Chalk It Up!

It was a Pinteresting year

2012-01-02T00:31:00.000-08:00

The past 18 weeks have been very busy. As you may know, if you have read previous posts, I have been busy teaching video game and web design to middle school children. I will share more of my experience and thoughts about teaching this subject in another post.
What I would like to address in this final post of the year is my obsession with Pinerest.com. This obsession began just before I started teaching. And to be honest, if I was not teaching I think I would be trying everything I've pinned on pinterest. However, since time is limited, I have only been able to try out a few of the wonderful things that I've pinned.
Here are the things that I've tried (some pictures are yet to come. some I did not take pictures of, sadly)
1 My first pinterest project was a knitting cake for my sister's birthday!
Here's Mine and my mom's cake

Here is the pinterest inspiration:

2. Wire Organizer using tp rolls BRILLIANT!
Here's mine

Here's the pinterest inspiration

3. Balloon Garland

here's the inspiration

5.So I had to try and make this centerpiece. I figured why not!? I have branches all I needed was some silver metallic spray paint and a bag of mylar shreddings. So here it is! This was not easy to photography. It looked much nicer in person, trust me.

here's the inspiration

Ok so mine needs a little work...
5.Chocolate covered marshmallow pops. I cover some with graham cracker crumbs, some with coconut shavings, and some with colored sprinkles. Picture is not so good because I wrapped them in clear wrapping before taking the picture. But they tasted good!

Here's the inspiration

6.Taping shipping boxes together(recycled ones) to use for classroom papers. I love this one. I have to take a picture of mine when I get back to school. I covered mine with neon green duct tape. This is a great one!
here's the inspiration

7. I did a pumpkin centerpiece for Thanksgiving. It turned out really nice but I can't find the picture. I may have deleted it off my camera before saving:)
Here's the inspiration

This was very easy to do and looked great. Would have been very expensive if I bought it at the florist.
8. Mini Grilled cheese and tomato soup. My chef husband made these as a light snack on Thanksgiving day before Dinner. He used a long thin french beard. It was perfect for little sandwiches for dunking in the soup. No pictures but
Here's the inspiration

9. Crayon Painting

Here's the inspiration

10. I made this broccoli salad
Here's the inspiration

11. I made these cute acorns on Thanksgiving. Don't think I'll do them again. It was a lot of work and not really worth it. Fun to do it once but that's it. And the individual ingredients added up to a big expense.
Here's the inspiration

12/ One final project is this corkboard on the inside of the kitchen cabinets. I haven't done it yet but I have the cork just have to get some temporary adhesive.
Here's the inspiration

Thank you pinterest for all of the wornderful inspiration and all of the talent and generous contributors!
I can't wait to try more creative ideas in 2012!

Too tired to blog

2011-10-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

I love blogging. I miss blogging on Chalk it up! Actually, I've been blogging a lot but just not here. I have two new blogs. One is for my Game Design classes and the other is for my web design class. I blog there Monday thur Friday. Sadly, it leaves me no energy to blog here at my comfy, homey, familiar blog Chalk it up!

Life has changed so much. There's so much I want to share here but that would require thinking and it's Saturday, so I don't want to think.

Although, I still find myself scouring the internet for searching for ways to teach game design to middles schoolers.

I normally would not publish a post without at least one picture. Maybe I'll look for something to illustrate this post. Be right back!

Here we go:

So sweet!

These beautiful photos were sent to me by one of my wonderful customers! She is a very talented professional photographer who purchased unframed chalkboards from Chalk it up! and sent me these picture to show how she is using the chalkboards!
Thank you for giving me permission to share these photo on my blog!
Thank you for the fantastic photo!

There I did it! I posted to my favorite blog!:) I feel much better now!:)

Have a great Saturday!

Life as a Game Design Teacher

2011-09-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm entering my sixth week of life as a middle school game design teacher. On the down side my poor Chalk it up! blog has suffered. No time to blog. I have been doing one post on the weekend to try stay current. However, one post a week really does effect my traffic.:(
I hope you'll stop by on the weekend to say hi!

So life as a Game Design Teacher...
It's fun, it's tiring, it's sometimes difficult, well not difficult but challenging. Especially since I have never taught it before and I started this job one day before school started.
Although I have taken several courses in Digital Media I had no idea what I was entering when I started delving into the world of game design. I thought how hard can it be? I know how to use Maya, Illustrator, Photoshop, Final cut pro, flash... Heck I even know a little bit of coding(basic html and css throw in a dash of php) How hard can it be?

Well., as I started researching I began to realize the complexity of game design. I would search and search for way to teach game design to middle school kids. And let me tell you, these kids enter the class and say, "So when are we going to make our own games?"

HAHA...

Well, let's start with the design process. Kids think....borrrrring. I want to make a game!!!

I search and search and find Gamestar Mechanic. Ok here's a site totally geared (no pun intended) toward middle school kids. It saved my life for the first five weeks. No downloading, we register as a class(the biggest headache here is kids forgeting their passwords and user names-yes I tell them to write it down-but you know kids)

So Gamestar starts by having the kids play the games to learn the system, and elements. Next the move up to fixing games. Finally they make their own games sort of. No programing no creating sprite simply drag and drop. This site is great for an introduction to the process of design and testing games and giving feedback. Beyond that you really don't learn much about making games. The kids love it because it's easy and it's mostly playing games with minimal effort in creating games(which in a way is deceptive because they think this is easy) There are a few students who get it and are not satisfied with the limitation of creating games. Thank god for those kids. They give me hope!

So the concepts learned in the first five weeks are Design Process, What makes a game balanced and the elements of design in a game. All important first steps.

This week we delve a little deeper. We will be starting Scratch. This program begins to touch alll of the areas of game design. I still need to poke around and figure out the best way to get the most out of this software. I'll be doing that this weekend. I will try to quickly come up with a sequential curriculum to make sense of it all. Wish me luck!

Also, each weekend I create a new visual to display in the classroom.
Week one I painted a large Angry bird poster because someone took my stuffed angry bird.

I posted an announcement on my poster that it went missing 7th period. The poster worked and my angry bird was returned the next day. (the power of the paint brush)
The next week I added visuals for my one web design class ( I didn't mention I'm teaching web design too. A whole different topic for another post). I Made big HTML and CSS signs. I also printed the codes that they were learn one per page and displayed them on the cabinets.

The next week I made a big poster showing What makes a balanced game?

The kids made cartoons the first week of school on index cards and I called them preliminary sketches for avatars(to be created in paint.net) and posted them on the bulletin boards.
Last week I printed out the words Pre production, production and post production (vertically) and laminated them and attached them to the narrow polls. I also made gears out of foam core and attached them to the tops of the polls with words explaining the three different aspects of design. I have to take pictures of that.
Oh I forget, I made a long banner that says Creativity is key in technology.

The kids did pre production sketches yesterday. I will be switching out the bulletin boards with the best examples from each class. I will still display the avatars on the wall next to the boards.
My goal is to have a fun visually exciting and informative classroom.

So as you can see, I've been busy. And did I mention the fun busy work created for us do nothing teachers. Lots of useless paper work. I won't get into that now.

The chalkboard business is going well too. Lots of sales! If you need a chalkboard don't forgot to visit our etsy shop. With hubby between jobs he's making lots of chalkboards and shipping them out fast!!

Always Remember 9/11

2011-09-11T03:27:00.000-07:00

Never forget!

It is ten years later.
Ten years ago on this day I was in my nineth month of pregnancy with my son. I was so scared for his and my older son's futures. What was happening to America?

Ten years later...9/11 has left a scar on our beautiful country and changed it in many ways. However, the American spirit is one that is powerful and bright. Freedom is in our blood.

The evil people who have tried to shake it out of us have not succeeded. They thought they could but they will never understand the power of Freedom, Liberty and the American way of life!

We are strong people! Freedom and Goodness will always prevail.

I will observe a moment of silence with my family today in remembrance of the innocent lives lost, the brave Americans who fought and continue to fight for the greatest cause of all FREEDOM!

I will recall that day and teach my children about what happened and who was to blame. (they are now old enough to learn all that happened on that day)

We must never forget! And be vigilant about protecting our freedom.

God Bless America!

Leisurely Labor Day Weekend!

2011-09-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few weeks.

Yesterday when I got home from school I thought, "Wow, a three day weekend! I want to go out and celebrate... after I lay down for a few minutes." 8 hours later, I woke up, looked at the clock, which said 3:00 and realized I never even changed out of my clothes. So much for the fun night on the town.

So, today after we mulled around for most of the day, we decided to get in the car and head for the beach.

It was a glorious late afternoon at the beach. An all American Labor Day weekend! Red, white and blue!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend too!

Computer Class Activity

2011-08-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

I've been away from my blog for so long! I have made it through my first two weeks of teaching Gaming and Web Design to nearly 200 middle school students. I think I'll return on Monday and shoot for another week!

I came up with a great activity for them to do on Monday.
We have covered a lot of information so far. I created a website for the class using what else?...blogspot... I literally put the site together in an hour. I use it everyday to post the lessons and bell work. I also have pages for chapters and other information. The list of resource links is a great feature too.
Anyway, their activity for Monday is to go to Wordle.net and create a word cloud using the terms we have covered. They will open the website and wordle.net in windows side by side and copy and paste words from our class website. The main concepts will be copied and pasted several times more than the sub topics. They will then have fun creating their word cloud white background with black and gray words only. I will select a few word clouds to print out. Can't print them all/ too much ink.
I will use these lovely word clouds to decorate the walls of my classroom!:)
Here are some screen prints to show you my process.

Chalkboards for the Classroom

2011-08-20T01:49:00.000-07:00

Classrooms sure have changed! It used to be that every classroom had a chalkboard. Could you imagine back when you were a kids, if you had somebody say to you, there will be no chalkboards in the classrooms by the time your kids go to school. You would have thought they were crazy! Chalkboards and classrooms go together like peanut butter and jelly!

Here is my new classroom and guess what...NO Chalkboards! Only computers and whiteboards. We'll have to change that!:)

I see a perfect surface to put chalkboards!
Stay tuned...

This may take a while. I'm pretty busy these days. Teaching middle school kids game design and web design is fun but a lot of working too!

Painting with crayons!

2011-08-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

I wrote this post on my new blog Art by Instinct but I'm still pretty attached to this blog. You can see all of my chalkboards and artwork at my new blog but I just can't leave my old friend Chalk it up! So sometimes I will cross post and sometimes I will write something completely different, depending on the time available.

After coming across a very interesting idea on pinterest.com I decided to experiment with crayons as a "serious" art medium.-

Here is the the picture that started it all for me

As I read more about the process I though I just had to try it. One person who tried it said they glued the crayons to the canvas and left it in the hot car to melt.
I decided to take a box of old Crayola Crayons and peel the wrappers(hint-use an X-acto knife to score down the length of the crayon and simply peel the cut wrapper)
Then I glues five of the peeled crayons to the center of the canvas and propped it up against the wheel of the car. I live in Florida so I didn't think I needed to put it in the car to help melt the crayons.
Interestingly, after 3 hours in the hot August Florida sun only the indigo and violet started to melt. This was not working.

This melted the crayons in no time

The little white flecks are pieces of grated white crayon sprinkled over the top.
To further help the process I used my embossing gun to keep the wax melted and move it around fluidly.

Here is the end result of my first attempt.

I'm pretty happy with the results of this first try.
Now It's time to really experiment with this technique!

This time I decided to use a piece of 6"x6" wood instead of canvas. A more rigid support seem more stable for the wax.
Here is my second attempt at a crayon painting landscape.

I like the way the wax drips off the edge of the wood, revealing the process.

To help the melting process along I put the canvas into the warming drawer at the bottom of my oven.

This could be addicting!

You might call this the cheap man's encaustic painting (although I've never done encaustic painting before, so don't know how similar this is) I would love to learn encaustic someday.

Little chalkboards for sale

2011-08-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited! I just opened an Amazon Chalk it up! store.
So far I only have one item listed but it's a start. We are hoping to reach more people looking for chalkboards
I still love my etsy shop and will always have chalkboards there.

