Sneak Peek at the Next Door Assemblage Collaboration ...

Even though I have not yet finished the last door assemblage hall tree thing - had to take a break for real life...tax preparations, newsletter, bookkeeping and more...


.... but here are some photos of the second door re-make that John has done so far... now it's up to me to sand it, repaint, sand more, stain and make look aged, then polycrylic and add the hardware back on ...



It may be after Easter when this one gets done, but I'm excited about the possibilities... any ideas on a color from anyone?






I do have a lot of red paint to use... daughter is telling me that an aqua color is popular now too ... we'll see... MORE TO COME

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UPDATE:  Here's a photo of the completed 1st Door Assemblage that was donated to a raffle to help a friend with major medical bills from an accident.  It went to a very worthy cause and friend!

Congratulations Bret and Patti!

Yesterday, St. Patrick's Day, our nephew, Bret, was married to our new niece, Patti. It was a beautiful day, in the 70's and sunny. The wedding was beautiful. I snapped just a few photos, but their photographer, Kasey K Photo, took over 4,000 photos and is in the process of picking the best 800 - 1000 of them for a photo CD they have ordered (and she'll post some on her blog later too). I'll be sure to grab some of those from her myself later... but for now...here are a few of my random shots of the wedding day....



Patti and her Dad about to enter the church to start the wedding ceremony...

The bride and groom ...




The reception, held at The Riviera in Lake Geneva, was the best! Most fun I've had at a wedding reception in years!

The wedding party entered the reception to some music, did a little dance, then everyone sat for comments by the best man and maid of honor, a prayer, and dinner... what else on St. Patrick's Day?! Corned beef and cabbage... and more! Delicious!



Here are just a few photos from the reception of family and friends and the fun we had.....
























More photos may be added at a later date.....

Attention Artists! New Call for Entries at ECVA

Here is information about The Episcopal Church & Visual Arts latest call for art...

Our lives reflect many intersections. Moments of non-duality. Distinct places in our individual lives, and yet places that do
not separate us from the whole of life. Places where we communicate more deeply. For the artist, intersections are places of both reaching and teaching; at ECVA, we say that
“we work at the intersections of art and faith.”

As an artist, where/what are your intersections?

For this open-studio exhibition, send us your best or your favorite work that reflects the intersections of your life.

Show us how as you reach in to create, you also reach out.

This exhibition is open to artists who are members of The Artists Registry @ ECVA.

For more information, check out the website here

Seared Scallops ... Yummmmm!

Seared scallops over broccoli cheese risotto ... it's what was for dinner...thank you Pinterest recipe! Yummmmmmmmmmm

I bought frozen scallops, thawed, rinsed, drained and patted dry with a paper towel. Seasoned with salt and ground pepper, a bit of garlic salt too. Melted a tablespoon of butter in a fry pan and when the pan was HOT, put in half of the scallops at a time. Seared each side about 2 minutes and they were done! Added to a bed of risotto. Delicious!

UpDate on the Egg Experiment Project AND the Door Assemblage Project

This may not be eggactly interesting to those who stop by my blog ... but here is an update on the Egg Experiment Project from a few days ago.
I had broken the first egg when goofing around with it ... and so, I started a new egg in a vinegar bath to "undress" it and now have another naked egg subject to experiment with.



So, here is my egg #2 after losing it's shell and soaking in water to see how much it enlarges ... according the the science experiment, it's suppose to get larger ... however, after 23 hours I do NOT see any larger egg...except when viewing it thru the water in the glass bowl..*lol*



I guess it's time to try and shrink the nekkid egg and see if it prunes up or not? ...STAY TUNED FOR MORE! *lol*

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And then there is the door assemblage project ... this first one is not going as smoothly as I had hoped... using an old color paint and having the stain not adhere as much as I had hoped is driving me crazy!..and making me add more coats of stain along the way ... so here is a photo parade of the project as it was, and is now ...






