Pink

Pink Saturday is here again!

 

Thank goodness for pink. 

I need to take a Rosy outlook on the upcoming month, COPEuary oops…February is so grey, IT NEEDS PINK.

This time of year we need a little rosy, posy PINK.

How about a sneak PINK peek.  My pink month has started out with a Vintage Valentine Fat Book Swap hosted by Sarah of Gypsy Mermaid Life and Jodie of the New Orleans Saints, oops Everything Vintage.  Each member of the swap makes one page of the book for each swap member and then sends them to Sarah to assemble and she sends a completed  Vintage Valentine  book back to the members.

 I can’t wait to see each page they will be mini works of art from so many talented artists.

A Sneak PINK peak-Front side of my page

A Sneak PINK peak-Back side of my page

The last two weeks I have made digital collage Valentines Day cards that you may download for your personal use.

 

I have mixed it up a little this week.  I still used vintage images to start but they have a little different feel.  I hope you like them.

 

Thank you as always to Beverly, at How The Sweet the Sound, for hosting Pink Saturday. Beverly has created a wonderful PINK community where we all get to share a little pink each week and meet new bloggers.  Last week I visited Mary of Vintage Comfort for the first time and it won’t be the last. 

Enjoy your PINK SATURDAY!

Kelley

 

Saturday of the Pink Variety

Can you believe it?

It’s PINK SATURDAY again, wow this week went fast.

Last PINK SATURDAY I confessed my new obsession with digital collage.  I featured a digital Valentine, that I made, and promised a new one for each of the PINK SATURDAYS before Valentine’s Day.

This week I have featured another Victorian portrait by Harrison Fisher, a very popular artist in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

 

You are more than welcome to download it and send it to someone you are “thinking of” this Valentine’s Day.

A special part of Pink Saturday is that you get to visit and meet so many lovely bloggers.  I am always delighted when I visit a new blog via Pink Saturday and instantly feel a connection.  Last week I discovered Nancy at Gracies  Jewellry.  Nancy designs and makes beautiful jewelry, last week she featured a pink pair of earrings that I have put on my “wish list”.  Stop by and say “hi” and enjoy the eye candy.

Thank you to our wonderful hostess, Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, visit and you will find links to all the PINK bloggers this week.  I guarantee you will meet a new PINK friend.

See You Next PINK SATURDAY!

Enjoy,

Kelley

Winter Gems

In winter it is a little more difficult to find the beauty that surrounds us.

In contrast to the other seasons winter is understated.

This past week my favorite photo group on Flickr,

Shades of Inspiration, the theme is Winter Whites.

New themes always makes me look at the subject in a new light, I

find little surprises that I never knew that are literally in my backyard.

This is my view looking from the back of my house towards Lake Michigan

I am “under the weather” with pneumonia so tromping about in the cold hasn’t been an option so I revisited winter photos that were taken in the past couple of weeks.  I did a little embellishing with Photoshop, something that doesn’t require a lot of energy.

Here is to Mother Nature with her Winter Brushes!

 

Thanks for visiting, Stay warm and Enjoy your weekend!

Kelley

Pink Saturday and Valentine’s Day

Hello to all of the participates of PINK SATURDAY!

I HAVE MISSED YOU!

The overwhelming holiday season is over and hopefully we all will have a little more time to visit and enjoy our blog friends. 

My favorite holiday is now approaching, Valentines Day.  I delight in all the pink and romantic images Valentines Day implies, it is a bit frivolous. I love to create and give little gifts to those I care about this time of year. I never know what my theme will be year to year. 

Well, this year it is Digital Collage.  I am spending way too much time on the computer playing with images.  My husband is totally baffled by this fascination but…I know there are bloggers out there who do get it.  I am taking a class at Mind Wide Open to learn all the tricks of Photoshop and I am really enjoying it. I just entered a challenge using this image provided to the contestants by Gail (my new favorite teacher:)

The rules require you use the provided image in the art medium of your choice. 

I made this digital collage for my submission.

 

Credits for the collage :Model  http://kechake-stock.deviantart.com/art/Winterhearted-21-143241389 

Chandelier Brushes http://ro-stock.deviantart.com/art/Fancy-Chandeliers-58969934

You can see all the entries (and even vote for a favorite) by visiting Mind Wide Open.

Well on to the PINK at hand.  I have designed a couple of Valentines Day Cards using digital collage.  I plan on sharing one card each Pink Saturday.  This week I have I was inspired by my love for horses and vintage images for this week’s card.

Cupid and Heart Brushes: http://libidules.deviantart.com http://colorel-ressources.blogspot.com

You are more than welcome to download the card.

 

I have included an option to use on the inside of the card. 

A little early Valentine’s Day gift to you.

Please stop by How Sweet The Sound to visit all of those that are “playing” this PINK SATURDAY, and as always a special THANK YOU to Beverly, our gracious hostess.

Only 4 more PINK SATURDAYS until VALENTINES DAY!

Enjoy!

Kelley

The Peanut Butter Tree

First this lovely pine graced the hill on our farm

 

Then it brought us great joy as our Christmas tree

 

and now…It is a Peanut Butter tree!

 

When it was time for the tree to be taken down I decided to give it yet another life.

I asked my husband to take the tree to the edge of our woods just outside my kitchen window.

He knows better than to look for reason in most anything I ask him.

Once he placed it in it’s new home he did have a few questions.

Before he could ask any I was outside with a giant jar of peanut butter and birdseed and started

“frosting” the tree with peanut butter topped off with birdseed. 