I also listed a new painting in my Art Spectrum shop

I have been so side tracked lately I don't know which way is up! Do you even have so many thoughts running through your head that you just can't see straight?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I created a new website for all of my artistic endeavors. Art by Instinct
Well, a few days ago I was trying to create another new and separate website and completely destroyed ABI! So I had to go back to the drawing board and rebuild it. Sometime redoing things gives you the practice you need to improve. I hope to get good enough soon to offer custom websites to others.

I think I made some improvements on my new site (it's still under construction) I hope you will check it out and let me know what you think.

Have a great day!

Looking toward the light

2011-07-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

Don't look down
Don't look up
Look straight ahead...

Took the day yesterday to take a deep breath and bask in God's Glory

Is that the sun I see behind the clouds?

Happy Mosaic Monday!

Chalkboard Minis!

2011-07-14T03:55:00.000-07:00

We have a new product at Chalk it up! The chalkboard mini!

Actually it is 2"x3.5" the size of a business card.

I can think of so many uses for these minis
Wedding seating cards
table place setting cards for a dinner party
birthday favors
teaching aides
labels for organizing
name tags for a social event or meeting

Can you think of other ways to use mini chalkboards?
I'd love to hear your ideas

New Custom Website

2011-07-13T01:52:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

Not just another wordpress website! This is my new website and I'm very excited to introduce it to you here. Art by Instinct
www.artbyinstinct.com!

This website is a culmination of the work that I have been doing for the past several years; teaching, painting, murals, chalkboards, digital media. The cherry on the sundae or icing on the cake is the custom website that I created to house all of this work.

For the past year and a half I have been working toward a certificate in Digital/Interactive Media Design Technical.

I have taken classes in bitmap graphics, vector graphics, 3-D modeling and animation, digital video, digital imaging and interactive design. I have two more weeks left of my interactive design class and I will earn my certificate. And if I get an "A" in this class I will have a 4.0! (Ok enough tooting my own horn-that was fun:))

I still have some tweaking to do with my new site and I'm not sure if it will take over as my main site yet. But I will keep everyone updated as it evolves and gets the finishing touches.

So where do I go from here? Illustration, web design, custom banners... It's time to weigh my options and see how to put my new skill to work.

Stay tuned...

Friends!

2011-07-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

They stick together...

Through thick and thin...

And give each other space when they need it.

Luc and Bam and the kids are becoming fast friends!

It's fun to watch their friendship grow!:)

Disbelief-Revision

2011-07-10T02:46:00.000-07:00

There are times when you need to back away from the computer...just back away! When you are not in the best state of mind...hands off the keys. Thus the explanation for the revision. I have always kept my blog a positive place. After all how can you follow along and have fun if it's not?!

I've only kept the parts worth keeping. I've decided everything is going to be just fine!:)

If you'd like to buy a chalkboard here's the shop

If you'd like to buy a painting here's the shop

Again, if you'd like to order a chalkboard or painting we would happily fill your order.

I wish you health and happiness.

Don't worry bout a thing!

I need my own SHedaisy group!

God Bless

And Chalk it Up!

I feel much better now!:)

Keep smiling:):):)

And a little something for Mosaic Monday

Some things I've collected on my vision boards over at Pinterest.com LOVE Pinterest!

Starting with a clean plate!

2011-07-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

This is a our newest chalkboard in the shop. Silver Chalkboard Plate!
A great way to display what's for dinner tonight or your soup of the day! Or to jot down your calorie count for the day! (or maybe not)

The chef is between jobs at the moment but we're hoping he will find something quickly.

In the meantime, onward with the chalkboard business and a few other business ventures we've put on the back burner, due to a lack of time. The irony, when you don't have the time you have the money but when you have the time you don't have the money.

We hope to be adding speech bubble chalkboards to the shop soon and various other shapes.

Rustic Chalkboard

2011-07-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

This is the newest chalkboard at Chalk it up!
It would look great in a rustic style home or a mountain cabin!

The frame measures 14"x14"

I hope you are having a relaxing summer. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Room for Art

2011-06-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

This is my soon-to-be Art Studio/Classroom! It is also where much of our chalkboard production takes place.

I think there is potential here. With a few changes of added and deleted pieces of furniture, I will make a room for art! Room for creating my own artwork and room to give art lessons.

I also have to consider some additional lighting. I may paint two of the walls white to be a crisp clean backdrop for the artwork. The piano will be going, no one plays it, and I may have to move my craigslist loveseat to another room. In the center of the room will be a table and chairs for students to work.

I've been gathering inspiration on this great new site that I found through one of this weeks SITS featured bloggers. It's called Pinterest.com. Here is my inspiration board for my studio.

Pinterest is like an online vision board! I love it! Thank you Lisa from Surviving Oz

This summer is becoming one of action for me. We are going through some changes around here and we have decided that WORRYING accomplishes nothing, ACTION accomplishes everything.

I was hoping to be teaching art in the public school this year; however, the position went to a art teacher who lost their position at another school, so by default he/she got the job. It was not much consolation when the principal told me if not for the school district rule I would have been his first choice. I decided not to wait for somebody to tell me when I can teach.

It's time to take matters into my own hands and teach what I love. Hopefully in a few weeks the studio will be ready for students!

Visit Mary's Little Red House for Mosaic Monday!

Stay tuned...

Things to do this summer!

2011-06-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

1.Go to the local animal shelter and adopt a pet!

We have been thinking about adding another puppy to our clan. The other day we decided to visit the pound and see if our new puppy was there. As we walked from pen to pen we stopped when we got to one where there seemed to be no dogs. We called to see if any were in the inside portion and out slinked Bambi. Bambi is a beagle/chihuahua mix. Too cute! She worked her charm as we played with her in the play area. That was it! She closed the deal! Adopting a pet is not to be taken lightly. We are probably not going anywhere this summer so it is the perfect time to introduce a new pet into the family.
2. Make new friends!

If you can't adopt a pet, go to the park, enroll in camp, go to a dog park, join the gym, join the YMCA, enroll in a class at the local College or visit your community pool.

3. Go canoeing

Rent a canoe and explore your local surroundings from a whole new perspective or should I say an old perspective. We went canoeing on the Wekiva river here in Florida. It was hot but so much fun! We paddled to the springs (always 72 degrees, freezing) and jumped in to cool off before we turned around to head back. We explored Florida's natural beauty. This is the beautiful side of Florida that many aren't aware of. We came nose to nose with alligators, otters, turtles, herons, egrets...

We so want to buy our own canoe or kayaks!
Do you own a canoe?
What would you encounter during your canoe trip in your state?

4.Find some indoor fun

The obvious would be bowling, the movies (we just saw Super8 with the kids-Great Summer movie), indoor kids zones(dare I say Chucky Cheese or Kidtropolis), art classes, or my son's favorite place, Rebounderz! Rebounderz is a wall to wall trampoline room. You can literally bounce off the walls! They also have a bungee cord harness, video games, pool tables, a cafe, comfy couches, and party rooms! A boys paradise! Other indoor activity that don't cost much, walk around the mall and window shop or go to thrift stores and have to kids search for a particular items like a scavenger hunt! Let them buy something for a dollar! Good places for this, Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity.

Do you have any good summer activity ideas that you can share with me? We're always looking for new things to do.

A view from my window

2011-06-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

Ok so it's not a real window. It's my computer window. Yes, I'm still only on virtual vacation.

Summer is upon us and no vacation time in sight. But I'm sure we'll figure it out before the season disappears. We always do:)

Looking out my "window" I see many opportunities, virtual and real! The future is bright!

Happy Father's Day!

How to take a virtual vacation...

2011-06-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

In these challenging economic times you may being finding it hard to find the money or time or both to squeeze in that summer vacation.

Here's a temporary fix, think about where you would like to go this summer, then google your destination to see if there is a streaming webcam in that location. For example, I was thinking how nice it would be to take a mini vacation to Sanibel Island. It's only about a three hour drive and I've heard it's great for shell collecting. I googled Sanibel webcam and found this site, Island Inn Sanibel .

This beautiful resort offers cottages, beach houses, duplexes and suites.

So, how to take a virtual vacation?

View your destination web cam in full screen if possible. Check at different times during the day to see the changing colors and light of the day. Pull up your laptop at your patio table as you dine al fresco and gaze at the beautiful beach sunset. Imagine you are looking out the window from your luxurious suite at your beach front view.

Sounds a little cooky? Well, maybe but remember that visualization is key in making your dreams a reality. I did this a few summers ago when I really wanted to take a trip to the northwest Georgia Mountains. I found a webcam of Brasstown Bald Mountain. I viewed it several times a day imagining myself being there and that summer I found myself standing on top of that mountain!

Maybe in a few weeks I'll be standing on this beach. Or in a cabin in the mountains

Or Lauderdale at sunrise

Or maybe a view of Time Square is more like it...

I'll keep you posted...

Happy mosaic Monday!
See more mosaics at Mary's little red house

How to make a sunset animation in Flash

2011-06-09T10:45:00.001-07:00

I'm very new at Flash myself, so this is just how I created it. I will explain as much as I can using screen shots of the various layers that I put together in Adobe Illustrator than Imported into Flash.

So here goes...

This first screen shot is of all the layers that I created in Illustrator to be used in my Flash scene.

First, I opened Illustrator and created a new file called sunset. I sized my document to the same width as the stage I set up in Flash 500px. The length is much bigger than my stage in Flash. The length is 1450px.

Below I will show each element individual and give a brief explanation

This part was created in Illustrator.
Layer 1 Atmosphere (bottom layer)
I selected the rectangle shape tool and created a rectangle the same size as the artboard w 500px by 1450 px. I added a linear gradient fill using the colors of a sunset, and played with the placement and opacity until I achieved a soft blended effect of colors.

Layer 2 sun. Still using the rectangle tool added a radial gradient fill with the outer edges transparent so you are left with just a circle of orange and yellow. This could also have been achieved using the eclipse tool.

layer 3 waves For this layer I made the grid visible so that I could place the first pen mark (I used the pen tool) and the top pen point on the opposite end of the wave at the exact same height. I then copied and pasted the wave several times, making a long continuous waves.

Layer 4 moon This was really easy, I used the eclipse tool created a sphere and filled with a white and pale yellow gradient and added an effect of outer glow.

Layer 5 sand using the pen tool make a rectangular shape with a wave top. Fill with a tan to white gradient lowering the opacity of the white which is at the wavy top(stroke white). Use a texture effect of grain.

Now that you have all of the elements in Illustrator, you will import each one into Flash. I imported each one separately by only checking one layer at a time to be imported so that each element imports in its own layer. Also, before importing, make sure to add a new layer in your flash document.

To begin in Flash, open new document set the stage at w 500px by h 400px

Layer 1- Atmosphere
Import Illustrator layer ATMOSPHERE

This series of screen shots shows at the top timeline with the atmosphere positioned with the bottom (blue sky on the stage) at frame 1(to keep the blue sky on the screen for a little over a second-one second being 24 frames) at about frame 35 add a key frame(press F5) this extends the length of the shot for about a second. Than on the timeline draw frames to about 650 (this will be the full lenght of your film about 30 seconds). Now go back to about frame 250, right click and create motion tween.

Layer 2 Sun

Timeline still frame 1-70, motion tween from frame 70-475

Layer 3 Dark water
Created in Flash using th e rectangular shape using a dark blue fill. The element stays fixed from frame 1-655 by press F5

Layer 4 Wave
Positioning left side of wave shape to left side of stage in frame 1 and moving all the way across the stage matching right edge of wave to right edge of stage at frame 655

Layer 5 Light Blue water
Created in Flash starting in frame 1 continuing all the way to the end in frame 655 no movement.

Layer 6 Moon
Starting in frame 1 motion tween to frame 525 and in position to end.

Layer 7 Sand

Starting in frame 1 still all the way to the end in frame 655

And that's the whole thing. Again, it is not a full detail of what I have done but it gives a good idea of how it was done.

I hope this explanation was helpful. by adding more elements and sound this could be a fun scene!

Summer Chalkboard Sale

2011-06-03T04:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it's summertime and the livin is easy...and new lovely framed chalkboards are popping up in my chalkboard garden (shop)!

I have been listing new framed chalkboards and freshening up the store:) I have a variety of styles that I will be featuring in the next week or so.

