Don't forget that MANY of the fantastic shops on Zibbet will have some wonderful sales starting on Black Friday. So sit back, enjoy the holiday feast, spend time with your family and STAY HOME on Thursday! Let everyone enjoy the holiday- remember if you are out shopping on Thanksgiving it is YOU who are keeping others from spending time with their families. The Big Box Stores respond to the customers- staying home will send a big message to them. Instead look to the small handmade shops and purchase something that is better quality and longer lasting. BUY HANDMADE!
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Zibbet is a site similar to Etsy BUT WITH NO resellers, big companies, or mass produced gifts. Many of the shops are running special sales for the Holidays- jump right in and check it out HERE. This holiday season please take a moment and imagine where the gifts your are purchasing are coming from. Chances are if you buy anything from a 'BIG BOX STORE' then you are buying something created in a factory under poor working conditions. The only ones that get paid well from your purchase is the CEO of the company you buy from- and no one else.
Consider buying handmade gifts. From soaps to leather bags handmade artists and crafters care about the individual creations they make. Each time you buy from an individual you are making a difference in their life and the lives of their family. Just as they take the time, energy, and spirit to create something wonderful for you- you in turn allow them keep their family fed, clothed, and housed. Buy handmade and keep the PASSION of artists/crafters alive. As the holiday season approaches it is time to once again decide on Christmas Cards. For many years I painted individual cards- usually in watercolor or acrylics. This year I discovered that our local print shop can print the most beautiful note cards- for around 25 cents each. This discovery helped me decide to paint a 'real' painting for the cards. Our town has many beautiful buildings, but the Dahlonega Gold Museum ends up being one of my favorite subjects to photograph. Because of this I have plenty of reference material to create a lovely painting. Painted over 5 mornings this painting has become of of my favorites. To almost everyone fall means beautiful leaves, crisp air, and tons of fall festivals. To me it is the same EXCEPT I am also on the hunt for the wonderful and delicious giant puffball mushroom. This lovely mushroom can get up to the size of a basketball- but here the usual size seems to be a softball. Just check out that gorgeous white flesh! This one is tasty fried in a bit of butter and served on top of mashed potatoes- at least that is how we usually eat them. Plus one mushroom weighs in at 9 oz. This bread started as a regular squash bread recipe and I found I just didn't like the original recipe- it had too much oil and sugar. This version works beautifully for patti pan squash, yellow squash and winter squash. I have not tried it yet with crook neck or zucchini squash.
Ingredients: 2-3 cups shredded squash 3 beaten eggs ½ cup milk 1 cup sugar 2 TBSP oil ½ cup dried berries (cranberries) OR 1 cup fresh berries 2 TBSP vanilla extract 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp nutmeg 2 tsp cloves 2 tsp orange extract OR ¼ cup orange juice 2 TBSP baking powder 4 cups self rising flour ½ cup rolled oats 1 cup rye flour OR whole wheat flour Directions: 1. Pre-heat oven to 335 degrees F. Grease 2 loaf pans (or 4-5 mini loaf pans) 2. In a large bowl mix together: SUGAR, BAKING POWDER, OATS, ALL FLOURS, SPICES 3. Toss the squash through the dry ingredients until coated 4. Add the WET ingredients (EXTRACTS, EGGS, MILK, OIL) & berries 5. Pour into baking pans and bake 45 minutes OR until a knife inserted in the loaf comes out clean *** Recipe can be made with no rye or whole wheat flour- just add more regular flour and leave out the extra baking powder **** all the spices are the ground versions I make this bread entirely from whole wheat flour and rye flour- but then it will need 4 tablespoons of baking powder to make it fluffy enough. Lately we have been having some very unusual evening skies (for here in the North Georgia Mountains). While colorful sunsets do occur here on a regular basis these skies are odd because of the way the clouds are illuminated. The sky in the evening is a difficult picture to take (and usually needs a bit of editing) but this is an untouched photo from about 2 weeks ago. We have been working all summer to design and create some new things for our great customers out there! So with great pride I am here to show off our new fan items for #doctorwho and #starwars
I have had it with these front loading GE washing machines. They are GARBAGE. I am not even going to wait for them to respond to this e-mail I sent them. I'm buying a better machine FROM SOME OTHER COMPANY.
This is the second model: GFWN1100L2WW washer I have received and what a piece of garbage. The first one of this model stopped spinning after only 10 months and it took the service tech (who was wonderful unlike your product) trying 3 motherboards before it was determined that the washer itself was garbage and needed to be replaced. (that took 4 weeks- it took another 2 weeks to get the new washer). Now here it is 14 months later and the NEW washer is not spinning. Don't tell me it is my fault either. I have used only the correct detergent, ran cleaning cycles, maintained the lines, and checked all drains and filters. We are a household of 2 and wash ONCE A WEEK MEDIUM SIZED LOADS ONLY so after less than 75 loads later this machine is DEAD. Yes it fills with water, yes it drains, yes it can adjust the load- NO IT DOES NOT SPIN. Not only am I extremely ANGRY I refuse to ever purchase another GE product EVER AGAIN. Oh and this is being posted to my facebook page.
Doctor Who Shoes- sneakers to make a Whovian happy.
Sometimes the best 'canvas' in the world is not a canvas. I found these wonderful shoes and thought to myself- what a great place to paint some of the iconic things from Doctor Who. These started as plain white sneakers with wonderful thick soles. The dalek and the tardis were painted on first- followed by their iconic 'middles' on the back of each shoe. Finally the shoes were finished off in black with just a hint of metallic shimmer. Last year I fell in love with seed beads- the tiny glass beads most people only think show up on Native American pieces. Seed beads are fun and versatile in the beading world. After a few false starts I started charting and beading like crazy. I tend to only work with them while I relax watching a bit of TV in the evening and many of the patterns I create are inspired by what I see. Here are just a few of my fun creations!
Although most of my work is in acrylic or oils I do enjoy painting in watercolors to give me a break from my normal art. Watercolor forces the painter to think far ahead as to where the light areas of the painting are going to be- you can always darken a watercolor- but removing dark areas once they have been established is difficult at best (and impossible with certain colors that stain the paper). I found that throwing a watercolor or two into my painting lineup not only improves my watercolor technique- but also my oil and acrylic abilities. This new HUGE watercolor is one of the many types of beautiful tulips found in Colonial Williamsburg. I took many photographs of the spring flowers last year and now I draw upon the photos for inspiration. I always intended to do a close up painting of this tulip- but when I looked at it with new eyes last week the decision was made to go for and extreme close up on the largest watercolor paper I own. When there is some good sunlight I'll take another photograph. Paintings don't all progress in the same way. Usually one begins with the true background and then work forward. This one's background was only started before I switched to the middle ground- I had to discover for myself just how much of the background was actually going to be visible. Once that was established I could finish the buildings in the distance.
This side of the Museum has a Veteran Memorial with a granite 'statue', flag, and seating in the form of well placed benches. Few artists and photographers focus on this side of the building, but to me it is the most beautiful side. I truly love to paint- but my home is not exactly well suited to painting all day long. My best light happens to be in the morning from 8 till about 11- so that is when I paint. Now in late winter the light on sunny mornings is crisp and wonderful to work in. I love that kind of light. So what have I been doing? Well... here is a peek! |
AuthorMy musings wander from earth to sky. Archives
August 2023
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