifully made, object really appeals to me. I enjoy making paintings to hang on the wall. To have an object that you have made that you can use everyday, like a bicycle a teapot or wooden bowl, is really something special though. When you live in a world where everything is mass produced I think you can really feel the soul and spirit of a handmade thing when you encounter it.

Bowl made by Phillip Moulthrop

Woot!

I spotted these owls made by Blue Fire Studio a few days ago and I have not been able to stop thinking about them. Amazing colors and textures! I also have decided I really appreciate it when artists are really good creating a piece that is rough and raw but still really well crafted. In fact, I think I prefer a piece to have a little bit of "purposeful imperfection". Perfect things have never appealed to me.

In love!

I am in LOVE with this handmade necklace by labyrinth vintage. There is a little story that goes along with it too...so great! It is such a great price for a handmade piece. I love the design. And the size. And it is about a DOG! Which I LOVE! And did I mention I LOVE it!?

Missing you

“Strangers are exciting, their mystery never ends. But, there's nothing like looking at your own history in the faces of your friends.”

Ani Di Franco

Where the trails were covered in gold

We are rich.

Adventures in wood burning

This piece was inspired by my most favorite season. I made the leaves using a wood burning tool that the hubby got for me as a surprise one afternoon. I didn't learn until after I did this that it is NOT a great a idea to burn this treated type wood....eek! But I survived/learned my lesson and got some basswood. It still turned out even though my wood burning skills are not up to par. The rest of the piece is done with oils.

Never Complete

This is one of those paintings that at first I dislike greatly but then it sits around long enough that I start doing strange things to it....then I start to like it...kind of. Let's see if it sits around long enough for me to do more strange things so that I will like it more.

Get real

So lately I've been feeling kinda bad because last winter I started an amazing yoga teacher training program at InBody and I have not had the ability lately to work on completing my hours to become certified like I want to.

I was home photographing some artwork that I have done in the last year and all of a sudden I stopped "feeling bad". I realized that even though I have not yet completed my hours yet to become a yoga teacher I still received what I had been looking for. And what I was looking for was not necessarily to memorize Sanskrit name for poses or to be able to bend into a pretzel....What I was looking for was something to shake me to the core, wake me up and make me realize what I need in life to feel whole.

As a part of our training we went to a retreat where I made this collage. I don't even remember what directions were given to us...but something snapped in me the moment I sat down in front of all the magazines, papers, scissors and glue sticks . I knew I wasn't going to be judged on if my collage was "good" so I just went for it and created what I felt represented my true self.

The collage hangs in my studio now and I am so grateful for it and the experience of that retreat. It is changing the way I think about art and craft and more importantly it changed the way I think about myself. It is more important to be authentic in everything you do...even if it doesn't make for the prettiest picture.

1st photo taken by Daisy Johnson

We visited the clouds

And then it was winter...

Oh the possibilities...

Zucchini and I are friends AGAIN!

I will never make brownies without zucchini again thanks to this amazing recipe.

I like my mom...

...and not just because she sends me neat stuff in the mail.

Thanks ma!

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Sauce

Lots of recipes for homemade tomato sauce ask you to boil the tomatoes then peel the skins. I don't get why. This way is much more flavorful and easier too. I just set the oven to 350 degrees then oiled a pan with olive oil. Then I cut up chunks of tomatoes from the garden and peeled 6 cloves of garlic and threw it all on the pan. Sprinkled with sugar and salt. Then let it sit in the oven for an hour. Took them out and strained out all the excess water, blended it all with some fresh basil and parm.

Voila!

Dream Home

There is a thing in me that dreamed of trees,

A quiet house, some green and modest acres

--Mary Oliver