Here are two new ones...

Meet Shabby Chic Chalkboard

and...

Classic Gold Square Chalkboard

Stay tuned...

Soon to be introduced...
Rustic Mountain Chalkboard and Classic Ebony Chalkboard

If you have 11 minutes and 7 seconds...

2011-06-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

I recommend watching this amazing collaborative work of art!

How to clean dirty pots and pans...

2011-06-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

Without elbow grease or any special cleaning agents!!

It is very simple and easy! If you have a caked on mess from a lasagna pan, or grimy burnt on goo from that sweet marinade on your broiler pan, or any other hard to clean baked on residue from that delicious dinner; here is the answer...Put your oven on to 350 or 400 degrees or leave it on after your done cooking your roast (or whatever). Fill the dirty pan with about 1 inch of tap water. (don't worry about scrubbing anything out of the pan.) Carefully put the pan back in the hot or preheated oven. Leave for about 10 minutes. Using oven mitts and a steady hand remove pan from oven. Place on counter. Take a spoon or rubber spatula and gently stir up the grime. It will lift almost without any effort. While still very hot move pan to sink and rinse out with cold water. Viola!! Clean pan!

If you have a saute pan that has burned on residue, while the pan is still hot move to sink and run under cold water. It will sizzle and steam, the residue will loosen and be instantly clean!
If you have a crook pot with baked on food, fill half way with water and put crook pot on high for about 20 minutes than rinse out under cold tap, gently using a sponge to help loosen! CLEAN! No fuss, no chemicals, no time!!

I discovered this cleaning technique from a cooking technique that my husband showed me a long time ago, DEGLAZING

deglaze
[dee-GLAYZ]
After food (usually meat) has been sautéed and the food and excess fat removed from the pan, deglazing is done by heating a small amount of liquid in the pan and stirring to loosen browned bits of food on the bottom. The liquid used is most often wine or stock. The resultant mixture often becomes a base for a sauce to accompany the food cooked in the pan.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/entry/?id=2264#ixzz1O2SYmDco

Yup, all the that great flavor is in that yucky mess at the bottom of the pan:)

Coffee for two

2011-05-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I accidentally broke my glass coffee pot.:(

I never used to drink coffee. I started about a year ago. Now I look forward to my morning cup of coffee. The smell that fills the air as it's brewing, the warm mug in my hands and the smooth mellow flavor. (I sound like a coffee commercial.) I never understood what all the fuss was about before. .
This morning hubby picked up a replacement pot! We sat out back and relaxed with our mugs of coffee. Ah sunshine and coffee with the one you love! What could be better!

Which inspired me to do this painting.

On Etsy

I think I went a little overboard having a cup and a half of coffee. I was feeling pretty jittery as I was finishing up the painting. I think from now on I'm a one cup gal!

After I posted this and looked at the painting again, I realized that there are chalkboards in my painting!!

Amazing how the subconscious works!

CHalk it up!!
And have a great day!

Heart Painting

2011-05-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

Love conquers all!
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

On Etsy

Through turbulent times
When life seems to be throwing punches at you
Uncertainty
Confusion
Fear
Unknown
Follow your heart
Love Conquers all!

I am by no means a poet. And this is not really written to be one. I am just writing and painting from my heart.

When I was painting this I did not see the message. It was not until I stepped back and looked at it that I realized what I was saying.

Times are tough right now and we are stepping into the unknown. When you don't know which way to go FOLLOW YOUR HEART and that is exactly what we are trying to do right now.

I hope you will listen to your heart today too! And do what you were meant to do!

Have a great day!

Love and Graditude

2011-05-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's day!

This one's for you, MOM!

ART and WINE

2011-05-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

11"x14 acrylic on stretched canvas

This is my latest painting of this new series that started.

There are painting studios popping up all over the place, where you sign up for one class and in three hours you complete a painting by following the instructor step by step. Everyone leaves with the same painting. You are encouraged to bring your own bottle of wine and snacks and make an evening of it. It is referred to as art entertainment! I like this idea, sort of. But I have a slightly different idea. I would love to open a studio like this but use my own method of bringing out your inner artist. In my studio everyone would leave with a different painting, one that comes from the artist that lives within each of us.

Gettin my groove on...

2011-04-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

Ok since I turned @#$^ a few days ago I have completed 2 paintings! More than I have completed in two years! I'm feeling inspired!! FINALLY!!

Here's the second painting

Don't know if it's good or bad or how other perceive it. I just know I feel good while I'm painting it. I want to paint it til it's done. It is coming from an intuitive place. And I want to do more. This is exciting! The more I paint the more likely I am to evolve as a painter. Just do it!!

I have post these two new paintings on my Art Spectrum shop on etsy! I feel big things happening I'm not sure what. But wouldn't you like to own an original painting from an up and coming artist?!:) And for $25 how can you go wrong. (Ok sorry for the shameless promotion) The point is, whether I sell a single painting or not it doesn't matter.

I've got my groove on! And I'm lovin it!:)

Wishes do come true!

2011-04-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

So hubby thought it would be nice to put the exact number of candles for my age on my bday cake plus one for good luck, of course. Haha very funny! We almost burned the house down!

Ok make a wish! I've been told I have a good set of lungs!

My wish, to make more time for painting!

Tonight, somehow I found some time to paint.(it's 2am, I'll be sorry when the phone rings at 6am to sub)

I call this painting, serious doodling!

See, wishes do come true!

Life is Good!

2011-04-25T14:55:00.001-07:00

That's the only title I could think of for this post because today is my birthday!!:)

Life is good!
Good husband!
Good kids!
Good family!
Good life!

Today was the last day of my Visual Imaging fundamentals class.
The final project was to create a color poster depicting a well known American park presenting the for seasons.
I liked how my poster turned out so I decided to take it to Office Depot and have a 16"x20" color print made on glossy paper. I also bought a nice simple black frame at Target. I'm so glad I did it! I never see what my digital artwork looks like in print. It was my birthday present to myself!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Here's my poster of Central Park:

I HAVE A QUESTION!

2011-04-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

I've been busy working on my final project for my Video Imaging Fundamentals class. The final project was to write, star in, edit, and produce a wacky interview.
We were told to come up with questions for a two minute interview. The interviewee was not to see the questions in advance of the interview.
This was a three camera shoot. The challenge was to create a 20 second intro, edit and sync audio and video and finish with a ten second credit. My timing was a little off but I'm pretty happy with the results.
I have one type-o you're instead of your in the intro. I am the interviewer (I hate seeing myself on camera) I would have liked a make-up and hair crew and better lighting! I'm such a diva!:)

Here it is! It's 2min 19 sec

How to make the most of a three day weekend...

2011-04-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

Go to a cabin in the mountains.

Country Road...

Since my husband is a chef, days off are rare, especially three days in a row! He normally only gets one day off a week.
A couple of weeks ago the kids were on spring break. The last three days of their break their dad was off. So, last minute I decided to book a cabin in the blue ridge mountains.
The trip consisted of waking up early friday morning and hitting the road at 5:30. We watched the sunrise and the morning fog lifted as we headed off on our last minute adventure.

We rented a cabin by the lake tucked in the woods. We arrived at about 4:00(we hit some traffic in Atlanta). We quickly aquainted ourselves with our new temporary home. My older son put himself in charge of the fireplace(we don't have one at home so this was a luxury). My younger one headed right downstairs to the pool table for a game with the big guy. Did I mention we took the dog with us. It's a pet friendly cabin! She wasn't thrilled with the ride but she did claim the master bedroom.

Night one-There was a really big thunder storm. It was so cozy, we didn't care. Let it pour! We went to the local supermarket Ingles and stocked up for the next two days. We couldn't get internet so we actually enjoyed each others company as a family.

The next day-After a good nights sleep we thought we'd do some fishing on the lake. Unfortunately it was still raining, actually pouring. So we just hung around the cabin. I had to take the dog for a walk and discovered how beautiful the mountains were in the rain. Back to Ingles for some rain ponchos (never thought I'd wear one) and back to the cabin to explored the great outdoors. We hiked about three miles in the rain up the mountain. Oh yes, on the way to Ingles as we were pulling away from the cabin we saw a herd of deer! When we got back to the cabin we soaked in the hot tub. Played some pool. Sat by the fire, watched tv, ate a wonderful dinner prepared by the chef. We savored every single minute of that day! It was amazing!

Sunday-We had to be out of the cabin by eleven. Woke up, had breakfast, straightened up according to the handbook and left. As we were getting into the car the sun broke through the clouds! We were home by 8pm. The kids had a great time but were happy to see their video games too:)

And here's a mosaic for Mosaic Monday hosted by Mary at little red house

I have decided that my home decorating style is now rustic country!
Humm....chalkboards totally fit the theme. As a matter of fact there was one in the kitchen!
I can't wait to add some touches to my home that remind me of our cabin in the mountains. In some ways the cabin felt more like home than home.

How to improve your design...

2011-03-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Simplify and edit

My last post was what I thought was my latest assignment for my class. Turns out (since I missed last class, which was supposed to be a working class or lab) the instructor modified the assignment.

Instead of blending a photo of your self with your initial she changed it to using elements (line, shape) of your photo with your initials.

I'm still not sure if I did it correctly; however, this is what I created.

I started with a photo of myself. Edited it in photoshop by changing the appearance settings to black and white and adjusting the threshold. Then I imported the photo into Illustrator and used it as a template. From there I began to create a black and white, with gray scale, illustration.

This is the first attempt/draft

Then I began to simplify and edit my elements.

Here are the three final logos each one being edited from the previous one by saving as a copy in Illustrator and limiting my choices each time until the final design was simply a black line drawing on a white background. The goal was rely on as few lines as possible and to use implied line where ever it seemed to make sense.

Which design do you think works best?

Mixing it up! Photoshop and Illustrator

2011-03-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

The assignment for my digital video imaging fundamental class, this week, was to merge a photo of my self with three of my intial designs that I created in Adobe Illustrator. I don't usually use my own images for my artwork, unless it's required.

Anyway, I used two different photos of my self. I altered the photos in Photoshop. Then I merged the photos with my design, which were further altered in order to create , hopefully, cohesive designs.

This design and photo(adjusted to black and white, adjusted the threshold and added a lens flare on the left corner of the sunglasses)...

became the design below...

This design and photo(adjusted to black and white and adjusted the threshold)...

merged and altered became this design...

And this photo and design...

became this design...

These exercised have really helped me to push my creativity in direction that I would otherwise not explore. This is why I love school!

How to exercise your creativity...

2011-03-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

Create a challenge for yourself and set some limits!

When you set a creative a challenge for yourself, you push yourself to go beyond what you think you can do. When you set some limits you narrow your choices, forcing yourself to work with what you have, thus expanding on creative problem solving.

I love the show Chopped on the food network. It's a great example of exercising creativity. The challenge is to create a meal with ingredients selected by the show's producers. The chefs don't know what those ingredients will be until they open the mystery basket. All four chefs are given the same basket of ingredients to work with, plus what is in the pantry and fridge. They are challenged to create an appetizer, entree and dessert. They must do it in a limited amount of time. Talk about thinking on your feet.

Last night I challenged my dh, a professional chef, to a chopped challenge. (He was the only contestant).

My basket was: chicken breasts, zucchini, and Special K cinnamon and pecan cereal. He had 50 minutes to create his entree. Poor guy this was after a full day of work. He's such a good sport! He won the challenge. AND we had a great meal!

On the menu:

Cinnamon/pecan crusted chicken breast (the addition of thyme made it a sweet/savory dish)
Long Grain Rice seasoned with bacon and celery
Poached Apple ( granny smith apple poached in a red wine reduction glaze)
Sauteed vegetables (zucchini and mushrooms sauteed in a garlic and butter with a touch of red pepper flakes for a little kick)

Mosaic Monday! "SUN/SON" day!

2011-03-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, in the moment, you are so inspired by what is before your eyes that you just have to try and capture it. But no matter how hard you try, and you keep trying, click after click, you know it is nearly impossible to capture the beauty that's in front of you. It is beyond the cameras capability (especially when it's your phone camera). You try and try desperate to share what you're experiencing. This was my experience, the other night, as I was driving to my sister's house and the amazing sun was setting before my eyes. It was blindingly beautiful!
Thank goodness for Mosaic Monday, an excuse to show multiple shots of the same subject. It was a ball of fire blazing in the distance, so close yet so far! Amazing!

