House Warming Pot Luck Blog Hop

Welcome to my house!  Come on in and around back to the garden:

I'm assuming you're here as part of Deb's House Warming Blog Hop Pot Luck?  If not, you may want to check out Deb's post here to find out what's going on.  But, you're welcome to stay, regardless of how you got here!  Have a seat on a garden bench while I get you a drink:

I want you to enjoy a real, authentic California Margarita.  Not something made from a mix, but something made from actual ingredients.  Here's what you'll need:
Ice
Limes (one per drink- look for thin skinned, juicy ones)
Tequila (100% agave - silver is usually best)
Grand Marnier
Agave Nectar (look in the sugar and sweeteners aisle; available in grocery stores in the US)
To make the margaritas:
Place ice in a shaker.  Squeeze the juice of one lime for each drink. Add one shot of tequila and 1/2 a shot of Grand Marnier per drink.  Add one large squeeze of agave nectar per drink.  Shake well.  Pour into glass over ice.  Float a little more Grand Marnier on top.  Taste and correct sweetness as desired.
I usually serve these with tortilla chips and guacamole, but I also like to offer pistachios or spiced nuts, as well. Emeril Legasse has a good spiced nut recipe at this link, but be sure to read the comments for some hints on following it. Martha Stewart has a healthyish recipe here. 

You're welcome to stay as long as you like, but please don't give any tequila to Gypsy, no matter how cute she looks when she begs:

And when you're done, click on this link to hop on over to see Beverly in North Carolina, USA.  She's got a yummy appetizer waiting for you!
If you get lost along the way, here are links for the entire blog hop:

Drinks/Appetizers

Deb @ PaperTurtle – http://paperturtle.blogspot.com

Rinda @ Gallo Organico – http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/  (This is me!!! You are here!)

Beverly @ BE glorious - http://beglorious.blogspot.com/

Soups/Salads

Alison @ Life in the Slow Lane – http://alisonslife-in-the-slow-lane.blogspot.com/

Fiona @ Staring at the Sea – http://fiona-staringatthesea.blogspot.com/

Amy @ Over at our Place - http://overatourplace.blogspot.com/

Side/Main Dishes

The “Not So” Small One @ From High in the Sky – http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com/

Jacky @ Scrappy Jacky - http://scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com/

Deb @ Deb’s World – http://debs14.blogspot.com/

Ginger @ Ginger’s Life of Spice - http://gingerslifeofspice.blogspot.com/

Karen @ Tales from the Scrapheap - http://talesfromthescrapheap.blogspot.com/

Karen @ Random Reflections - http://kbwalker.blogs.com/random_relfections/

Ruth @ Everyday Life of a Suburban SAHM - http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com/

Desserts

Stephanie @ La Dolce Vita - http://dreamingladolcevita.blogspot.com/

Ruth @ Chatty Crafty Arty Pig - http://chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com/

Margaret @ Finnegan Begin Again – http://margaretfinnegan.blogspot.com/

Becca @ La Jolie Fleur Rouge - http://lajoliefleurrouge.blogspot.com/

Rhona @ Life in General - http://rhonacs-lifeingeneral.blogspot.com/

Cheri @ Scrap Dreams - http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/

Carrie @ Rosalind Revival – http://www.rosalindrevival.com/ 

PPF: Prayer Flag Sampler

One of my favorite current projects is a sampler of ideas for prayer flags. I posted my first page here.  As predicted, prayer flags seem to be gaining traction in the crafting world. The magazine Cloth Paper Scissors just ran this cover story.  You can read a blog post about the article at the Prayer Flag Project here.  Recently, I made a cover for my prayer flag sampler (above). Although I still haven't made any actual flags, but I'm still collecting ideas in my sampler.  Here's a new one:

And one more with a face I particularly like.

This post is part of Paint Party Friday.  For more painterly goodness, check out the links at this post.

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

Three months ago, who would have thought I could have made this passable sketch of my dog Gypsy?

Certainly not me!  It's not perfect, but it certainly surprised me.  How about you? Have you done anything to surprise yourself lately?

Reflecting on my OLW for 2012

For 2012, I chose "home" as my One Little Word.  I've been using it as an inspiration to get my physical home in order - organizing and purging room by room.  I've made a lot of progress but still have a lot to do (mainly the garage, which will take many, many sessions).  I've also been focusing on (as the art journal page above says) "the place my heart calls home." I've been working on my relationships with my husband and children - challenging but rewarding!  Finally, I've been working to find the place where my artistic muse feels most at home.  I've been learning drawing and water color painting.  And am happy with how I'm integrating these into my art journaling and mixed media collage.  I know I'll never give up photography, but I need to learn more about how to use my new camera.  I've done some scrapbooking and card making, too, but those have taken a bit of a back seat during the first quarter of 2012.  But that's okay.  Those will find their time, too.
So, did you choose a "one little word" for 2012? What are you doing with it? 

A funny thing happened to my owls . . .

In the Art of Wild Abandonment class I'm taking, the instructor Junelle Jacobsen created a wonderful art journal page featuring owls.  Here's an example of one of her owls, taken from her blog "Yes and Amen."

It was a totally fun exercise to create these whimsical creatures.  But a funny thing happened to my owls.  As I drew in the wings, they looked more and more like baseballs.  Which, of course, makes sense because drawing and art journaling taps into the artist's experiences and subject position.  And, you know, I'm all about baseball.  So, I went with the baseball theme and created the art journal page up top.  I titled it "The Joplin Night Owls of 1910," (named after a Negro League team from back in the days when American baseball was segregated).  I like my whimsical owls, and I realized that in many ways they reminded me of a baseball photograph I took and used in this recent art journal page.  I had been toying with the idea of doing a painting based on the photograph during Alisa Burke's Finding Your Muse online class.  Obviously, my subconscious hadn't let go of the idea.  So, I went with it and created this art journal page using acrylic paints:

I think one of the things I love most about art is the way it taps into my subconscious and brings out the things which are percolating inside my head.  Junelle has described the process as one where we "Let our hearts speak through our fingers."  I guess my heart is more full of baseball than owls!  Are there things in your heart which you find your fingers speaking about over and over?

Modigliani Monday: Granny's Photo Album

The Gingersnap Creations blog has a challenge titled "Granny's Photo Album," and it inspired me to create this art journal page.  The journaling reads "Every little girl deserves to feel like a princess.  The image is a photo of my mom which I altered using this Modigliani painting as an inspiration:

It was a lot of fun to transform my mom's image and even more fun to create the collage. It's been a while since I messed around in my mixed media bin.  For this page, I used sewing patterns, napkins, flowers, Graphic 45 paper, a vintage dictionary page on which I had stamped/resisted a bee, and some other fun embellies. Lots of shades of acrylic paint, too! Thanks so much for the inspiration. Who knew there was a Modigliani waiting in Grandma's photo album?

Sketching Spring

I took out my sketchbook to draw some thumbnail sketches using the prompt "spring," and I came up with these images (which I water colored).  One of the exercises in the Art of Wild Abandonment class I'm taking is to make art journal pages using your sketches.  So, I took my chick idea and made this page:

It's water colors on a gessoed page with ink highlights.  The journaling reads "My two little chicks have grown up so fast . . . " I'm really enjoying this process.
The chicks remind me that Easter is just around the corner.  I'll be traveling that week with one of my little chicks to go tour colleges! We'll be seeing Oregon State, University of Oregon and Gonzaga University. Do you have plans for Easter?