I may do yet another coat of stain ... MORE TO COME...

Sunday School Art Crosses - Pinning Our Hope on Christ

A friend from Church found a cross at a rummage sale a few months ago, and brought it to me to see if it was something that our Sunday School kids would like to make... and YES!! It certainly was! A really cool idea, using clothes pins to create a crucifix cross.

I asked for donations of old or new clothes pins, and John made some templates of a cross to attach the clothes pins to. We separated the clothespins from the metal springs, and then proceeded to assemble them.






The kids made some to take home, and others will be included in the upcoming "Through the Eyes of a Child, Lenten Experience Art Show" we'll be having during Holy Week at Church...a fun, and good craft to discuss how we can pin our hopes on Jesus, hanging on the promises of God!

WELL DONE KIDS!!

The Naked Egg Experiment ...

WARNING!! This post may be too much for some, if you do NOT want to see a naked egg, I suggest you advert your eyes to this post!!

I saw this idea at the Pinterest website, and thought it would be great fun for when the grandkids came for an overnight weekend...however, I couldn't wait until then... so for the past 30 hours, I have been involved in "egg porn". *lol* Trying to get this innocent egg subject, naked.

What was once a nicely clothed in white shell egg, has been encouraged to get naked! (with the help of a glass of vinegar, and a few soft massages along the way). *L*





First thing was to submerge the egg into a glass of vinegar, covering the egg totally. (also gently spinning it from time to time in the 15 - 26 hours it takes to dissolve the shell). During this time, after the first 14 hours, I took the egg gently out of the vinegar bath and rubbed the skin under water to help with the "undressing"...then put it back into the vinegar bath, several times I gave it an extra shot of vinegar to help in the "undressing" process. *g* (doesn't that song go... "tequilla makes her clothes come off"?..*L* seems a shot of vinegar helps as well!) You can see the process happening as the egg gives off little bubbles and some froth in the glass as it works.




My egg seemed to be a bit shy, and what was said to take between 12 - 24 hours, actually took, for my egg, about 28 hours. BUT, finally, after the final massage to remove more of the egg shell residue, my egg posed, in all it's glorious nakedness, for a photo op!

The outside shell is gone, and what was the inside membrane, which feels kind of rubbery now, is what is now holding in the uncooked yoke and white matter inside.

This website, Imagination Station, in Toledo, OH, gives more info on fun things to do with the egg once it is naked.

So, I am now moving onto the next part in my "Naked Egg Experiment" ... putting the naked egg into a larger glass of water, to see how much I can expand it!




According to the Imagination Station info ... "The makeup of the inside of the egg is around 90% water. If you put the egg in a cup of (100%) water, the water will begin to move inside the egg through the membrane to equalize the amount of water inside and outside of the egg membrane. This process of water moving through a membrane is called osmosis. Osmosis equalizes – or makes the concentration of water on both sides of the egg membrane the same. This means the egg will swell as the water moves inside and get larger."

And after this, I may EVEN add coloring to the water to see if I can change the color of the inside of my naked egg or try to shrink my enlarged egg, and then bring it back to size again!!

Bwhahaha...*evil laugh*...the world is my oyster!! ...err, I mean, my nekkid egg is my oyster, at least for now, and ohhhh the fun things that await us in this continued experiment!! *lol*

Can't wait to try this with the grandkids too sometime in a science experiment weekend of fun!!

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UPDATE: Ohhhh NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

So, I decided to try to have some fun and take a photo of my enlarged naked egg, with a feather in a photo op ... yeah, yeah, goofy eh? *L*






And then, for some unknown reason, I tried to "bounce" my naked egg on the table ... it was pretty cool... it bounced pretty well... BUT when I tried it the second time.... arrrghhhhhhhh..... I had to scrape it up and toss it out ... it kind of looks like an egg with a condom next to it ... *L* (oops, advert your eyes those who may be offended!)