Again the sun/son dazzled me! And I clicked away!

And again the sons dazzled me! Lately, the brothers have been, well, brothers. My little one named the two of them, appropriately, "the bicker brothers" So, to see them like this warmed my heart, like the sun:) The younger one was video taping the older one doing a 180:)

Have a Sunny Monday!

Visit more Mosaics at Mary's little Red House

My Digital Video Debut!

2011-03-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

One of the classes I am taking this semester is called Digital Video Fundamentals. I'm learning Final Cut Pro. It's a lot of fun! The only problem, I don't have this program at home which means I can only work on it when I have time to go to school. It really limits my play time.
Anyway, I finally finished my first assignment. A 30 second commercial for the digital media program. I worked with a group of students to shoot video of the campus. Then I edited, added music,a voiceover (that's my voice:)) and creative text.
Here is my commercial...
If you click on the title you can see the whole screen on youtube. (it gets cut off here)

It's a little rough around the edges but not too bad for a first try.

I'm joining Facebook Friday for the first time over at Mom vs. the Boys
Click on the button to visit more facebook fan pages!

GREEN Paintings!

2011-03-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Paddy's Day!
Here are some of my greener paintings from the past:)

6"x6"

24"x36"

Adobe Illustrator Black and White Abstract Designs

2011-03-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

One more time...
This time the inspiration point is the initials H and C. Different fonts were used for each frame. The first six were to be abstract. The next three were to show the letters in the design and the last three were abstract again.

Pray for Japan

2011-03-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

It's hard to fathom the devastation and loss of life that has occurred in Japan this past week. Sometimes all we can do is pray...

How to find your HAPPY place

2011-03-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

Music is a great trigger.
Sometimes you have to go back in time and return to more youthful carefree days.

This morning I looked into my coffee cup and started singing(to myself) Black Coffee in Bed. Then I started singing it out loud to my son, who had never heard the song. Thank goodness for the internet and playlist. I quickly ran over to the computer and pulled up the song. Son wasn't too impress but I'll convert him into a Squeeze Singles fan yet!

This music brings me instantly to my happy place! Back to college day when I was young, carefree and living for the beach!

For me, this music transcends time.

It's not just 80's music, it's happy music:)

I've compiled must of the songs from that album. A few were not listed:(

In case you'd like to hear some Squeeze...

How to get the kids to do chores...

2011-03-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Chalk it up!
I have put a chalkboard in each of my boys' rooms.

One is framed, one is unframed. 10"x13"

Each day I will put 6 or 7 chores on the board for the day.
Next to each chore is a box.
When the chore is complete they will put a check in the box.

If all the boxes are checked off at the end of the day, they will receive a star in their individual pocket planner (month at a glance works well).

If they receive a star for the day, the next day, they get video game time. I figure it this way, if they've done all of their chores they deserve to have some mindless time. I may have to throw in some monetary incentive too:)

The nine year old is on board. As for the thirteen year old, we'll have to see how it works.
I'm hoping...
I'll keep you updated to see how it's working.

Here's a link to my Chalk it up! store if you'd like some chalkboards of your own.

Thirteen reasons to be thankful

2011-03-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

1. being a mom!

2. unconditional love!
3. watching a beautiful baby boy begin to grow into a handsome young man.

4. Cake
5. Thirteen candles glowing on his cake.
6. Wishes
7. birthday kisses
8. birthday hugs
9. dreams
10.happiness
11.plans
12.today

13. Happy Birthday!

Creating Balance?

2011-03-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about balance lately. How to create balance in life?
When I was in school I would study, cram, pull all nighters and work hard to achieve my goals. The rewards were for the future. But there still needed to be a balance. So, on Fri/Sat night I would go out with my friends to clubs and blow off steam. We would dance and laugh and have a few drinks. If felt like the perfect balance to all that school work. It kept me balanced.
Fast forward to today...motherhood, family, etc... I love my family but where are the fun nights. I'm missing that. Feeling a little off balance.

Today during my lunch break I took out one of my doodle index cards and decided to do a doodle that was cram packed in one corner leaving the rest of the card blank. I wanted to illustrate imbalance.
Here is my doodle.

What do you think? How does it make you feel?

I hope you find balance in your life. I'm still working on it in mine.

It's my blog and I'll sing if I want to...

2011-03-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I just have to sneak in a song on karaokeplay.com
It's one of my guilty pleasures.
I do have to be careful though. I can get so wrapped up in trying to perfect a recording that I lose track of time and don't get those important things done.
Shh don't tell anyone...
So here is a song that's been going through my head that I just had to get out. The funny thing is...one if the contestants sang it on American Idol last night...She's 15 and amazing! I was surprised that this song was still popular with 15 year olds.

Anyway, here's my version. I hope you like

I just made a karaoke recording: Irene Cara - Out here on my own check it out at http://www.karaokeplay.com/recordings/out-here-on-my-own-5176802.html

Chalkboard end table!

2011-03-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

What do you do when the glass insert in your end table breaks?

Replace it with a custom made chalkboard from Chalk it up!:)

I love my new chalkboard end table. And I can change the design anytime I feel like it!

If you have an old table with a glass insert that is looking old, why not replace the glass with a chalkboard?! You can request any size for a custom order in my etsy shop

12 more black and white designs

2011-02-28T17:05:00.000-08:00

These designs were done in adobe illustrator like the last 30. The inspiration for these designs came from japanese characters (letters).
Oh how I miss color!

I have been dying to paint on canvas. I have an idea that is itching to get out. Let's see if I ever get that canvas...

Sorry if this is not very interesting. This is all I have these days.:)

The Iron Chef!

2011-02-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

My husband, the chef, was in a powerlifting tournament this past weekend. The competition was raw (no lifting suits or gear) and it was also a drug free tournament. (My husband is lifetime drug free-meaning he has never used steroids)

This clip was his second attempt in the squat at 587 lbs He now holds the records in Florida for squat, deadlift and total for his weight class of 242.

A short visual story

2011-02-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

It's time to post something on my blog. February is turning out to be a month with little to say.
So here is a short story without words! Actually this was the next assignment in my digital imaging class. This is part II of the last assignment that I posted HERE.

1

2 3 4 5 6

The challenge was to take elements from the 30 designs (5 elements) element A was a character that morphed into character E. Element B was a character who increased than decreased in size while moving around the frame. Element C was a character that stayed the same size but was carried from one frame to the next forming an implied line. Element D was to be introduced in frame 3 than double in frame 4 and double again in frame 5, finally back to two in frame 6. We were to tell our story using these guidelines and only 6 frames for our storyboard.

Do you see the story?:)

BLOGGER'S BLOCK!

2011-02-10T04:31:00.000-08:00

I can not believe I have not entered a single post this month! It is February 10th and this is my first post!

Maybe it's because I haven't been feeling well. I have a weird cold that has just been swooshing around in my head for the past week or so. Or maybe it's because I've been busy, subbing, going to school, shipping chalkboards. Or maybe it's because I've been running around with the kids to appointments, practices etc while the chef has been working 15 hour days six days a week.

I hope I'm not complaining. I don't usually do that on my happy blog:) Maybe that's why I haven't been blogging, because I don't want to complain in my happy, creative, fun place:) But oops! I think I just may have complained:( Oh well!

I don't want to feel like this in the month that's about love and romance. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I'm grumpy. I love Valentine's Day but as a chef's wife it never seems to live up to the expectations. Ok, I'll stop there!

Blogger's block is dangerous! I seem to resort to complaining.

Ok enough of that!:)
To try and get out of my funk, I picked up my chalk pastels last night and scribbled a few hearts on paper.

The thick powdery sticks of bright color lifted my spirits as they glided across the toothy pastel paper.(Look at all those adjectives! Can you tell I've been subbing for a Language Arts teacher for the past few days? haha) Hearts always make me happy!

I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head. Now, to just get it unclogged and moving again! Hopefully the block will be lifted soon. Maybe a few more hearts will do the trick:)

Do you ever get bloggers block? What do you do to unblock?

Adobe Illustrator 30 black and white designs

2011-01-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

This is my homework assignment for my digital visual fundamentals class. In class, the teacher gave us 10 words and 15 seconds for each word, to do a doodle. We were than assigned to create 3 illustrations for each doodle, using our initial doodles as a starting point, inspiration.

It took about 10 minutes per design 10x30=300 minutes! 6 hours!!
Here is a snap shot of the screen in illustrator. Here you can see the layers panel(lots of layers!)

Here are a few of the designs close up

Inspiration word "male"

Inspiration word "mountain"

Inspiration word "mountain"

Inspiration word "female"

Happy Mosaic Monday! See more mosaics at Mary's little red house:)

Just for laughs!

2011-01-28T04:31:00.000-08:00

Helloooooo!

When I let the dog in the house, after her morning romp in the backyard, I said, "Hellooooo!" and I just couldn't stop!!
Isn't it funny how things just randomly pop into your mind and out of your mouth!?

Helloooooo!!
Have fun this weekend!!
I hope you LAUGH!!:)

How to be a great substitute teacher!

2011-01-22T03:53:00.000-08:00

If you are a substitute teacher who was searching for answers on the web on how to be a great sub, you probably are one already because caring enough to seek out ways to be better shows you already care and that's one of the secrets to being great at it! You care about what you're doing and how it impacts the students!

Hopefully this list will help you get even better at what you do.
Let's break it down:

1. Be genuinely happy to be there

When you get that call at 5am it may be hard to be happy about getting up and going to the unknown; however, once you accept the job for the day it's time to turn on the positive! Start saying to yourself, "It's going to be a great day!" Get excited about what you are about to do. Think about it, you get to walk into somebody's classroom and instantly have a class and be a teacher for a day, without any of the planning, parent conferences and boring faculty meetings! What's not to be happy about?!

When you are genuinely happy, people (kids) know it and they appreciate it. Plus, happiness is contagious!

2. Be prepared

Even though you don't have to plan the lesson for the day, sometimes there are no lessons or the lesson provided gets finish early and you need to fill time. Have a few tricks up your sleeve. Use what you know! If you play the guitar bring it along and entertain or have a sing along. If you know a few magic tricks bring a deck of cards and dazzle your students! My thing is art. I always bring a stack of 3"x5" index cards with me. If the students finish work early I may give a mini art lesson or let them doodle on the cards. They are a perfect size to carry with me and they can't be made into airplanes or crumpled into balls (for shots at the waste basket). The kids love it! They think the cards are special!

3. Focus on the positive!

This is probably the most important one! Instead of focusing on the negative behavior in the classroom and there will be plenty, zero in on the good behavior. I do this by writing an excellent list on the board. Whoever is quiet and working hard I put their name on a list titled EXCELLENT on the board. It is amazing how quickly the trouble makers turn their behavior around! After all why are they misbehaving? To get attention! And the quiet ones are amazed that they are being recognized! It's truly magical!

4. Do not yell

This is another biggy! Never raise your voice. Even just talking very loud over the noise encourages more noise from the students. I start the class very low key. I don't demand silence in a booming voice. I very calmly and quietly stand in front of the class, while they are talking and in a low speaking voice start to take attendance. At first no one pays attention but within seconds one or two start to notice me and how rude the class is being and feels compelled to help by telling his classmates to quiet down. Sometimes a student will yell, "Quiet! she's trying to talk!" At which point I say, "Thank you, but please don't yell. There is no yelling in here. But I appreciate you trying to help."

Yelling only gets yelling and quiet talking gets quiet:)

5. Be calm at all times

This goes hand in hand with #4. Kids can sense tension and nervous energy and it is quickly transferred to them. The same is true with calmness. When you are calm you set the mood for the class. Don't let them ruffle your feathers. You don't have to respond to every question. If a student keeps raising her hand and asking questions just to be disruptive the best thing to do is ignore. If they continue you can very matter of factly say, "There are no question right now. Or please don't be rude by interrupting "(if they are calling out).

Move slowing around and purposefully around the class. When you're calm and alert and engaged the students know you're in charge. This makes them fell calm and relaxed. The result is better behavior and respect for you.

