Inspirations | Kitchen

Hrm, someday I will have an awesome kitchen. In the meantime I'll keep collecting photos in my decofile...here's my favourites (click here for more)

Scarf - Silk and Suiting

Scarf I made inspired by a pattern I saw in Denyse Schmidt Quilts But didn't buy because I figured I could just make it up. I'm not good at following patterns anyway :P

Anway, the suiting fabric is thrifted from old men's pants (don't worry I washed them) and the red raw silk is what the bridesmaids wore at my wedding. I've been hoarding the scraps for years. Oh, and one red stripe is some thrifted blouse.

I luuurve it.

Blog Tour: Marcher Lord Press - Day 3

And the winner is.....*drumroll*

Amber! Delightful artist and blogger at She Sure is Sketchy! Your prize will arrive via the internets shortly.

So Jeff corrected me. The deal with the free e-books is that if you order one book on launch day (Oct 1st) you will receive Into the Breach: The Marcher Lord in History and Legend and if you order two books you will get both that one and the woooonderful A Marcher Lord Gallery: Speculative Art by Christian Artists. So what are these books you want to buy to get the super cool artbook for free?


Hero Second Class by Mitchell Bonds is "a delightful roast of all the fantasy fiction elements we hold dear. It is said that only someone who loves something can truly lampoon it. So it is in this case. Bonds' novel is a riot."














The Personifid Invasion by R. E. Bartlett: "Bartlett is previously published. She is the author of The Personifid Project (Realms 2005).

In that previous novel Bartlett introduced us to personifids (not personifieds): human-like artificial bodies into which humans can transfer their consciousness and thus live forever.

The Personifid Invasion is the standalone sequel that continues to explore life in a far-future society in which death is no longer an issue, at least to those who can afford personifid bodies. "






Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy by Theodore Beale
"In Summa Elvetica Beale brings us a delightfully speculative what-if scenario: what if the Catholic Church (or something very like it) existed in a fantasy world in which dwelt non-human intelligent races like orcs, trolls, and elves?

At some point in such a world the leading ecclesiastics would have to wrestle with the question of whether or not these demi-humans have souls and therefore ought to be the subject of evangelization by the Church."

More info on these novels can be found at: Marcher Lord Press

Blog Tour: Marcher Lord Press - Day 2

First, a brief update on Hanna

-I have just finished another beautiful piece of art that I'm so proud of...and can't show off until February. I might burst.

-I have been given a big box of pears from my supervisor at work. I'm canning my second canner load and I think the rest will become pear sauce.

-Yesterday was the worst day I've had in ages
1) I slept like crap
2) I forgot I was supposed to teach aquafit and missed my class
3) More people wanted to look at the house. And they wanted me to leave. With pears in the canner. I made them wait.
4) My fish died
5) I was so distraught by this point that I forgot to go online and buy the Totoro Project Book. I woke up excited for it. I've been obsessed with getting this book for months, talking about it nonstop for a week. When I remembered to go online (4 hours after it had gone on sale) it was sold out. I cried a little. At work. Over an art book.

- On the plus side, it was the season premiere of Heroes.

Anyway, enough whining, as promised here's some of the other artists featured in the Virtual Coffee Table book that you can be entered to win just by commenting on my previous post.

Rachel A. Marks (aka Pixy)
She does lovely realistic charcole drawings. They tend to be very emotional which I love.


Sara M. Butcher
She does the standard angel/fairy thing, but her style is anything but average. Gorgeous colours and just overall loveliness.



Ken Raney
A new discovery for me through this project, Ken has a cool whimsical style. Love it.


And there are even more cool artists in the e-book! Enter now below!

Blog Tour: Marcher Lord Press

Alrighty, so this is a very exciting blog tour...because it comes with a giveaway! So be sure to read the whole post.

Jeff Gerke, who runs the website Where The Map Ends, is heading up a new Christian Scifi/fantasy publishing company called Marcher Lord Press. They are launching in 8 days with three books.

And here is the exciting part (for me): If you purchase a book on the launch day, you get a bonus e-book. Purchase more than one and you get them both. The first is a virtual coffee table book filled with art by Christian artists including me! It's a lovely book with 73 pages of beautiful artyness.