 

 

It was a instant success with the birds AND many more critters that I didn’t expect

It has been a great source of entertainment…

Perhaps we are not the only ones being entertained.

This yearling deer has “floppy tongue” I was concerned about her but she is the bossiest of the group, and eating doesn’t seem to be a problem.

 Maybe she is just sticking her tongue out at all of us. 

It looks like it is time to “reload” the Peanut Butter Tree.

Thanks for visiting!

Stay warm and Enjoy!

Kelley

Love YOUR Art!

This is not always easy for me to do.  The questions that haunt my mind:

Is it good enough?

Will others like it?

Why can’t I create art like___________ (fill in the blank)?

I can’t tell you what  a giant step it was for me to start this blog,

and then…post my thoughts, feelings, creations…my art.

Very Scary!

I have put this behind me with my new collage, an expression of the words below:

“Art is a shadow of what a person is thinking... a small glimpses of what they hold inside.

Little secrets, regrets, joys... every line has its own meaning. “

~Sarah, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

There is no right, no wrong or not good enough when it comes to art.

So celebrate and LOVE THE ART IN YOURSELF.

Enjoy!

Kelley

Little Bits of This and That

Today we saw the sun!

It has been hiding all week and

we were ready for a dose.

The high temp. today was 12 degrees,

but the sun made it feel warmer,

maybe a whooping 20 degrees.

These Staffordshire pups were happy to nap in the sun.

Pomegranate 101 is my little bit of That

Pretty random subject change…

I have friends who are amazed when I tell them about this

little trick. I love pomegranates but I hate wrestling with them and having

my fingers turn a bright pink.

So here goes:

Cut your pomegranate in half.

Break it up and put it in a bowl and fill it with water.

Once filled break up the pomegranate even more.

Keep your fingers underwater (no pink fingers)

The seeds float to the bottom the rest floats to the top.

Skim the skin off the top.

Drain the pomegranate seeds in a colander

and WaLA ready for any recipe or just to munch on.

One of my favorite ways to use these is in

a salad of fresh greens, blue cheese, toasted pecans

topped of with pomegranates.

Now on to my next random thought:

I had my annual mammogram this past week, the technician

gave me this lovely rose as a reward for all the squishing and squashing.

So I’m sending you a little reminder to make sure you schedule

your annual mammogram.

Enough of the random thoughts.

Enjoy your weekend, stay warm and thanks for visiting!

Enjoy!

Kelley

I Get To See My Feelings

The author of this poem

is in my blood.

I never met her,

but she visits my heart often.

Her name is H. Madalene

a pen name,

but I know her as my Great Grandmother.

A Tree

I stand unshielded to the world

My gnarled arms torn bare.

My crooked limbs in plainest view

I'm shorn, but should I care.

For will not the Master Gardener,

In his keen survey of things

Saw the hard knots from off my arms

And straighten crooked limbs?

And while my camouflage is gone

Me think the sun may shine through

His mighty cheer through my leafless boughs

To the chilled cold earth below.

So that's why I love to smell

The burning of the leaves

That when the warm springs comes again

And Mother Nature weaves

A charming mantle for my form

I have no fear, my heart is strong,

For I unshielded stood the storm.

H. Magdalene

When I read the poems written by my Great Grandmother

I wonder how she had the time to write such beauty.

She was a farmer's wife, mother of five children,

giving each a special talent in this world.

She cared for many other family members including my

Mother, during the summers, when she was a child.

The words must have been in her mind and she needed to see her feelings.

I understand and that is why I feel that blogging has given me such a feeling of freedom,

I get to see my feelings and they gently remind me of the times in my life.

I can only imagine if my Great Grandmother had a blog,

I know it would be WONDERFUL!

Thanks for visiting!

Enjoy!

When The Weather Gives You Lemons

WARNING: THIS IS NOT A FOOD BLOG

To tell you the truth I'm not sure what kind of blog this is...

but I know it is not a food blog.

So why am I posting about food???

This is a result of too much holidays,

Freezing cold weather outside,

BLAH skies and no color

Watching the Video Julie and Julia (worth watching)

and

Perhaps a bit of Cabin Fever!

Lemon Chicken

I saw this recipe on the Today Show, Thursday morning

and thought it looked yummy

AND I LOVE LEMONS!

I wasn't sure I had any chicken, (I always have lemons) I thought I had chicken in the extra frig

in the garage but I knew that it probably had expired.

Well I checked and it was expired but as luck would have it

(I'm not sure I should call it luck)

the garage is so cold that everything in the frig has frozen.

I told you it was cold!

So here goes:

Lemon Chicken

2 pounds boneless chicken breasts cut into thin cutlets

1/2 flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup chicken broth
16 each paper thin lemon slices with skin

1/2 bunch flat parsley (I had to forgo this...fresh parsley is about 5 months away)

Combine flour, salt and pepper and place in baking dish.

Dust the chicken with seasoned flour, shake off the excess.

In a large non-reactive skillet, melt 1/2 butter and reduce flame a little so it cooks slowly with

NO color, turn after 2 minutes.

Add lemon juice and wine, simmer 3 minutes.

Remove chicken to serving platter, add stock to pan and increase heat to high, when boiling

add remaining butter and simmer until reduced to half; cook 3-4 minutes.

Place lemon slices and parsley (use your imagination here) over chicken.

Pour sauce over the chicken and Pour a glass of wine for YOU!

YUM, I served this over noodles, wished I had some fresh broccoli to accompany it but I will put it on the list for next time I make it.

Which I will!

Enjoy!