Hammy Potato Soup

Sometimes I just can't find the recipe I'm looking for so I "wing-it"! Yesterday was one of those days. So...here's what I did.

In a dutch oven or stock pot:

2 T. Olive oil
1 Med minced onion
1 Minced jalapeno
A few minced mini carrots
4 Minced garlic cloves
1/8 t. chili pepper flakes

Saute until tender then add:

6-8 Peeled and cubed potatoes
Enough water to cover the potatoes
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
Dash of cayenne
3 Bay leaves

Boil for 15-20 minutes

Add:

1-2 C. minced baked ham
3 T. Ham stock from the ham
2 Cans of cream corn
1 Can of drained sweet corn
3/4 C. Milk

Heat thoroughly but DON'T boil and serve.

My next recipe creation will include chicken, pasta, onions, garlic, and herbs in a wine base reduction. I'll need some luck with this one since I've never tried to create anything like this before! Perhaps I'll split the chicken in half so I can try creating a fiesta chicken dish as well. That would include chicken with jalapeno, onion, lime juice, tequila, cilantro, and chili pepper flakes served over seasoned rice. And with that...I'll just say...To be continued! ; )

Mind Wide Open Challenge - Magical

"A Magical Imagination"

Here it is April already and time for another challenge from Mind Wide Open. This one is especially for Birgit as she worked her magic on me to enter! Oh yes you did Birgit! So...here's my creation and I hope you all like it. : )

You will be able to view the challenge entries and vote on which one you love most on or around April 10th at http://www.mind-wideopen.blogspot.com/

Easter is my Favorite Holiday

"Easter Twins"

Since Easter is my favorite holiday I sure wish I had more time to create but it looks like I've run out of time once again. I always have a ton of ideas and I suppose that is good so I can work on them all at a later date. With the time constraint for an Easter completion I decided to finish this cute little bunny card that I started last month for a challenge themed twins. I was trying to get a head-start on Easter and that theme just fit the bill. Yep, you guessed it! I ran out of time and didn't get this finished by that deadline but at least I managed to complete it before Easter!

AND with Easter in mind and with a thankful heart, I would like to say Thank You to my friends, family, and followers! AND an extra thank you to all who leave comments! They are much appreciated - more than you know!

I wish you all a spectacular weekend and a wondrous Easter! : )

Sharing some Dover Publications Samples

Here it is just days before Easter so I thought I would share a few images I’ve saved from Dover Publications Samples. You can receive free samples too!

Just go to: http://doverpublications.com

Happy Easter Everyone!

It's Pink Saturday with a Twist of Yellow!

Hello to all Pink Saturday Fans! Now who couldn't be that? This week we are using pink and yellow together. I think the yellow really helps to remind of us of warm sunny days to come. The wind chill today made it brrrrrrrrrrr crazy so I'm really looking forward to warmer days...and a little less mess to clean up from storms!
I was hoping to be able to take a few shots of my pink tulips for this week - unfortunately they just didn't want to open yet and it seems that everything else that has managed to bloom so far has been white or purple. I guess I'll just have that to share at a later Pink Saturday. Oh, did you catch that? I've finally learned how to use my digital camera! Yay! I know...it's about time! So here are my contributions this week for a Bloomin Pink Saturday...

"Chives in full Bloom"

(An oldie but goodie)

Just a few flowers I painted a while back using aquarelle's. Hmmmm...perhaps there was a challenge theme at one time using pink and yellow. I do so many challenges, I can't remember which creations were for what. However, I can tell you the two single flowers were done in a pen and ink style and I used watercolors for the two tulips. : )

Enjoy your Pink Saturday and thanks for looking!

You can view more at: http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

It's time to celebrate Pink Saturday!

It's Pink Saturday Again! How fun is that?

It's hard to believe another week has gone by so fast! But here it is again...Another Pink Saturday! I wanted to post something very special to me so I picked one of my oil pastels.

This image was actually created from a sketch my mother gave me several years ago so I am very sentimental about it. I'm sure I must have inherited my creative gene from her. She is more talented then she knows. I've always admired her sewing skills and her paper-cutting skills. Simply amazing! So in honor of my mom, I share with you "Wild Rose".