6. Take a real interest in the students

This is their education. It's important. They are important. Care about the students in your class. Involve them in class discussion. Talk to them. It's even ok to joke around a little but always maintain professionalism and be appropriate. Kids know when you really care and they know when you don't.

7. Be pleasant

If you follow all of the above this comes naturally! There's no need to scowl and be cold. Kids don't respect that. If you are in a bad mood, leave it at home. It's not going to help you in the classroom. It will only make your day worse. Put on a happy face and before you know it you will genuinely be happy!

8. Finally! TEACH!

Yes the whole reason you are there!
Even though you may not be a science teacher, you can follow the lesson and teach it for the day. It's exciting and fun to teach! You are a Science teacher for a day!! How cool is that?! And there is really no pressure. Nobody expects too much so just have fun with it and teach! It's really rewarding! And believe it or not the kids will appreciate a genuinely happy to be there, prepared, positive, calm, non yelling, engaged, and pleasant substitute TEACHER for a day!

If you don't think you get paid enough to do all of this, think of it this way, it is volunteer work for the community! ( paid volunteerism:))

Sorry for such a long post(if you actually made it to the end) I just had a lot on my mind. I think this list could apply to many other situations too.

How to get inspired in 2011...

2011-01-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

The number 11 doesn't look very exciting at first glance, but than I got to thinking...11 The year of the line! The possibilities are endless!?

In home decor...

photo home decor tips

Furniture design...

photo dwell

Fashion...

And art!!

What's really funny, I started a new semester at school. I'm taking Digital imaging fundamentals and the very first assignment is to create 50 lines!! I guess it is the year of the line!

I haven't quite reached 50 yet but I am having a lot of fun exploring the possibilities.

Using pencil

Mixed media-texture

And a variety of other media.

This really is going to be a good year for creating art!

I'm also taking a Video imaging class where I will be shooting, editing and producing a commercial. I can't wait to get started!

Here's a music video combining typography, live video and music (great inspiration)

Eric Hutchinson "Ok It's Alright With Me" from Chris Marrs Piliero on Vimeo.

I can't wait to create______________________ something!

P.S. Don't forget it's Mosaic Monday at Mary's little red house!

Mosaic Monday-Science Fair Week!

2011-01-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

Science is not exactly pretty or aesthetically pleasing.

But you have to try...

My son went back to school today and brought in his Science fair project!

His project was about the circadian rhythm in a gerbil! We actually bought his gerbil for the experiment. Don't worry, we didn't harm her, maybe just confused her a little.
The experiment was to play with the circadian rhythm, by altering the light pattern of the gerbil's environment. The tank was kept in the closet for 10 days.(she was well fed). A bike speedometer was attached to the exercise wheel and her activity was recorded every twelve hours. Lights on for 12 hrs off for 12 hrs. Sometimes the light was on during the day, sometimes at night. Sometimes the lights were on or off for 24 or 36 hours straight. What we learned: Circadian rhythm is mainly an internal system control by nature not environment. A nocturnal animal is a nocturnal animal and the light has little to do with it. INTERESTING!!:)

My son included a quiz along with his display. How much do you know about the circadian rhythm?
Take the quiz and find out:

Circadian Rhythm Quiz

1. How long ago was reliable evidence for the existence of endogenous (internal) 24-hour rhythmicity first recorded
in an animal?
A. 1 year
B. 10 years
C. 25 years
D. 50 years
E. 100 years

2. Which of the following descriptions does not apply to circadian rhythmicity?
A. A process that can be found in bacteria, plants, fungi, and animals
B. A process that cycles in intervals of approximately 24 hours
C. A process that is rhythmic only in the presence of environmental cycles
D. A process that can be synchronized by environmental cycles

3.What is an "actogram"?
A. A unit of mass equivalent to 10-15 grams
B. A machine that records circadian rhyhms
C. A cyclic nightmare
D. A plot of activity over time

4. The period (cycle length) of circadian rhythms is determined
A. Mostly by nature (genetic inheritance)
B. Mostly by nurture (history of environmental exposure)
C. Equally by nature and nurture
D. By neither nature nor nurture

5. How long ago is circadian rhythmicity believed to have evolved?
A. Several trillion years
B. Several billion years
C. Several million years
D. Several thousand years

6. Why are nocturnal organisms active at night?
A. Because their eyes are specialized for night vision
B. Because their circadian system is unresponsive to light
C. Because their active phase is genetically timed to subjective night
D. A and C

7. The "master circadian pacemaker" in the mammalian brain is located in the
A. Suprachiasmatic nucleus
B. Preoptic area
C. Thalamus
D. Hippocampus

Answers:
1.E, 2.C, 3.D 4.A, 5.B, 6.D, 7.A

I helped my his with his display by creating this little clipart in illustrator. My school is coming in handy if not with a paying job at least to help my kids with their school work.:)

We printed it out on an 8'x10" sheet of paper, mounted it on foam baord, cut it out and attached it to the banner for a little extra piazza!

Science is FUN!
Happy Mosaic Monday!

Visit more fun, beautiful, interesing and educational(?) mosaics at Mary's Little Red house

Chalk it up! 2011

2011-01-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

It's time to get back to work and school. And it's time to add new products to my etsy shop! I will be adding more framed chalkboards very soon. Don't forget, Chalk it up! also, does custom orders. We cut chalkboards to almost any size! The uses for chalkboards are endless. They are stylish and useful for any room in your home or workplace. I keep finding more uses for them in my own home.

Today I was helping my son gather information for his Science fair project from the internet. We needed to jot down bits and pieces of information from different sites as we were creating an outline for his display board. We grabbed a 16"x20" unframed chalkboard, perfect for jotting down facts!

Hum... I think our next home decorating project will be to paint an entire table top with chalkboard paint.

instructables.com

This would make a great craft/project table!

2011 Oh Happy Day!

2011-01-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've decided this is the year of laughter!!

I wasn't sure what I wanted my first post of the new year to be about. I'm not a good new year's resolution maker or keeper, but this year I'm really going to try to keep one resolution...MORE LAUGHTER!! I don't promise a comedy blog. The resolution is to laugh more not to make more people laugh. But who knows, maybe I can do both occasionally:) Laughter is the best medicine! So, this year is about finding the funny in life!

I started the new year by going to a comedy show on New Year's Day eve. The chef and I decided, at the last minute, to go see Howie Mandel at the Hard Rock. I've always thought he was funny and very quick witted. The show was great! We laughed for the full hour and a half. It's amazing how smart and funny some people are. It's a true gift! Thank you Howie for starting my year off with a good laugh.
Here's a little sample from the show.

Now to keep the laughter going...

What are some things you do for a good laugh?

Happy New Year!!

A family year in review!

2010-12-30T07:40:00.000-08:00

Slideshow made in photobucket!

Christmas Past!

2010-12-26T18:04:00.000-08:00

How quickly the day comes and goes! In the end, it is all about the memories. Yes, there were days when I wished it had already passed. Naughty or nice? That was the question of the hour. But in the end it always seems to be "nice" because Santa understands that boys will be boys and deep inside they are good!

And the memories of family gatherings are to be cherished for a lifetime!

Here's to another Christmas Past!

Chalk it Up!

May your future be bright!

Spreading Christmas Joy!

2010-12-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Last year on December 30th I wrote a post about saving for Christmas this year.

The idea was to fill this Christmas popcorn tin with our spare change and what ever we collected would be our Christmas money. Well, when we counted the change a few weeks ago we discovered that we had $50. Not bad but not as good as we had hoped. Turns out, when you use your debit card more often than cash it's hard to accumulate coins. Anyway, the kids and I were trying to decide what to do with the money. First, I thought I would split the money between my two sons so that they could buy Christmas presents for each other. Then my nine year old suggested that we give it to charity. That was a wonderful idea and truly embodied the spirit of Christmas!

Today we went over to Kmart, where a Salvation Army bell ringer was stationed, and the kids joyfully emptied all of the coins into the tin.

We hope our coins can help a family this Christmas.

The kids felt so good about giving the money that they can't wait to do it again next year! When we got back into the car my older son opened the change purse in my wallet and dumped all the change into the Christmas tin. They are hoping to double their total next year!

Merry Christmas!!
Have fun spreading joy!

Is it winter already?

2010-12-21T21:28:00.001-08:00

I can't believe how fast this year has gone! I was flipping through the pages of my 2010 calender and unlike past years, I had very little written in it. Usually I jot down appointments, birthdays, meetings etc... But this year I kept a running list on my large gold framed chalkboard that I have displayed in my living room, on a floor standing easel. Everyday I look at my chalkboard and see what I can erase from the list. It keeps me focused and on task; however, there is no lasting record of the tasks of the year. :(
This year summer seemed to run right into fall and winter because the kids swam from June til November.

Thankfully the weather has been feeling wintery for the past few weeks! It helps to get us in the Christmas spirit!

Last weekend we took the kids to do some wintery things. Like...

sleigh riding?

And...

Ice skating!

Did you ever see messier ice? It was more like snow skating. My little guy had sooo much fun! He looked like a colt learning to stand. But after numerous falls he finally started to get the hang of it. Now he loves skating!

He wanted to give his teachers a gift for Christmas and thought it would be nice to give them each a framed chalkboard and chalk ink! Makes sense!

I hope they use it in their classrooms to write things like star student of the day!:)

Life flashing before your eyes

2010-12-18T05:27:00.000-08:00

I love getting emails from Photojojo. If you love taking pictures with your digital camera (who doesn't) you will love getting newsletters in your email from Photojojo. It's one of the few weekly newsletters that I have subscribed to that I actually open and enjoy!
This week they introduced this fun site Pummelvision.com. You authorize them to access your flickr or facebook account to extract your photos and they create a fun little video. I didn't have many pictures in my flickr account so this is a short video. It is fun to see your pictures put to music(pictures that I haven't looked at in a long time). The transition is very quick because it is meant to show a lot of pictures and give you that "life flashing before your eyes feel" Pretty cool!

Turning a Photo into a cartoon

2010-12-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

I spent some time using my new digital art skills by creating a cartoon from a photo of my son, in adobe illustrator. This took way to long for me to do. I really need to work on my speed.

Here's my cartoon version of my son:

And here's his mug on a mug :

HUM...This could be a Christmas present:)

How to stay young!

2010-12-09T03:09:00.000-08:00

Always keep learning! Take a class every now and then. Try something you've never done before. It's not about how tight your skin is, it's about how you view the world. When you're young everything is new. The world is more exciting and you are less jaded. When you are learning something new you are recapturing that youthful energy. The bonus of learning something new when you are a little older is that you bring some experience that allows you to build on past knowledge. They say youth is wasted on the young. Well not anymore!

I have mentioned before, I started taking Digital Media classes at my local College. I am fortuneate enough to live very close to a school with an excellent Digital Media Program.

Yesterday I completed my third and fourth classes, Vector Graphics I(Adobe Illustrator) and Intro to Digital Media.

I now am proficient in four programs, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Maya 3-D modelling and animation, and InDesign. In addition to a good education, I have made some wonderful new friends, and learned from talented, dedicated and supportive teachers!

It has been a year of growth!

A few weeks ago my school had a really fun event for the Digital Media Art program. It was call "Freaks and Geek." There were gaming contest, graphic art challenges, a juried art show and awards for artwork. It was a wonderful evening! I brought the kids and they even had fun! Two of my art pieces were chosen for the show! And I received an award for one of them!

This is the piece that I received the award for:

I plan on taking more classes in the Spring. I'm not sure which ones yet, but I'm sure it will be fun!

It's amazing, no matter how old you are, you just keep learning and growing. It keeps you young!:)

Adobe Illustrator Still life

2010-12-04T13:01:00.000-08:00

It's been over a week since my last post! Wow time is flying! I'm finishing up my fall classes and wrapping up some other things around here. I guess everybody will be doing a lot of wrapping these days:)
I wanted to share my final project for my vector graphics class. The assignment was to create a still life and render it using the different techniques that we learned in class. I used mostly gradient mesh.

Here is the photo that I took as a reference for my still life.

