Soup

Take the chill off of winter with soup! We are soup lovers. This soup base is also a life saving "zero point" food when following Weight Watchers. Healthy, low in calories and delicious! I start all broth based soup with the following:

5 to 6 cups water

5 to 6 tsp Better than Boullion Base

3 carrots sliced

3 stalks of celery chopped

1 medium to large onion chopped

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 bay leaves (I break them up and put them in a tea ball so I can find them after cooking)

This base can become many different kinds of soup. The Better Than Boullion comes in several flavors. You can learn about Better Than Boullion here.  For soup I use the chicken or beef flavor. 

I use my crockpot for soup. I can get it started in the morning (I am definitely a morning person) and it makes the house smell wonderful all day! 

For a Southwest Soup

Ingredients 

1-2 lbs of chicken breast cut in bite size pieces

      I prefer breast tenderloin

Prepare broth recipe above using Chicken Boullion 

Add:

Any color pepper chopped 1 inch pieces  1 cup

2 cans petite diced tomatoes

1 can pinto beans drained and rinsed

1 can navy beans drained and rinsed

1 can hot rotel tomatoes 

1.5 to 2 cups frozen corn

1.5 to 2 cups frozen chopped spinach (added at the end to get warm)

The corn and spinach are optional. They add fiber and nutrients. 

1 pkg Taco seasoning mix

2 pkg sayzon goya mix

2 tbsp adobo seasoning with lemon pepper 

2tbsp cumin or more to taste

2 tbsp corriander

Black pepper

I start my crockpot on high for an hour then low for 6 to 8 hours. Or low for 8 to 10 hours. 

Add all ingredients except the spinach, stir well and start the crockpot.  Add the spinach during the last 15 minutes of cooking. 

Enjoy!

Painting Again

 I am thankful to have time to be creative.  I travel from clay to wool to painting and back there again.

This summer has been a visit to my first love. Watercolor  painting.  I found a wonderful artist on YouTube who inspired me to do some mixed media watercolors with doodles and metallic paints. Her name is Ceecee. Her web page is here

It is called Creations Cee Cee.  If you watch her YouTube videos or look at her Instagram account you will see the inspiration pieces I used to do my paintings.

The paintings I have painted are below.  Watercolors with pens and metallics with words and scripture. These are in 8x10 mats. 

This is the first one I did. The cursive handwriting at the bottom was not meant to be ledgible.

I am having fun with the circles. I let the paint mix together on it's own with some salt sprinkles for some texture.  I bought some metallic watercolor paints from Amazon that are quite fun. They don't show well on these photos. Using pens and colored pencils to add details is fun and relaxing.  

Pinterest is my friend of course too. I love the unusual words I can find there. 

The best part is that because of these paintings we have started a neighborhood paint night. It is fun to share and get together.  

A Copy For Me

So many time I create gifts.  I enjoy making them and love that I have made someone smile or enjoy something that I have spent time creating.  A few days ago I decided to create something just for me!

 I have admired Jill Harrison's needle felted creativity for a few years. Her work has a mystic quality to me. She is an amazing artist. You can see her web site and shop here.

One of my favorite fall pictures that she has done is this one that you can find  on her website here.

So I decided to try something similar.  Just for me!

I am pleased with it.  It certainly does not have the ethereal quality that Jill's work has but it evokes a feeling of autumn and cooler weather for me.  This is my favorite season of the year.  I enjoyed school starting as a child and the relief from the hot summer days.  There is also much fun to be had in the coming months!  

Even though I tried to duplicate her picture, it took on a life of it's own.  It is very similar in content but so different in color and feel.  I will enjoy it with my fall decorations!

You really should check out Jill's work on the links above. Her portraits are stunning... all of her work is stunning!

Happy Fall!

Mixed Media

I've been painting with Arteza Real Brush Pens, Inktense pencils, Maimeri watercolors, Schmincke watercolors, gauche and Sharpies. Mixing them up and trying different things.


I want to try minimalist painting but I find I can't stop. I need to be more disciplined and plan ahead. That's hard for me to do with creating anything. I like to follow my muse.

These paintings have a little bit of everything in them.  It actually makes it more interesting to work in different mediums.

 I definitely got carried away with details on this woodpecker.

 This owl has a little looseness going on.

This chickadee is a combination of detail and some less defining brush strokes. 

Practice helps. There are so many variables with water based mediums. 

I need to do more research. You will find me on Pinterest! Talk about being disciplined. I can spend a day there easily!

Great Horned Owl

I was challenged to create a needle felted Great Horned Owl by my nature loving brother.

It took me a few redos but I ended up with this guy.  He seems right at home in that bush.

Making two things the same are always a challenge for me. The eyes and feet were redone a few times.  So much to learn!  Owls are magnificent creatures!

Painting With Wool

3D sculptures have been my main focus in needle felting. My interest in creating a flat felted picture increased as I perused Pinterest.   Who came up with that addictive site? I have a love-hate relationship there. Love looking at it... hate the time consumed by getting lost in wonderful inspirations!
I used this pin photo as my inspiration. I love the sandhill cranes.

I didn't have any wool flat felt to use as a base so I purchased a few "felt" pieces from Hobby Lobby. They are very thin so I folded it in half. I have mostly wool roving in my stash. It was easy to use on the background.

Work in process!

After getting most of the picture felted I decided I didn't like the background.  I had to work with it but I was able to pull enough of it up to change the background to what I wanted. I felted over most of the yellow. It covers well and I did let some show through.

This took me about 6 hours to finish. I'm working on the next inspiration! How did we survive without smart phones?

Here is my finished piece in an 8 x 10 mat.

Needle Felted Flamingo

I have made a flamingo for a Florida friend. Wool and Florida dont seem to go together but I think he turned to be very cute!

 Here he is a few days ago before eyes and leg details.

 Finding a way to make him stand up was a challenge.  I used a metal napkin ring for some weight.

I needle felted around it and anchored him in the water. 

Here is a close up of his eyes.  They are black headpin beads.