Please stop by http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ and enjoy your Pink Saturday!

Small World of Inchies Challenge - Birds of a Feather

"Spring is in the Air"

Here is the first bird image I created using Aquarelles then scanned to photoshop for size and color changes. They remind me of the changes that occur throughout spring.

Is everyone ready for spring? Oh, I know in some parts of the world it isn't changing to spring but it is here. The crocus and the plum tree have bloomed. AND the tulips, hyacinths, and pansy greens are peeking up from the pots. Well now, I do see I have one single yellow pansy stealing the early spotlight.

I can hardly wait for some warmer weather and all the colors of spring. I do believe it is my favorite season of all.

And speaking of colors...I mustn't forget the colorful birds of spring! Although we don't have bluebirds that visit here, we have many variety of birds that do and I am anxious for them all to return soon. I guess it's time for me to start filling all the bird feeders again...for all my birds of a feather friends.

This all means, that once again, the theme has been perfect and I thank you so much for that.

Now you can go to: http://smallworldofinchies.blogspot.com/ to view more birds of a feather.

TMTA Challenge - Metal

Ok, so metal isn't really my forte' but I think this is pretty good as well as wild for my first attempt with metal in digital form. Come to think of it...I did work once with metal. I took a tin punch class a few years ago and trust me...I wasn't very good at that. It takes very strong hands to do that and my hands tired fast! So - when I first saw the theme as metal I was really going to pass but then I told myself to remember why I do challenges...cause it's exactly that - A Challenge! I owe a big thanks to TMTA for the great challenge. To view more "metal" images:

http://tmta.wordpress.com

"Warp Drive"

Art On The Darkside Challenge - Scary Stuff in the Forest

What scary stuff do you find in your forest? These are my lurkers in my forest! LOL I really had some fun with this one. Oooooooooh...did I scare you? To view more scary stuff, go to:

http://artonthedarkside.blogspot.com

"What Lurks In My Forest"

Forest 2006 - painted in acrylic

Lurkers - created today, 2010 using photoshop cs

Think Monday Think ATC Challenge - Orange

So, today is Sunday in my part of the world and I decided to work with the color orange for the current challenge at TMTA. (OOPS...it just turned into Monday! Dagnabit!) Now I'm sure it's already Monday in other parts of the world so I just hope I'm not too late in posting these two images. One can get confused in global proportions these days! I had such a lovely time creating these two images. Some days - it just clicks and this was one of those such days. Thanks TMTA for Orange! It does really make you feel happy! You can view more orange images at: http://tmta.wordpress.com

It just might make you feel happy too!

"Floral Fantasy"

"Let's Go Fly A Kite"

Both images were created using Photoshop CS along with a butterfly image provided by Dover Publications and a little colorful imagination. The flowers were created using custom shapes found at: http://www.free4photoshop.com/pgs/shapes/free_photoshop_custom_shapes.html

Mind Wide Open Challenge - Background - Spring

What better way to celebrate Spring than with Easter and Bunnies? Although I created several images using the wonderful green background we were provided, this one is my favorite. The vintage Easter image as well as the butterflies, flowers, and cut-out frame are from www.doverpublications.com I'm so thankful to have that as a great resource of images!
On March 10th, you can view and vote for your favorite "Spring" image at:
www.mind-wideopen.blogspot.com

4x4 Friday Challenge - Mantra

"Om Mani Padme Hum"

When I sing this the world is at peace in my heart and all is well.

As most of you are aware - there was a huge earthquake in Chili followed by a tsunami. I just happen to have two very dear friends who reside close to the epicenter and I can't even begin to tell you how concerned I have been for them. This mantra helped see me through these past few days and gave me a calmness that reassured me my friends were ok. Well, today I received an email confirming that and I am so relieved! I find it interesting how this theme just happen to show up with perfect timing for me. So, thank you for this most wonderful theme!