So, I still need to continue on with this experiment ... a new egg is unbashfully being de-shelled even now ... I hope to try out the colored aspect to the inside of the egg, done via the outside, and shrinking and restoring the egg too....we'll see...either way... it's been fun!

Godspell at DDHS - GREAT Performance!

Kasey and I went to see the DDHS production of Godspell tonite. The school had done this play about 10 years ago, and we had gone to see that one too. This one was equally as good, but with a twist.. the setting was just after 9/11... many of the same songs were performed, some with a new twist.

We had a great time watching the teens... especially our niece Ashley, who had a couple of solos and major parts.. WELL DONE ASHLEY and all!!

Update on the Door Assemblage Project...

This last week John and I have been making some projects using old doors. See my post from this last Tuesday here.




Yesterday I sanded down the project I had painted on Tuesday. Making it more chippy paint style and kind of an antiqued distressed.

Then today I put the first coat of stain on it. I'm disappointed that it wasn't darker with the first coat of stain... but, I'll let it dry for a day or two, then add another coat of stain and see how it looks.




At least it is looking uniform in color using two different doors and adding parts to it... so far, so good. In the meantime, I'll be cleaning off the hardware - door plate and knobs, hooks and hinges to add back to it once the other coat of stain, and finish coats of polycrylic are done drying ... probably next week sometime?

In the meantime, John, and son, John, worked on another one in a bit different style ... so I'll have more to paint, sand, stain and finish too!

MORE TO COME.....
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UPDATE ON DOOR BENCH HALL TREE ....  This was finally finished, and donated to a fund raiser to help a friend who was hit by a car and had major medical expenses... glad to donate it to a great cause and friend!

In a Moment ... Motivational Speaker, Theresa Gilliland

Tonight, at Christ Church, we were blessed to have as our guest a woman who shared her journey in life with us. Theresa Gilliland, author of "In a Moment", shared her positive attitude and how it has helped her survive some life changing events: Going blind, her husband's traumatic brain injury and accident, and her son's brain cancer.

It was a wonderful testimony and sharing, a look at overcoming adversity, not an easy road by any means, but one that was and can be done by each of us facing obstacles in our lives, but one that Theresa shared is a journey that continues, not a destination that we arrive at.




I took home much from her sharing, as well as some of her literature and book that I look forward to reading more of.

Check out Theresa's book for sale at Amazon here







In one of Theresa's other booklets, she shares this quote from Helen Keller ...

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

.... and another from Theresa ..

"With insight into our souls, we can accomplish anything."

Daily Reminders from Theresa...

Feed yourself positive images.
Shower yourself with positive talk.
Accept and give compliments.
Drink in a positive mental attitude.
Cope and deal with change.
Set your own standards. Avoid comparisons.
Build self-esteem.
Keep reminding yourself of your own worth.
Inhale the beauty of the day.

Thank you Theresa... it was a great evening!!

Collaborative Assemblage Project - Using Old Doors

Since construction work is a bit slow right now, and since John has collected a few old doors from various projects over the years, as well as some we had already in our basement, we are working together to make some cool hall trees and benches, and possibly other things using the old doors (and more).

I showed John some ideas I had collected off the internet using old doors, and he agreed to try one or two of them. He put the doors together with a seat, etc. and I will be painting, staining and adding decorative touches along the way.

Here is just the start of what we have done so far ... using some old green colored spray paint I had in the basement (I really wanted to do the first one red, but used this color first), I made the color of the item more uniform.




When I get a few hours (like an afternoon off from doing my taxes and bookkeeping), I will be sanding off the paint in some areas, then staining with a red mahogony stain, and a few coats of polycrylic. John is cleaning up the hinges and door plates somewhat to put back on as eclectic decorative touches, and I'll add some hooks for hanging jackets, etc. And possibly a mirror insert, or other things too?

Anyway ... if this turns out well, we might be making more and selling them...more photos as we progress in this collaboration.