Here is a sneak peek of my original painting I did for the book:



Want to see more? Buy a book on the Launch day (Oct 1st) and get the e-book! Or...comment in this post to be entered to win your own free copy! Leave a comment below telling me what your favourite fantasy/sci-fi book of all time is. Or just leave a comment. I'll pick the winner on Wednesday at 6:00pm PST. Enter now! For The Win!

The second e-book is "Into the Breach: The Marcher Lord in History and Legend", an illustrated book regarding the historical inspiration for the theme of the Marcher Lord.

Come back tomorrow for a feature on some of the other Christian Artists featured, and Wednesday I'll give you some info on...you know the books.

In the meantime, here's some other blogs to amuse you.

Brandon Barr Justin Boyer Keanan Brand Kathy Brasby Jackie Castle Valerie Comer Karri Compton Courtney CSFF Blog Tour Stacey Dale D. G. D. Davidson Janey DeMeo Jeff Draper April Erwin Karina Fabian Kameron M. Franklin Andrea Graham Todd Michael Greene Katie Hart Timothy Hicks Joleen Howell Jason Joyner Kait Mike Lynch Terri Main Margaret Shannon McNear Rebecca LuElla Miller Nissa John W. Otte Steve Rice Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig Mirtika or Mir's Here Greg Slade James Somers Steve Trower Speculative Faith Laura Williams Timothy Wise Tina Kulesa Jason Waguespac

Chocolate Chipy Goodness

(photo from stock.xchng)

For Kait, here is my chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's from my Betty Crocker Cookbook. It's the recipe my mom, my aunt and my cousin all swear by. In my mind, there is no other recipe. Barb makes them tiny and undercooks them just a touch for chewy goodness. I make them a touch bigger (but still small) and get them just brown on the bottom. I also add less chocolate then it calls for. These stay nice and soft, but don't melt into the bendy puddles that some cookies do.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Evah!
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips


My adjustments are:
add 1 tsp vanilla
a bit more salt (I just prefer salty sweetness)
Instead of the chips I take a good bar of dark chocolate and chop it up. I love the bittersweetness and you don't need as much this way.

It makes about 4 dozen cookies they say. I sometimes eat a cookie or so worth of dough (bad I know, but I'd rather risk getting food poisoning someday for the years of yummy dough eating I have enjoyed). You bake for 10 min at 375.

Woodsy

Gorgeous wood and gold candlesticks by CLIO


Birch Sculpture by Karin Ericksson


Calvin Pendant by Potter Barn



Tree Stump Pillow by bebmoon


Bird Log Print by Matte Stephens

This is a sneak peak of an illustration I'm working on this week. And I need to get it done soon, and it's not going well between the headache and the fact that my computer seems to be gasping it's last breaths over here. Gah.

Anyway, my plan for the day...well it was going to start with the circuit gym class but...I'm still hurting pretty good from going yesterday. Hopefully I'll make Yoga tonight. But I'm over to Nelson today to do some banking and visit some family. And maybe buy some chocolate...

Who's stabbing me in the eyeball?

I have my period and a migraine. The two are not unrelated. Craig is gone all week.

:(

Solution? Two girlie movies and a tub of dark chocolate frozen yogurt.

And then sleep.


G'night.

Dear Fans from around the world.

Please only talk to me on MSN if you speak English. Thank you.

It doesn't have to be fantastic English buuut it's the only language I speak. And emoticons only go so far.

Also I am married and not going to fall in love with you. Sorry.

I like to meet new people, I do. Feel free to MSN me anytime and we can chat (in fact the address is on my contact page). But it will be in English. And not about my eyes. And I won't do free art for you just because you love me.

XOXO
Hanna

(I am currently trying to have a conversation with a guy (I think) from Turkey. Who I think likes my art on Deviantart? Or just my eyes? I don't know. It is however a step up from the person who added me and started sending me messages in Arabic. Arabic. I don't even know what the letters are.)

New Bedroom

Okay okay, my mom keeps harassing me to put up some photos of our new place. I'm slowly getting everything organized (slower with being away for four days :P) and the bedroom is now finished. Mostly. I still need to hang the art that's on our side tables.