You can view more Mantra Images at: http://4x4friday.blogspot.com

You can read more about this mantra at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum

Sunday Postcard Art Challenge - Mermaids

The mermaid image is one I created months ago using a challenge background and an image from Dover Publications. I thought I would have a little fun with it by making it into an ad postcard. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did creating it.
View more mermaids at: http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com

Small World of Inchies Challenge - Words

"Believe"

I really couldn't decide which version I liked better so I've uploaded both. They are both twinchies because I found it very difficult to read the words as an inchie. I've enjoyed this challenge so much and believe I could keep creating continuously from this theme. After all, I'm never short on words! LOL I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

If you have a little spare time you might want to take a look at more creations at:

http://smallworldofinchies.blogspot.com

Small World of Inchies Challenge - Words

"Four Seasons"
"Peace, Beauty, and Happiness"

Hi everyone! Here I am again for yet another challenge! Words! Sounds like a terrific theme to me so I created a few twinchies and I still have a couple in the works. I just love anything miniature so this challenge site is great for me.

Here's the link so you can view more: http://smallworldofinchies.blogspot.com

Art Creations Friday and The Three Muses Challenges

I've ran out of time again so I've combined two challenges into one. For Art Creations Friday we were given a fantastic background to work with and then there was the theme of Architecture from The Three Muses. I really wish I had more time this past week to do a better job. Each one feels slightly incomplete to me... like something is missing. In fact, my inner muse is telling me exactly that as well as those "ancient" muses! I guess it's time to learn some new tricks in photoshop so I can actually carry out what my complete creative thoughts are.

Now, without further ado, here are the links to the challenges:

http://artcreationsfriday.blogspot.com

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com

Pink Saturday Challenge

Hi Everyone! These are my first entries to Pink Saturday's Challenge.
I decided to start out with a pet theme beginning with "Midnight and her pups".
We first saw Midnight in the neighborhood when she came looking for her pups that she seemed to have misplaced. Two by two, neighbors brought puppies to me until I had six in total. We decided to corral them outside behind a chicken wire fence so the mom could get to them for feedings. She came and went daily through the following weeks until the pups were old enough to have new homes after which, Midnight, we thought, went home. When she appeared again weeks later, she looked malnourished so we fed her...again...daily. We couldn't claim her as ours because we found out who owned her. One day a police officer knocked on our door asking if the dog was ours and when I had to say no, he took her away to the pound. It was a very upsetting day to say the least. The officer later called to tell me the owner now claimed that the dog was ours so off to the pound I went to retrieve a very frightened dog. I took her to the vet who told me it looked like she had been spayed. I thought "Great!" we wouldn't have to worry about that. Well, several months passed when I noticed that she looked swollen in the tummy. Apparently she wasn't spayed after all! More time went by and I decided to get a nursery ready for her in a very tiny extra bathroom. The pic below is of her and the second set of pups that at the appropriate time got new homes. AND we made sure she was spayed after that.
Although I absolutely loved this dog, we couldn't keep her as she was quite the "runner" and upset neighbors quite often when she would "escape" from the house.
"Oliver with Dora and Tutu"
Isn't this just the cutest little kitten you've ever seen? My niece gave this cutie-pie kitten to her daughter shortly after her first kitty disappeared. I just love the name Oliver (Ollie, for short). He seems to fit the name quite well. This is the first pic I received of the "new addition" to her family. I'm guessing he was only a couple of months old then. Well, he certainly is in the pink with that adorable Dora chair and the pink tutu bear. Really, how cute is this? Can I hear everyone say Awwwwwww?

I'm guessing that Oliver is several months old in the picture below. He is so gorgeous but I'm not sure I would trust that face! LOL This is definitely his serious face or could it be a "watch out" face? Whatever is he thinking? Possibly "enough already with that camera"? Whatever his looks and disposition is, I see him as an absolutely handsome cat!

Oliver is now around three and a half years old and is residing with us. I can honestly say I didn't see that coming! He is still one of the most handsome cats I've ever had the pleasure of knowing/owning and that face? I fully understand that face now! It IS his "Alpha" face and you better watch out when he gives that look! All in all, he seems to like it here now that he's adjusted to another cat and dog in the same home he resides in. And I have to add that he presented us with some challenges like I've never had before in a pet. But little by little, I think he is winning our hearts...finally! It's true...cuteness is a cheap trick!

