Not in Kansas anymore...

    I'm experimenting with colour! Forgive the bad camera...it is starting to die on me.

"Dreaming of You" copyright  J.L. 2011

"The Forest Door" copyright J.L. 2011

"Forest Door" Close-up

"The Rose House"copyright  J.L. 2011

Close-up of "The Rose House"

    Usually I draw with pen and ink, but I'm adding some colour to a few of my pieces and I'm playing with the effect... Above are a couple of my new cards and one of my "larger" (compared to my cards!--really just 8.5x 11") works. All three were drawn the way I normally would do a black-and-white piece, and the colour was added later. I used coloured pencils, and I like the softer feel that they add. Pen-and-ink can be rather harsh. I've tried before adding some coloured ink to my work, but found it looked too streaky (and scratchy-- since I used a metal-tipped calligraphy pen) in the end. I like the way the pencils shade and melt into each other: gentle, but still with a bold enough contrast from the ink.

      I'm toying with the idea of doing a large version (and this time I mean large: approx. 2 x 4 feet) of the secret door... though the leaves would take a very very long time! What do you think?

-J.L.

An Open Door

   I finally finished painting this old cupboard door I've been thinking about using for a couple of years! I had originally started to paint an image of old vines covering up a key-hole, but I did not like the way it was turning out... so, now several years later, I painted over the old image and started afresh. After reading the "Wood Stained Art" posting on MeOhMyMama, I was inspired to work with words instead of images. Unfortunately, since I had already painted my door (a few times over, actually), I couldn't easily do the staining... I'll save that for another project,,, perhaps something larger, like a headboard?

   Anyway, here is my finished piece. I have it propped up near our entrance way.

Art by me, Monkey by ZooExpress

     The words are a quotation from The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring), which was actually my husband's suggestion. I like it, because it works well with the fact that the wood is a door :) Also, it works well for our home, since David and I met at a Lord of the Rings movie marathon party! We are oh so romantic, I know ;)

-J.L.

   

     p.s.~ The Monkey in the photo was made by my sister as a gift for my son. His name is King George the 6th (since we had recently watched "The King's Speech," and since I hold to the belief that all monkeys should be named "George" or derivatives therefrom). If you would like to order a felt animal, her Etsy shop is ZooExpress. She does not currently have any sale listings, but you can message her for custom orders.

Zucchini!

    A few weeks ago, while visiting my in-laws we were given two giant zucchini. Actually, what happened was my in-laws had a group of friends over for brunch the weekend we were visiting.. One man brought two large zucchini with him and was offering them to anyone who wanted them, first telling us that he wasn't sure what they were. Nobody else seemed to know what they were either, though people thought that one of them might be a zucchini. To be fair, one was yellow... but no one seemed to believe zucchini could be yellow or so very very large! As well, nobody else knew what to do with  them even if they were zucchini. Sometimes I want to shake my head and sigh, "Grown-ups!" Then I remember that I am a grown-up, too...

    Anyway, my husband and I gladly took them and have been enjoying a month's worth of zucchini bread (of the chocolate-chip variety- yum!) and, most recently, stuffed zucchini: which turned out amazingly well! I've been trying to experiment with meals on a weekly basis and am having fun. I bought a new cook-book called The Silver Spoon which has been inspiring me, and I recently bought and decorated a menu-board for our kitchen... to help me plan ahead a little bit more. The Silver Spoon included a stuffed Zucchini recipe, but my own version ended up being a totally different meal. Here is a photo:

Mmm... stuffed zucchini!

And here is my recipe:

•  Zucchini (I used half of one large zucchini, then halved that for two "zucchini boats" or "zucchini bowls"... each section was about 1 foot long)
• Ground beef (lean or extra lean)
• Bacon (4-6 strips chopped up)
• 1 Onion (chopped)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 Tomato (chopped)
• Parmesan cheese (grated-- approx 2/3 cup)
• Mozzarella cheese (grated--approx 2/3 cup)
• 1 can of plain tomato sauce (approx 4 cups)
•  Dried basil (to taste; approx 1 tsp)
•  Dried oregano (to taste; approx 1 tsp)
•  Dried parsley (to taste; approx 1 tsp)
•  Salt & Pepper

1- Cook bacon, onion, garlic and grounds beef in a frying pan, drain grease

2- Grease casserole dish

3- Take your zucchini and cut it in half length-wise so you have two long "boats." Scoop out the middles and chop those up.

4- Mix zucchini 1/2-all of the zucchini innards (for lack of a better term :)) in a bowl with the tomato, spices, Parmesan, meat, and onion.

5- Fill the zucchini with this mixture. If there is extra, pour it around the zucchini in the dish.

6- Top the zucchini with the mozzarella cheese

7- Bake covered at 300 for roughly 1 hour (depending on you oven). Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes to brown the cheese.

   The taste was rather like lasagna... except with zucchini instead of pasta, and without the layers. Serve with garlic bread and salad. 

-J.L.