And here is my rendering in Adobe Illustrator

Here is what it looks like in outline form

And here is a close up of the detail in the stem in Outline:

And in Preview view

It feels good to finish a project. Althought, I always feel like I can work on it more, sometimes you just have to say done! and move on!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T04:02:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Healthy year together!
Don't eat too much...

If you do you might feel like Macy's newest Thanksgiving Day Parade float!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Who knew we were so trendy. In case you missed my post about building Mt Rushmore, we were busy last week making our own mini version of the float!

When we were busy paper mache-ing we were imaging it being a big float in a parade and thought "How cool would that be?!" And what do you know, there's a big Mt Rushmore float in the parade this year!! Spooky! (We may have to visit South Dakota this year!)

You can read more about the Mt Rushmore float HERE
Have a wonderful day!

Using the gradient mesh tool

2010-11-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

Only a few more weeks of fall semester! Wow time sure does go fast. This semester I took Vector graphics I which is Adobe Illustrator. I also took the Intro to Digital Media which covers Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. I'm still trying to decide what my next classes will be.

In my Illustrator class we are learning how to use the gradient mesh tool. It's amazing how realistic you can make your illustration look using this tool.

Here is an exercise that I did using this tool

This is the photo reference:

And here is my digital rendering using the gradient mesh tool:

I think the stem gives it away. I tried to fix the stem a little:)
This exercise was to prepare for the final project, a still life.

Here is a link to a series of GRADIENT MESH TUTORIALS

I had something exciting happen last week, I'll share on my next post...

Busy building Mount Rushmore

2010-11-16T00:47:00.000-08:00

I've been busy! I hate neglecting my blog but sometimes life gets a little hectic. I'm sure you know what I mean.
One of the things we've been busy doing around here is building Mt Rushmore (all in a days work:))
Actually, my middle school aged son had a geography assignment to do, which involved the whole family. The assignment was to recreate a monument, either from the US or Western Europe. So, my darling child chose Mt Rushmore! (The monuments will be set up at the school to create a mini golf course! FUN!
Anyway, I found a great instructable for a Mt Rushmore costume. You can get the directions HERE

The whole family worked together! I think the kids were amazed at what they created with chicken wire, wood, newspaper, glue, paint and masks! I know my son was very proud to bring it in to school today. Everybody oohed and aahed.

I shouldn't do this because you'll see all the imperfection. but here's a side by side

If we were to do this again (which we will not) we would keep a photo of the real thing handy to get better placement of the faces.

The only things that we did different from the instructions were:
1.Added the Roosevelt mask( I had to make it from a generic craft store mask. I sculpted the features out of toilet paper and masking tape. )
2. We covered the entire structure in paper mache, front back and masks.
3. We painted the entire structure with brushes, no spray paint (with a 12 year old boy, are you kidding). I added a dry brush technique using white paint to bring out the rough texture of the surface.
4. And of course we made a hole at the bottom with a tunnel out of cardboard connecting the back and front, for the golf ball.

Stop by one of the greatest blog Todays Creative Blog to check out more creative ideas with Get your craft on Tuesday!

Now my younger son wants to make a whole bunch of paper mache structures to create a mini golf course in our backyard!

I'll be back to post more of what I've been up to...to be continued...

How to make progress...

2010-11-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Keep a level head!

Ok, so my morning didn't start out that way. First, go on a good rant! Than, relax, think clearly, take the appropriate steps to get things done.

So what am I talking about?
Well, this morning I woke up to a giant puddle of oil under my car in my garage!

I immediately knew what had caused it! It was the giant pot hole that my car fell into on the way home from school last night. It was dark and rainy and the gaping hole was not visible. The car bottomed out hard. I thought for sure the van was done. I slowly moved forward and thought I had escape this one. It wasn't until this morning that I realized that I had not.

I immediately jumped on my new form of transportation (my bicycle) with camera in hand and an axe to grind and rode back to the scene of the crime to take a picture of the hole.

It was already covered up! I guess that's a good thing:)

Anyway, home I went. It was time to calm down and think clearly. And clearly the responsible party was going to pay! But who was the responsible party? I started by calling the county, who directed me to the right division. I spoke to the engineering division/Project Manager. I was kind and respectful and in return was treated the same. He was very helpful and advised me of the steps to take and the people to contact. Within an hour I had completed all of the steps keeping a level head and treating each person that I spoke to with respect, while clearly stating my case. Within an hour the contractor of the job was at my home inspecting the damage and without hesitation took full responsibility, assessed the damage and promised a mechanic would be in my garage to fix the damage this morning. (As I'm typing this, the contractor called and said the mechanic will be here in 10 minutes.) They also promised to clean up the mess in my garage.

When something unfortunate happens it's understandable to become irritated by what may be the carelessness of other. However, as with my situation this morning, it's best to quickly get the anger out of your system before solving the problem.

I'm so glad that I kept a level head. And I'm please with the integrity that others have shown in this situation. I think if we treat each other with respect we can get so much accomplished!

SITS HALLOWEEN PARADE-DAY 3

2010-11-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

Today is day three of the SITS Halloween Parade and a chance to win a Canon Rebel T2i.

Sadly, the pictures that I took of the day have been lost:). I was upload my pictures from my memory card and my computer crashed losing the pictures from my card and picasa. In an effort to get at least one picture of costumes and the kids awesome jack-0-lanterns I used my phone camera. I tried sending the pictures to snapfish and received errors both times! So, no pictures of this year.:(
So here's a picture from last year. I loved this costume!

In any case, the day was fun! Halloween on the weekend is great! Like last year we went to a pumpkin patch at a local church and the kids picked out two great pumpkins to carve. In Florida, carving pumpkins too early means rotten pumpkins on Halloween, so doing it the same day insures the best results. The weather was beautiful, there was actually a little coolness in the air. When it was dark the kids put on their scary masks and were ready to go. Our neighborhood is great for trick or treating. People decorate and kids are swarming the streets in their costumes. It's one of the few things left of that traditional hometown feel.
The kids trick or treated for a couple of hours and came home with lots and lots of candy! Oh what to do with all that candy?!

If you have any creative ideas of how to use it up without making candy a steady diet for a year I'd love to hear it.

Hope your Halloween was happy, fun and safe!

Don't forget to head on over to the SITS parade!

Getting creative with paint on Halloween

2010-10-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

From costumes to door decorations paint is the simplest and cheapest way to get some great effects!

A little facepaint and a skillful hand can turn a cute costume into a WOW costume!
I love this costume that my son wore when he was four. Holding his sweet little face in my hand, while I painting his whiskers and stripes, is a memory that I will cherish forever:)

But the kiddos are getting older and not as eager to have me paint their faces anymore:(

This year I painted a door decor. This was a quick and inexpensive way to add a little creepiness to the festivities this evening.

For this project all I needed (were things I already had)

Roll of white craft paper
Black craft paint
Some old brushes
Tape
A spooky picture for inspiration
About one hour of time
A black light

This picture served as inspiration

With properly placed positive and negative space and a few painting techniques, dry brush and texture rubbing, here is the finish painting.

I will hang this painting on the outside of my front door this evening with a black light replacing the porch light. Hopefully it will give the effect that I'm looking for. A little ghostly spirit to greet our trick or treaters!

This is day two of SITS (the greatest blog on the web)giveaway contest!

Happy Halloween! I hope you get lots of treats!

It's getting spooky around here!

2010-10-30T04:41:00.000-07:00

This is a repeat performance of last year's post. This happened one year ago today! This story has become legend in our humble little house.
(Actually, SITS, the blog with the besting blogging tips ;)is having an incredible giveaway and part of the rules to enter is to post about a past Halloween:)) I really really really want to win this giveaway, pretty please.

Ok, so here's the story...and I'm sticking to it!

I was standing in my kitchen thinking of what to make for dinner tonight, when a cool breeze swept through the room. It gave me goosebumps and made the hairs on my arm stand up.

Lucy started barking in the direction of the sink as she darted from side to side. It was as if she was seeing something that I could not.

The next thing I knew, Lucy ran into the living room and came back into the kitchen, with the strap of my camera dangling from her mouth, camera attached. I took the camera from between her teeth and looked in the direction she was barking. She continued to bark at the sink. It seemed as if she was telling me to take a picture of that area of the room.

The air still had an eerie chill. Due to Lucy's insistence, I snapped one picture of my kitchen sink and cabinets. Looking at the camera screen, I detected a shadowy figure but it was too small to make out what it might be. I quickly uploaded it to my computer for a closer look.

I could not believe my eyes!

It was the ghost of Chucky standing right there in my kitchen!

The chill has since left the room. What was he doing there? What did he want? I hope he doesn't come back tomorrow night looking for dinner...

Happy Halloween!!

Imagine what spirits I could capture with my new camera if I win the giveaway?!

And the winner is...

2010-10-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

Chosen by random.org

Sara from

Congratulations!
All you have to do is email your address to me and tell me which framed 8"x10" chalkboard you would like from my etsy shop

I apologize for the delay
Have a great day!

MIA

2010-10-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

Working, volunteering, going to school, running a business and being a mom can sometimes get a little hectic!

I have a giveaway winner to announce (will be back shortly to do that)

I the meantime here is a project that I have been working on for my illustrator class. The assignment was to make a logo gel button with your initials.
Here it is

This is my original logo and design! I'm happy with how it turned out!:) What do you think?

I'll be back this afternoon to announce my chalkboard giveaway winner. Time to run some errands before the day gets away from me...

How to relax...

2010-10-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

Pick up a pen or pencil, grab a piece of paper and draw (doodle).

Read more about this doodle at Doodle it up!

I took some fun pictures with the inspiration for my 30 minute doodle. LUCY!
Here's one:

Looking at this picture and the quality of my pencil sketch it brings to mind the artist M.C. Escher (I am in no way comparing myself)
This is one of his masterful works

I may use the photo above of Lucy, the chalkboard and the sketch as a reference for a future drawing. If I give it a try, I'll post my result here.

Isn't it funny how one little sketch can trigger a series of thoughts and actions.

AND it can still be relaxing!

It's Sunday! I hope you're relaxing!

Make a Wish!

2010-10-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

I can go on and on but really you're just too awesome for words!
Take a good look, this may be our president in 40 years!

Some songs just make you feel good...

2010-10-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Love this song. It just has that uplifting quality that instantly lifts your spirits!

Have a happy week!
It goes so fast!

How to figure out what you were meant to do...

2010-10-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

Try everything!

In my case, when I was going to college (about twenty years ago) I changed my major every semester until the last year, when I finally declared Fine Art as my major.
Then, with degree in hand, I went out to the real world and worked several odd jobs until deciding it was time to go back to school and get my degree in Education.
With two degrees in hand, I got a job as a high school art teacher. Then came marriage, then came baby, then move to a different state, and start over.
A mural business was the perfect fit. Be your own boss, paint on walls, big and collaborate with clients to realize a vision and exceed expectations.
Paint what you want abstract, minis, sell online. That was fun! I plan on returning to that at some point. (As soon as I find a place to paint again)
With no space to paint computers seems the perfect creative outlet. Back to school to study digital media. I'm on my third and fourth courses now and loving it!
With each course I take I learn a new program and different applications and uses for these programs. I have learned photo montaging, photo restoration, and applications for each in photoshop. I have entered the world of 3-D animation in Maya 2008. And currently, I'm working with Adobe illustrator.
Through the variety of projects that I am assigned to do , I'm learning what I like and what I don't like to do.

Here's a project that I'm currently working on:

The left side is a photo of a computer card and the right side is my illustration. It's a great lesson for learning the program but if I did this for a living I'm not sure how long I'd be living!
Here's a close up of my illustration and some of the details...

tedious work. But I'm sure it moves quicker the better you know the program.

So, try everything to learn what you do like and what you don't like!

I've decided to put together a new blog with just my digital media work.

My DIGITAL MEDIA ART PORTFOLIO

I will continue to take course and document my progress, assess my likes and dislikes and possibly enter the digital media art world!

How to simplify dinner ...