Well, I hope you all enjoy Pink Saturday and that you will take a look at the other entries at:

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Collage Obsession Challenge - Chinese

"Year of the Tiger"

I created this weeks Collage Obsession Challenge using several images from http://www.doverpublications.com/ along with a couple of Asian fonts that I found at http://www.dafont.com/. Color, filters, and enhancements were applied using Photoshop CS.
You can view more Chinese-themed images at: http://www.collageobsessionchallenge.blogspot.com/
Thanks for looking and I hope you're all having a great week!

So Artful Challenges - Out of this World

"Mystic"

Here's my entry for the So Artful Challenge - Out of this world.

Thank you Jeanette for such a wonderful theme this week!

It was definitely a challenge but I loved it!

To view more creations, you can go to:

http://jeanette-soartfulchallenges.blogspot.com

The Three Muses Challenge - Nature

Something new and a couple from the past

"Nature's Hummers"

"Winter Water"
"Solo"

Another great theme from The Three Muses!

From top to bottom:

NEW! Nature's Hummers - A color page from Dover Publications turned into stained glass with the help of Photoshop CS.

Winter Water - An acrylic on canvas I painted in 2004

Solo - Watercolor and acrylic on watercolor paper I painted in 2006

These are my entries for this weeks challenge at: http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com

Thanks for looking!

Two More Images For Current Challenges

One more painting for the Theme Thursday Challenge - Flowers

"Purple Passion"

One more image for two challenges:

So Artful Challenge - Mardi Gras

We Love Digital Art Group Challenge -Mardi Gras

Thanks for looking!

Theme Thursday Challenge - Flowers

Original Art by Joan Marie

These are my entries to the Flower Challenge at: http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

From left to right, top to bottom:

"Four O'clocks in watercolor on watercolor paper

"Wild Rose" in oil pastel on card stock

"Wild Pansies" in oil pastel on card stock

"Eternal Love" in acrylic on canvas
"Flowers for Mom" in acrylic on canvas

"Pastel Pansy" in oil pastel on card stock

As you can see from the dates on the art, these are not recent works of mine, although I updated five of them with new "frame" borders today.

Having flowers as the theme was great and I'm sure you'll enjoy viewing the other entries of flowers at Theme Thursday this week!

So Artful Challenge - Mardi Gras

"Celebrate Mardi Gras"

I have to say first that I'm not happy with the font results in this image. I spent an hour or so looking for what I thought would make the perfect font for this challenge only to struggle like heck to make it work. I will be changing it later but for now, here's what I've created for this Mardi Gras theme. I created this image using only Photoshop CS gradients, custom images, filters, effects, and a font from www.dafont.com.
You can view more Mardi Gras images at: http://jeanette-soartfulchallenges.blogspot.com
The site is still having problems loading for Explorer users but Firefox usually works...at least for most. I'm still having difficulty even with Firefox but perhaps it's just my computer acting up since it probably doesn't like me having both browsers open at the same time.
Also, for those of you who use a Photoshop program - you can find free fonts, brushes, textures, custom shapes, ect here: http://www.free4photoshop.com/
Hope you have a wonderfully creative week!

A Stamp for the Three Muses Challenge

Unfortunately, I ran out of time to be able to create a full image using stamps but I did create the above stamp and I hope this is ok for the challenge - stamps. I really do enjoy making stamps and hope to create more in the near future using my own drawings.
To view more stamp creations, check out: www.thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/2010/02-three-muses-postage-stamps
Thank you, Bev, for the great challenge theme! I'm looking forward to the next challenge (Nature)!

Sunday Postcard Challenge - Cats

"Aulga"

Aulga is ready for cold weather and is wearing her warm Scandinavian scarf hat with the cutest matching boots and is posing quite nicely in front of a very rare collage painting...artist unknown. LOL How my mind can wander in imagination land, right?

