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With the house quiet and clean, I've been working long hours out in the studio. Now that I have a XXL large work table (will post photos once I get enough of it cleaned off so you can see it) I can spread out even more! It was great working last night and having Annie be able to fit under the table happily chewing on a mom approved toy and Squeak bouncing around the table without getting in my way.
I have tons of this clown paper left over from a custom invitation project. I now have to think of how many things can make with the leftovers. This is the first of three cards for my card kits at Memories Live On.
I still have not taken pictures of the cards I'm making for my two week challenge but I did want to post some cools cards I received from one of my Circle Journal buddies - Toni Armstrong. It's helps to get the creative mojo going when you get fun cards in the mail. :)
There are tons of ground squirrels at the park I take Annie to every morning. We don't actual see a lot of them, but Annie will make a tennis ball deposit at least once a week. On a rare occasion the squirrels will push out all the tennis balls that have fallen into the holes. Always a major score for ball focused dogs. This morning after a hour of ball throwing and playing with two husky puppies, Annie still wasn't tired enough. After breakfast she decided to chew on my back up computer under my desk. The mouse never had a chance. Yes, the bad girl is now outside thinking maybe she should have stayed with her tennis balls.
Today will be what I will call a "ground squirrel" day. I plan to stay home and get all those housekeeping things done on my to do list as well as get some class samples done.
I made Parmesan crisps for day three of my cooking challenge. I've switched to a new cookbook after bombing with the Cook's Illustrated. Being more a salad person, I picked up "Salad Dressing" by Jessica Strand. I hope I have better luck with this cookbook.
I think I didn't bake my crisps long enough and added too much butter, so I will try it one more time.
Annie is doing well with her swimming lessons. She really likes to swim and would stay in the pool all day if I would let her.
So on day two of my cooking challenge I made Shepherd's Pie. I couldn't find ground lamb so I made it with hamburger. It was just ok like the ramen recipe. I'm thinking I need to cook out of another cookbook since Cook's Illustrated skillet recipes book is just not cutting it. I've never had Shepherd's Pie before but this one was tasteless and not worth the time it took to make it. Evan requested something with more real veggies (meaning not cook to death) and with a side salad. I picked up a cookbook for salad dressing recipes so I will be making something from that tonight.
Took Annie to a friend's house for her first swimming lesson. She was unsure of what to do for a few minutes but after that she took to swimming like a duck to water. After she learned were the steps were, she was doing full body leaps into the pool. When the doggie pool toys came out she was a very happy puppy.
The first recipe I cooked on my two week challenge was Ramen (not your cup of noddle type) with Beef, Shiitakes and Spinach. Evan is home for the weekend (doing a mountain of laundry) so she helped review the meal. Overall it was good but there are some pre-packaged Japanese ramen mixes that are just as good. I guess if you don't live in an area with a large Asian population it would be hard to find so this recipe would be the next closest thing. Sorry I can't give you the name of the store mix, it's in Japanese and I only know it by the packaging. I would have added more Shiitakes mushrooms and baby bok choy instead of the spinach. It's not a recipe I would try again.
Hubby is leaving in the morning for his annual visit back to what he likes to call "the mother land" Michigan. While he's gone, I plan to challenge myself and do something new everyday. One of my favorite movies is Julie/Julia, so along that line, I will try a new recipe everyday for the next two weeks from the Cook's Illustrated cookbook.
I picked this cookbook because you can make everything using only a skillet. On top of that I will design a new card everyday too. That will be the hardest part of my two week challenge. I haven't been in a very creative mood. Annie is now at her full German Shepherdness and has the bark/bite to back her up. She is getting more protective when at home with me and is always at my side. Wish me luck and check my blog to make sure I'm staying on task. :)
Another card for the ladies down at the Senior Center today. I keep the cards simple so we can get four different cards done in an hour. I picked this Gina K Designs set up at a used rubber stamp flea market last month. The next flea market will be at Scrapbook Island in August. Cranberry Hill in Sunnyvale will host their flea in September. If your looking for stamps, Cranberry Hill is the one to check out.
Two cards I will be doing for my free card class down at the Yu Ai Kai Senior Center. I picked up five sets of Gina K Designs stamps at the Memories Live On paper crafters flea market last month for a $1.00 each. What a deal!!!
I used colored pencils on the egg card and Copics on the two owl card.
We went to our first Red Egg and Ginger party on Saturday up in San Francisco. It was interesting since I haven't attended one before.
Each guest is suppose to take an egg home after the party. I'm not a picky eater but if I have a choice, I won't eat hard boiled eggs. When I travel to third world countries, the only source of safe protein is hard boiled eggs. When I was in Nepal, we had them morning, noon and night. Food was not one of highlights of the trip. I still had to take in enough calories to keep my energy levels up while trekking so I ate eggs at every meal and while on the trail. I've eaten enough to last a life time.
My daughter has no issues with eggs so she took them home, I'm sure to make deviled eggs.
The kids got my hubby tickets to the Paul McCartney's concert at AT&T park in San Francisco this past weekend for his birthday. He's a major Beatles fan from way back, so it was a very thoughtful gift. They even got us a suite at a hotel in the city so we wouldn't have to make the long drive home after the concert.
I know everyone will say how great the concert was but really it wasn't so hot. Yes, Paul puts on a good show and did nice mix of music but his sound system team did a terrible job. The music was SO LOUD that you really couldn't hear music. A few times his equipment was not in tune (even Paul said so on stage and made changes) and his band members had to jump away from their microphones several times when they squeaked so loud it hurt. The fireworks was a nice showy touch to one of his songs.
It was sad to see so many middle aged people (who should know better) so drunk they had to sing along at the top of lungs to every song, even if they didn't know the words - yes I had seven of those idiots behind me. I guess getting drunk was the only way they could enjoy the show. Toward the end they started falling down or asleep in their chairs.
It would have been a more enjoyable show if people like my hubby were there to hear Paul play and sing his songs.