2010-09-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

Cheat!
Homemade+takeout=Dinner tonight:)

For example:
sesame chicken(hm)+Fried Rice(to)=Homemade/takeout Chinese Dinner

Ingredients:
Homemade
boneless chicken breast 1lb
mixed vegetables (cheat-buy precut mixed fresh veges in the produce section of the supermarket)
flour (self-rise)
eggs 2
honey
toasted sesame
oj 1tbsp
teriyaki sauce
honey 1-2 tbsp
takeout
Pork Fried rice
Steamed White Rice

The only thing you have to prepare is the sesame chicken and steamed veges

1. Make sure you chicken is sliced thin
2. In a small bowl beat two eggs. Dip chicken in egg to coat.
3. In a large bowl add 1 cup of self-rise flour(self rise makes a crisper crust). Place egg coated chicken in flour to coat.

5. Don't forget to put your mixed veges in the steamer while you make the ckicken.
6. Also before you start cooking the chicken in a large bowl mix teriyaki, honey and oj. This mixture should be right next to the skillet for when the chicken is done cooking.

6. Heat 1/4 of oil in skillet. When oil is very hot add chicken. Cook about 3 minutes per side(until golden brown.

8. Remove cooked chicken from oil. Shake off excess oil. Immediately dip hot chicken in mixture to coat. Remove from mixture and put on a serving dish.

9. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seed. Serve with fried rice(white rice for those who don't like the fried) and steamed veges.

The best of both worlds!
Homemade and takeout!

I've been bitten by the Craigs List bug

2010-09-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

After seeing craigslist.com mentioned by various blogger, who I so admire for their style and flair, I decided to give it a try. I've been searching high and low for the perfect loveseat for my living room (which at the moment is more of a chalkboard factory).

Since I moved into my house several years ago, I have always imagined my "formal livingroom" as a cozy parlor/library/converational gathering place. Through the years it has changed function but mostly it has been a big hallway:(

I have been to every furniture store, thrift store, antique store, website,well except Craigs list, until now!

BINGO!! Maybe it was just beginners luck but there it was, the loveseat for my cozy livingroom/library/conversational room/parlor!

It is in nearly perfect condition. The color is much warmer in person. Perfect for the cozy arrangement that I have in mind!
Can you guess how much I pay for it...?

$80!!

I love my new loveseat!
(this may or may not be your style, but you have to admit it's a bawgain:)

I now feel inspired to get this room done once and for all.

Stay tuned as I search for more treasures, paint and accessorize my way into a cozy space for family and friends to gather.

Have you found great treasures on craigslist.com or other internt or non-internet resources? I'd love to hear about them.

And for Mosaic Monday I've put together a series of background with colors taken from my new loveseat(using the dropper in picasa) to test out possible paint colors for the walls.

I'm definitely feeling a warm earthy, autumn palette.

Joining Frugalicious Friday for the first time! How could I not!

I hope you'll visit more marvelous mosaics at Mary's Little Red House

Psst! Don't forget to enter my chalkboard giveaway while you're here:)

Learning Adobe Illustrator

2010-09-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

I don't think I mentioned that I'm taking more classes this semester. This semester I'm taking Adode Illustrator and Intro to Digital Media(should have taken this one a few semesters ago).

Loving Illustrator. I like it because you create images from scratch.

Here is the first assignment that we had to do.
The whole class was given a sketch of a bee and we had to illustrate it and add a background. Here is my interpretation.

Our first creative assignment was to create an animal character. I used Lucy as my inspiration.

Here's my quick sketch

And here's my cartoon of Lucy!

WOOF!

This is fun!

Don't forget to enter my Chalkboard Giveaway!

Chalkboard Giveaway!!

2010-09-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

It's time for another giveaway here at Chalk it up!

This giveaway is for one 8"x10" framed chalkboard from my etsy shop. Winner's choice!! &...

One 3.5"x5" mini chalkboard framed &...

and one four pack of Chalk Ink!!(as seen in the picture above) I love this Chalk Ink!

Here's how to enter up to 6 entries
Entry 1-Comment #1 Just say hi:)

Entry 2-Comment #2 Of the four 8"x10" chalkboards shown above which is your favorite?

Entry 3-Comment #3 Check out my etsy shop and heart the shop, come back here and say I hearted your shop:)

Entry 4-Comment #4 Follow my blog and leave a comment saying "I'm following or I'm already a follower"

Entry 5-Comment #5 Join my facebook fan page and come back here and say, "Joined your facebook page or already a facebook fan"

Entry 6- Comment #6 Press the facebook like button at the top of the page and leave a comment, "I pressed the like button":)

The winner will be announced on October 11, 2010 Columbus Day!

Happy Giveaway!
Have a great week!

Mini Chalkboard

2010-09-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes just a little bit is all you need:)
Mini Chalkboard

The Chuckle Patch!

2010-09-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I'm dating myself but do you remember the Chuckle Patch from the Magic Garden?

This was my favorite show when I was a little girl. What made me think about the the chuckle patch in The Magic Garden...?

...these flowers that I bought at Home Depot a few weeks ago. When I first planted them and checked on them the next day, they were drooping terribly, in the hot Florida sun. I got my trusty watering can and sprinkled them with some cool water. Within minutes they perked back up and showed their lovely daisy faces. I think I even heard them chuckle. (Ok, I'm being a little corny but this is the magic garden)

The only thing missing in the Magic Garden was...

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Now I need a riddle for my chalkboard...

What gets whiter the dirtier it gets?

Answer: A Chalkboard!

I may have to start writing a chuckle a day on one of my chalkboards!:)

How to plan a day trip...

2010-09-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

on a whim.

1. Check out your local news station website for community events and activities.
2. Look for something free to do and expect to spend about $100-$150 for the day. (food, activities, shopping)
3. Choose a location that is 30-45 minutes from home.
4. Hop in the car and go!

Being a chef family, one has to make the most of limited time off together. This labor day weekend it is business as usual in our house. The chef had one day off. One day a week = four days a month, which means make it count! Saturday was our day.

Here was our day!

The first thing I do when trying to find something fun and cheap to do is check out a local news site( in our case it's icflorida.com
They list all of the local events and activities for the weekend. This weekend Mt. Dora was having their first annual Labor day Festival. For those of you who haven't heard of Mt. Dora, it is a quaint little hilly town North of Orlando. It is very charming. It is also home to Renningers Antique and Farmers Market The festivities for this weekend included, a chili cook off, free Lawn Bowling Demonstrations(yes I said Lawn Bowling), side walk sales, live entertainment and fireworks at the lake. The only thing that cost us was the chili cook-off($5 per person).

What a fitting quote for the day!
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you don't do than by the ones you did do. So threw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover." Mark Twain

The kids and the chef loved learning lawn bowling from the lawn bowling club members.(I think they were all over 70). They were the absolute sweetest people I had ever met. So full of life and passion. They loved sharing their love of lawn bowling with the kids. I think my 8 year old wanted to join the club:), so cute!

There were also chalkboards displayed in every shop! Very cool! Do you spy the chalkboard in my collage above?

Because it was so close to home, Grandma and Grandpa drove up to meet us for Dinner and sunset fireworks.

The fireworks started at 8pm on the dot! During sunset, which was a little strange. Actually, fireworks at sunset added an extra dimension to the show! The colors of the fireworks accentuated the beautiful colors of the sky!

Happy Labor Day!

No Mosaic Monday this week:(

To see more wonderful day trips we have taken in Florida click HERE

How to make a Florida Cookie Cake...

2010-09-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

or any other state cake:)

To begin, get a good cookie recipe! It's also more rewarding to bake it from scratch. We used this recipe . I like chocolate chip cookie recipes that call for shortening with a little bit of butter. This recipe doesn't use butter, so we just added about three tbsp.

Next, spread the cookie dough, evenly, in a tin cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool.

Once cooled spread white frosting over cookie. Now, find a simple outline picture of your state. We googled "florida map coloring book" for a simple drawing. Using a wooden skewer, sketch the shape. If you are not happy with your sketch, smooth over the frosting with a knife and try again.

When you have the shape just the way you want it, take a sharp knife and cut around your sketch. Cut away the outer cookie and take it off the sheet. Center your state and decorate! White frosting was spread on the tin to hold the sprinkles in place. We had toffee pieces in the pantry that worked perfertly as sand around the coast. It really made the whole thing pop! (Sometimes the little details make all the difference.

You want your cookie to be informative. Create a color key for states and bodies of water.

This was a middle school project done by my son (with my help) for his Geography class. All of the students were to make a state or country cookie or cake, with landmarks. Ah, it's fun going back to school. I think these kids are going to come home with stomach aches today.

Have a great weekend!

Have helped work on a fun school project this week?

Jardin de craie

2010-08-29T07:58:00.000-07:00

It seems like corkboards are sprouting in my chalk garden!

It's funny how the mind works in conjunction with the internet. When creating this post my mind thought, chalkboards and garden because that is where my chalkboard photoshoots take place. So, then my mind combined the two and thought Chalkboard Garden. Why not get fancy and say it in french. Isn't everything that starts or ends with garden more elegant when said in french? So, I googled "french word for chalk" and learned "craie". Just to be on the safe side I googled "chalk garden in french" to get the phrasing correctly. Well, I never found the french phrase for, Chalk Garden(I hope Jardin de craie is correct) but I did learn that there is a film from 1964 called "The Chalk Garden"

The plot of "The Chalk Garden":
A grandmother seeks a governess for her 16 year old granddaughter, Laurel, who manages to drive away each and every one so far by exposing their past, with a record of three in one week! When an applicant with a mysterious past manages to get the job, Laurel vows to expose her. Meanwhile, Laurel's married-divorced-married mother tries to get her back.

You can actually download the full movie HERE
Or you can view it on youtube.com in 13 parts.

The internet is amazing! Isn't it?!

Anyway, back to the business at hand: Corkboards and Chalkboards at Chalk it up! ( I assure you, nothing like the movie:))

Here at Chalk it up! we are venturing out and expanding our line of products. We are offering framed and unframed corkboards in our etsy shop.

For example you can choose a chalkboard or a corkboard to be displayed in one of our fabulous frames!:)

Here are some examples:

Country green wood frame with either an 8"x10" chalkboard or corkboard

Faux leopard on etsy

gold painted frame with a crackle finish.

These are all 8"x10" a perfect size to keep on a desk or nightstand with daily reminder notes for meetings, birthdays, appointments, due dates etc...

I found these adorable thumb tacks by Paper Pumpkin on etsy that would go perfectly with the corkboards

First
Rainforest theme would look great with the faux leopard

Owls nest would be a perfect match with the country green frame

And Making Music tacks would be perfect harmony with the gold frame.

It's also Mosaic Monday at Mary's little red house.

Have a great week!

P.S. Sorry for rambling on in this post and going off in some strange directions like The Chalk Garden movie (welcome to my brain)

Tack it up! Sneak peak!

2010-08-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peak at one of the new items we will be offering,this Fall, in the etsy shop, Chalk it up!

8"x10" framed Corkboard. As with all of my frames, this a re-purposed, recycled frame with slight imperfects. I like the way the worn areas of the frame accent the color of the cork:)

I have been using a bulletin (corkboard) board for my vision board which I have hanging on my bedroom wall. Click HERE to read more about my vision board.

Corkboards are great for tacking up your visual inspirations, reminder notes, and pictures. When accented by a unique picture frame it adds interest and organization to any decor!

I only have one picture today because the batteries to my camera are dead. I hope to post many more pictures tomorrow of different frame options for these 8"x10" corkboards. I also have more framed chalkboards to share.

Also, keep a lookout for my end of summer giveaway coming soon!

I just set up a facebook page for Chalk it up! Click HERE if you would like to join:)

How to quickly and dramatically transform your bedroom...

2010-08-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

If you have light colored wall, paint them a dark color. If you have dark walls go light!

We painted the walls a dark blue/gray (French gray by Glidden) Surprisingly this less expensive brand (approx. $15 a gallon) at home depot covered the walls almost completely with one coat. I was very impressed with the quality of this paint. We used a flat finish for a nice soft effect.

Here is BEFORE (light white walls)

AFTER (dark blue/gray walls)

I love the new look. It is cozy and inviting. The color is cool and tranquil. I still need to do a lot more to the room to finish it up, window treatments, new bedding, new lamps and change the flooring. But color is a start and the most dramatic change for little $$.

Before the contrast between the walls and furniture was in value, light walls against darker furniture. Now the contrast is with color. Blue against orange. I tried to find a blue that was more gray to keep the colors more natural. I think this color achieved that. I plan on painting a large landscape on canvas to hang over the bed, something with a water theme, beach or lake scene.