Ok, so on with the details...

I just love happy accidents! Every so often I click a filter and get surprising results. In this example, I took a collage ATC I had made a while back and decided to play with it in photoshop. The original collage had a frog instead of a cat so, of course, I just made the cat from custom shapes which I then enhanced with other filters, etc. When I went to play with the background, I tried neon glow and the first try was not good but the second try...with the same neon glow filter...voila! And sometimes this is how new creations are born! Now I'm sure not everyone will love it and that is ok because when you love your own art, it loves you right back and you know that because it provides a smile just for you. This one made me smile!

"Froida"

I learned of zentangles from a group I was in and fell in love with the concept and process. Although most of my zentangles are not colorized, I wanted to go wild with this one and I certainly think I did just that! I'm sure you can find out more about zentangles if you just type it into your favorite search engine. This is most definitely an "In the Zen" art therapy... from the initial doodling to the cleaning, coloring, and tweaking in photoshop. This allowed me to totally zone out which in turn provides me with complete relaxation.

These are two images I created for the Sunflower Festival held in New Mexico. The cats were not part of the images to begin with. The first image was from a sketch then scanned to photoshop for coloring and enhancements. I added the cats to make it a bit more whimsical. The second image is from an original ATC acrylic painting on watercolor paper. I added the cats, birds, and bubble today for fun.

So, there you have it. These are my entries for the Sunday Postcard Challenge If you would like to take a look at other cat postcards, you can go to: www.sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com

Theme Thursday Challenge - Pink and Black

I'm back again with another challenge image. : ) This one is for the Pink and Black theme I found at: www.themethursday.wordpress.com
I created this image in Photoshop CS using custom shapes, brushes, filters, and effects. The lattice screening was something I created in Art Rage to add a little busy-ness to the image.
This is an example of what I would consider as one of my play day experiments. You never know what's going to happen when you just have some fun and indeed, this was fun!
Thank you Theme Thursday!

So Artful Challenge - Background

Forgive Us

It's obvious I was in need of an extra dose of art therapy so this evening I created an image for the So Artful Challenge. I used the background provided for the challenge as well as an image from Art Freebies. My thanks to Jeanette and June for the great inspiration!

To view more challenge images, please go to:

http://jeanette-soartfulchallenges.blogspot.com

*Take a moment to breathe, find your passion, and smile*

(Live, Love, and be Happy)

Fun with ATC's Challenge #2

Tribal Abstract

Happy Easter

Hello Everyone! Hope you all are having a wonderfully creative week!

Today I have been working on two challenge images with the theme of purple and brown. I know it's a bit early for an Easter image but since I'm better at Easter than Valentine's Day, I decided what the heck. I usually don't go for a vintage type image but I just love the bunnies and the small violet to purple flowers. This was a fun piece to create.

The Tribal abstract is an intuitive piece...which means I don't "think" of what I'm doing and just go with the flow (so to speak). I'm actually enjoying this process more than I ever thought possible. I began intuitive art as an art therapy several years ago and I have to say it was quite difficult for me in the beginning. It seemed impossible for me to just let go of my own thoughts but with perseverance and practice, I am finally in a comfort zone with this method. I would recommend this for anyone who is trying to reduce stress in their life.

If you would like to view more ATC's from this challenge using purple and brown, please check out: www.funwithatcs.blogspot.com

Two spring butterfly images - the same but different - for the "We Love Digital Art Group" Spring challenge.

Don't you think the first image gives the look of painted tin? I thought it did and love the effect that surprised me in Photoshop CS. The second image was actually the first one I worked on and I wanted to give it a framed stained glass look. Since the butterfly and frame were on the same layer, it wasn't easy to achieve. If I were to do this again, I would work on the frame in a separate layer.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

A New Species 2010

As you can see, I finally had some time to play! I started out with a sketch of a butterfly and then colored it with watercolor pencils. Once that was finished, I scanned it into my Photoshop program where I could play with filters, effects, and enhancements. I am showing the three images so you can see the progression to the final creation. I really had fun with this one! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!