I'm pretty happy with myself for the curtains, they used to look like this:


Can you feel the heavy shiny uglyness? Barb got me a set of curtains when she was at IKEA and I set them up with some drapery hooks I had around. Then I hung a sheet behind. It's much nicer now.


And it's very blue. Until I finish my new duvet cover!

Amigurumi Love

Amigurumi=little cute crotched things. What can I say, it's japanesness. Why don't I crotchet again?

Mary had a little beaver by ip2much


Ichiro the Bat by Sparrow-dream


Snails by Pepika


Gurumi Rainbow by Rosieok


Ninjin Oni (Carrot Monster) by pureEVA

Saucy

Sorry for ditching you guys again! I anticipate my life becoming normal again next week :P I've escaped my partially moved in house this week to visit my parents (because it's just been so long?). No really, the pool is shut down this week, Craig is away catching small mammals, dipping them in flourescent powder and then following their footprints around the woods at night. I'm not kidding. And I'm kinda jealous. But anyway I'm canning pasta sauce, roasted tomato soup, and pickled beets.



Want my amaaaazing pasta/pizza sauce recipe? Of course you do. I invented it last week. This makes one 5 Quart crock pot full...which is 3-4 3 cup jars. Which each make one good 2 person meal...so this recipe would serve...8-10 if you just ate it fresh.

Roast 4 or 5 sweet bell peppers. Just throw them in the BBQ until they're all charred, then throw them in a bag for a bit to steam. The skins will just flake off leaving yumminess beneath. Deseed and mince

Mince:
4 cloves garlic
4 smallish shallots

Fry in olive oil with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
Add a splash of cooking wine at the end (white wine is yummy in it)

Throw in the crock pot with the peppers and about 1/4 wine.
Mince a 1/2 cup or more fresh basil and oregano. You can use dried, but only use a tablespoon or so.



Blanch and peel tomatoes. fill the crock pot with diced tomatoes.
Salt to taste.

Let it simmer for a few hours, we leave it overnight to the next afternoon.
If it's still soupy add a couple small cans of tomato paste halfway through.

Enjoy!

I am doing my second and third crock pots today.


Also I got my amazon order! Hooray! I got a bunch of novels but I am really excited about these two books:

Little Stitches for Little Ones by Amy Butler, has some great sewing projects for babies. Considering the amount of babies in my life it seemed wise.

Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin is a great modern resource for handprinting, it covers stenciling, stamping and silk screening. My mind is buzzing with the possibilities!

Well, gotta go, I've got beets to pickle with Gramma :)

Settling In

Hey guys! Sorry for ditching you but a)life is busy and b)we're having issues with the router. So the upshot is that at the moment Craig's computer gets internet but mine...not so much. Is tragic.

But, we're getting settled in. The kitchen is mostly together as is the living room, bathroom and bedroom. The second bedroom resembles a disaster zone and I still haven't found a few things, but I think it's not too bad for less than a week here. Most of the artwork is back up on the walls which makes me feel at home again.

Tragically Craig's computer desk bit the dust when we tried to move it (it's been on life support for a few years now). So he's got the kitchen table for now in the living room. Making a big empty spot in the kitchen. We need to find a new desk. Also on the hunt for a spare bed...

I'm getting a new computer for my birthday/christmas present! This is very exciting as my current computer just isn't up to what I try to put it through. It will be nice to be able to draw without lag and occasional complete stalling which is what it's often like now. I'm figuring the specs out now and then we'll get it built and shipped from NCIX. We got Craig's computer pieces from them and they are helpful, quick and pretty decently priced.

Back to work, it's pretty slow this time of year, but it'll be nice to be making some monies again. Of course I have next week off because the pool is shut down...and Craig is gone...I need to make some friends! Probably I'll just sit around in my pajamas and draw all day.

I mean I'll finish unpacking...

Oh oh, and I canned 14 quarts of peaches! And made peach jam. By which I apparently mean peach sauce as it didn't set properly. Pretty yummy on waffles though...

That's life over here! Anyone else been canning or playing with food this week?