I'm not thrilled with the lack of value contrast between the metal headboard and the blue walls. I haven't figured out how to remedy that yet.

Anyway, today was hubby and my 15th wedding anniversary. Hubby spent the whole week painting the walls of our bedroom. He would come home from a 12 hour day of work and paint a wall a night. That's true love!:)

Happy Anniversary honey!

Sorry for the terrible quality photos. I'm still using my cell phone. I need a new camera:(

How to entertain boys...

2010-08-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

With FIRE And food!:) (of course)

It was the little ones first time at a Japanese Steak House. It's so much fun to watch the wonder and amazement on a child's face.

Join Mosaic Monday!

Pardon the poor photo quality lately. I've been using my cell phone

How to...

2010-08-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

answer the dreaded question...

WHY? or WHY NOT?
You know that question. The one that comes after the answer NO! We(hubby and I) used to consider our childrens' intellect and give long drawn out explanations as to why they can't have ice cream before dinner, have six friends sleep over on a school night or skip swim practice.

We were falling into their trap.- Get the grown-ups to keep yapping and eventually the NO becomes a YES. (All we have to do is keep asking why until they finally run out of explanations and the only explanation becomes "Go Ahead!!!" Just stop asking why!!)

I finally figured it out! You answer that question... with complete silence. In the beginning you may have to bite your tongue or shove your head under a pillow but after a while it gets easier. When a say nothing they magically go away and leave me alone. If you haven't tried this approach, I highly recommend you do. If you've already known about this technique... Why didn't you tell me! :)

School is just around the corner...

Feeling stuck,,,

2010-08-05T03:09:00.000-07:00

Summer's winding down. The kids summer swim program has ended.

My 3-D modeling class is over. You can see my final project HERE I got an A Yay!!
And I'm feeling a little stuck. Not sure what comes next. I think I'll be taking two classes this fall(still haven't made the final decision).

My younger son decided not to do football this year. He was going to but at the last minute he said he didn't want to . So this year both boys will be joining the swim team. They really loved it this summer and have learned and improved so much.

I'll be chairing the PTA Reflections program at my son's elementary school (I have no idea what I'm doing) Part of me wishes an art teacher position would have presented itself to me this year. I submitted resumes for two positions and included links to my online teacher's portfolio. I received no responses.

So here I am in a bit of limbo. Not knowing what the year will hold. I hope to sell more chalkboards. The summer sale has been going rather well. I'm thinking of adding some more products to the line. Stay tuned... I feel an end of summer give away coming on... If I can get my act together I may try to do a craft fair or two this fall.

The unknown can be exciting or it can be scary. This past Monday we went to Aquatica. I'm not a ride person, wet or dry. I wasn't thrilled about sliding down all of those slides with big drops, twists and turns but I did it. The first ride we did was the dolphin plunge.

Yes I went flying through that tube. Can't say I was thrilled.

This was our mini vacation this year. The chef doesn't have vacation time until his one year anniversary, which comes this fall.(we're hoping to go somewhere then) So this one day excursion was it. We had fun but my calves are still sore (it's Friday and we went on Monday) This park really knocked us out!

The kiddies go back to school in about a week.

We're all a little sad to see summer end. Time goes so fast! What will the future hold...?
Have a good weekend! Make the most of it!

P.S. I just realized it's Thursday not Friday DUH!! I guess time isn't going as fast as I thought it was --haha

Getting Out of the Comfort Zone!

2010-07-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

I'm linking this post to SITS "A post you wish more people had read because this was a project that I did over the summer, in my 3-d digital media class. I worked my butt off on this project and I felt like nobody got to see it:( I'm really proud of my train station. My kids joked that I should have put a picture of myself sleeping in the corner of my train station. And believe me, I became so familiar with the space that I felt like I did live there. I hope you like my little virtual world as much as I do:) I wish I could give you the real tour. It looks so cool zooming around the space with the camera. Thanks for indulging me:)

*********************************************************
It's been over a week since my last post. That's a long time! I've been busy finishing up the class I've been taking this summer. As you can read in previous posts, I took another Digital Media class, 3-d modeling and Animation. We learned mostly 3-d modeling and just touched on animation at the end. Yesterday was the last day of class and I turned in six renderings of my final project, a train station with train. I'm not a gamer and never got into the whole virtual environment world. The whole concept was foreign to me. Many times during the course of this class I felt like a fish out of water. Every time I tackled something new, polygons, NURBS, texture, lighting, animating I literally left class with a pounding headache. However, every time I completed a task I felt like a genious!:)

I spent endless hours modeling my train station, and texturing it. I ran out of time to truly explore lighting ( I'm a little dissatisfied with how that part turned out because I didn't put much time into that aspect of it). Yesterday was the last day of class and for better or for worse this was what I turned in.

The train was my first project. When I complete my train I felt on top of the world!

This is a cross section shot of the overall station. I modeled the light pendants after the ones I have hanging in my own house:)

This is a shot of the upper level(there are three) This is the entrance and ticket booths(I didn't really get to finish the detail of the booths)

Here is a shot from the bottom level. Would have liked to put spot lights on the artwork(ran out of time). My train station is a mini art gallery too. I included paintings of trains from famous artists(Monet, Munch, Warhol, Magritte). I also added little decorative and architectural details such as, marble inlay, marble stair and finials, and wood trim.

This is a shot of the seating on the second level, the "lounge". The chairs took me 7 hours! AND I'm still not 100 % happy with it!

Here is a birds eye view.

I found the perfect brick carved relief sculpture to add to the scene! I'm trying to retrace my steps to give proper credit to the wonderful artist who did this work. When I find it I'll post it.

So there you have it! I did it! Stepped out of my comfort zone and it feels great! Now excuse me while I go find a nice warm soft cozy place to retreat:)

To see earlier steps in this process click here

Have a wonderful day and don't forget to step out of your comfort zone every now and then!:)

Just thinking on Mosaic Monday...

2010-07-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the boys went fishing. I sat up on the hilltop as I watched them being boys. It was a beautiful sight! As I gazed at them in the distanced I imagined that all three boys were mine.(Two are mine and one is my older son's friend). I find that I do this quite often when one of my son's has a friend along. I think, how nice it would be to have three boys that are close in age. My boys are 12 and 8.(the friend is 10). One right in the middle would have been perfect (so I think).(I always get a little sad thinking that that could never be now.)

Then all of a sudden my perspective changed! I realized if I had three there would be no room for the friend to come along. I also thought if the three, down on the dock, were all mine one would be pushed in the water by now! The reason all three are getting along so nicely is because one is a novelty. Also, at the end of the day, I have two mouths to feed (with the occasional third as a welcomed guest). It's almost like being a grandparent to the third. You get to enjoy him for a while and than send him home for the parents to deal with:)
So my perspective has changed! I love having my two with an occasional ever changing third party to enjoy and send home:)
What I learned:
When you're feeling a little down about your situation, take a moment and view it from another angle. You may be surprised at what you see. And you may really find that you are happy with what you have!
Enjoy your Mosaic Monday! @ Mary's little red house:)

OMG!!

2010-07-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the railroad...
Yes I've been working on my 3-D modeling class project. I promised to update as I made progress! Judging from the response to my last post I gather that it's not too exciting. Well I've completely scraped the station I was working on(I kinda knew I'd do that) and started over! I'm finally getting the hang of it. I just hope I can finish in time. I haven't even begun to texturize and add lighting. I think I'm in a bit of a jam:(
Here's what I have so far...I worked on the banister all day...all day...all the live long day...

This station also has two levels. It has six tracks. The concept is to make it a train station/art gallery.

This is the upper level. I still need to add the stairs.

Here's a view from the lower level tunnel.

Here's another upper level view.

I worked on this banister all day! I'm very proud of it!:)
Maya is one tough program but the possibilities are endless once you get the hang of it. (Not that I've gotten the hand of it yet)
I hope you'll check back in to see what the final project looks like.

Working in 3-D

2010-07-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Three more weeks of my 3-D modeling class! I'm finding it hard to stay motivated. Maybe because it's summer and the kids are home. Maybe because I'm thinking about redecorating and gardening. Maybe it's just because 3-D modeling is not my thing. I love the idea of creating interior spaces and decorating them but maybe not in the virtual sense. I am not a video gamer and I'm not really crazy about animated films. However, I have always had respect for it as an art form. AND now I have even more respect for animation artist, since I've been working in Maya 2008 this semester.

So my final project is to create a subway station for my train. If the computer screen was a piece of paper I would crumple this up and start over again!

Here is what I have so far (I think I'm going to start over from scratch)

This is a screen shot of the four different views. The idea was to create a train station/ mall/restaurant.

After the modeling is complete I will texturize(add color and textured surfaces) and light the scene. Heaven help me! I'm using my blog to get me motivated. If I think of this assignment as show and tell posts for my blog it may just get me moving.

Are you interested in seeing the finished train station? Then stay tuned! If you'd like to cheer me on, that might help too!:)(could always use the moral support)

Color Palette Generator

2010-07-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

I just found this great site, Color Palette Generator while visiting a wonderful blog that is fairly new, Cozihome. I hope you'll check them out:)

As mentioned in my last post, I'm thinking of painting my master bedroom blue. Using the color palette generator I selected a personal photo of a stormy day at the beach, colors that I love, and upload to the site. PHoto of inspiration, Clearwater beach Fl 2009:

These are the generated colors:

Yes, this looks like the palette that I'm going for!

True Blue!

2010-07-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

I have run the gamete in my head... What color should I paint the walls in my bedroom? At first I thought a passionate purple(that quickly passed), than I was sure shades of gray would be perfect, no wait green...green is so...green..... Now, I'm sure it should be a deep blue gray. I saw the color on the walls of the hotel lobby that I was stay in the other night. The color was perfect! It was deep but not dark and when the light hit it, it was almost light in hue. Like an endless night sky!
Here is a collection of photos for inspiration.

Blue and white kitchen with accents of black ( I see chalkboards:))

Orange is the complementary color of blue. My wood furniture is an orange. This is the blue that I'm picturing. Love the gold frame too, perfect for a chalkboard:)

This deep blue-green is nice too paired with a darker wood and chocolate brown. See how the color is deep but not dark?

Ah just beyond the funky lighting do I see a chalkboard?!

Know what else looks great against deep blue...?

Stenciled fireworks!! See more wonderful sstencil art on this great blog I found while looking for my inspiration photos!

Happy 4th of July!! Happy Birthday America!

Can you believe I still have this drawing on my kitchen door that I did last Memorial day 2009!! I just can't bare the thought of erasing it:)

P.S. If I ever get the paint from my imagination to the walls I will share pictures!

Have a great day!

Swimsuit Shopping!

2010-07-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

Who likes swimsuit shopping?! Not me! I went shopping yesterday determined to find the right bathing suit for me. Things to consider when shopping for a suit:
1. Your age
2. Your figure type: pear, apple, hourglass, large bust, small bust, straight, long torso etc...
3. Lifestyle: Chasing kids, swimming laps, lounging with a martini, dancing on MTV etc...
4. Color and print
5 Price$

Considering all of these factors I finally found suits that I LOVE!!

My list:
1. Age-42
2. Figure type-hourglass
3. Lifestyle-between chasing kids, swimming laps and lounging with a martini ( I won't be dancing on MTV anytime soon)
4.Color and print- I prefer darker bolder colors and smaller graphic prints (I'm fair skinned)
5. Price- moderate to low

I started at Macy's
there were some good sales but the selection was limited to mostly two piece and tankinis
Next Dillards
Way too expensive, no sales
Khols
No one pieces
Bealls
I can't even remember what was there. It was that unimpressive
ROSS
BINGO!!! The selection was small but dead on! I tried on five suits and purchased 3!!

Two of the suits were by Christina Swimwear for $16.99 each retail price $88 ea!! These are very well made suits with support in all the right places!

The third suit is a Jantzen. Paid $11.99 (picture shown is not the exact suit but similar)

Grand total for all three suit $50!!

My advice check out the brand outlet stores first!! Ross, Marshall, T J Maxx etc...

Happy Shopping!