New crafty art project!

I have been away for a while trying to get used to the routine of a new school, sports, and work.  I think we have gotten it under control.  I have still been busy crafting, but have not had the time to post! 

This is a favorite of mine!  During our 14 years of marraige, I have been wanting to make something to show all the different military bases we have lived at over the years.  I kept seeing all these cool subway art pieces on the craft blogs and I had an AHA moment!

During the summer, I found this AWESOME rustic frame and could not figure out what to put in it.  It was missing the glass and came with some heavy duty cardstock in the frame.  It was $2 and is *I think* about 11x14.

I got out my crusty trusty paints in cloudberry tan and spice brown. These have been used alot, as you can tell.

I painted a base of cloudberry tan onto the cardstock and then floated the edges with the spice brown and let it dry for about 10 minutes.

I then printed off outlines in different fonts of all the military bases we have been.

I played around with the placement for a few minutes before deciding on this one.  I also added a few stars.

Since I did not have any carbon paper, I just took my pencil and colored the back.  Then I turned it over and traced the letters to get my outline.

]

Next, I took my Sharpie marker (fine point) and traced the letters.  I decided that I liked some of the letters not colored it.  Gave it cool dimension and also let some of the paint color show through.

Since it was not going to be covered by glass, I decided it needed some protection.  I sprayed a thin top coat of clear acrylic sealer from my favorite brand..Mod Podge.

I LOOOOVE how it looks in the frame!  Yayayyay! 

I decided that these two barn wood shelf things would look great next to it.   I found those at a craft store a few years ago for $7 each.   I also picked up these two grubby candles for 50 cents each at a garage sale.  I have since added some pumpkins and leaves for my fall decor. 

Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!  I read them all and appreciate your thoughts!

Linking up to..

Quilt Giveaway

Cecily is having an awesome giveaway over at her blog Craftopotamus!   Go visit her blog, look around, and leave her a comment! 

Monday, August 23, 2010100 Follower Giveaway - or Should I Say QUILTAWAY!



I've been looking forward to this post for a little while now. A couple months ago, I realized that within my stash I had a group of fabrics that accidentally went together beautifully for a quilt and decided that I would use them to make one for one of you. With time running out before school starts for me, I knew it had to be on the simpler side and this is what I came up with...

I named it Over the Garden Gate. The white bars remind me of a fence and the color combinations remind me of a flower garden. I also was trying to capture the feeling of how, as we click our way through blogs and link parties, it can feel like we are peeking into someone else's craft room or living room or kitchen - just stopping by for a minute to chat before heading out to the next link down the street. There is a sense of community out there that I just wasn't expecting to find at the outset.

Sushi Fun!

I am a secret foodie and love to watch shows about food, see pictures of food, hear about food, read about food, and most of all try new foods from around the world.

Makino Chaya located in Aloha Tower Marketplace

Being married to a military man has its perks! We were stationed in Hawaii for 4 years and I quickly became acustomed to the local cuisine that had a big influence from Asian cultures. There were as many sushi restaurants in Hawaii as we have McD's and BK here on the mainland. I refused to eat anything "fishy" at first, but then after trying sushi for the first time decided that I loved it. Not being a fish lover, I have yet to venture into raw sushi and stick to more americanized sushi.   I heart California Rolls!

I now try to search out the best California Roll I can find. I had a craving for sushi one night and decided to try to make my own! My husband called from work with his usual..."Do you need me to pick anything up from the store?" to which I replied "Can you go to the Asian market and pick up some sushi supplies for me, pleeeaaase!" He laughed and proceeded to write down directions, a list of items needed, and off he went. Yeah..I have a great husband that is willing to do anything for me!! :)

I searched online to find a recipe and/or video. This is what I came up with. Okay..onto the pictures.

1.  Rice cooker is something we cannot live without since living in Hawaii.   If you don't have one, a pot will work.    Cook according to rice directions.

2.  Rice wine vinegar (found at your local supermarket).  It helps keep a shine and stickiness to your rice.  Sugar and salt for rice. 

3.  Sushi rice.  This is the brand I use and can be found at Walmart or Kroger in the Asian food section.  You can find out how to make sushi rice here. or cook it in rice cooker and then add the other ingredients in video.

4.  Toasted sesame seeds.  Found at Walmart or Kroger or any supermarket.

5.  Bamboo sushi mat.  This was found at the Asian market, but I think you can find them at Walmart.

6.  Nori (seaweed) wrap paper.  This is found at the Asian market, but I have seen it at Kroger.

7.  Cucumbers-sliced small or julienned. 

8.  Immitation crab.  I use the smaller pieces because they are easier to take apart.

9.  Avacado-ripe and sliced into thin slices.

 

First you lay down your bamboo mat and place a sheet of plastic wrap on top (oops...forgot that on the ingredients list).   Cut the Nori in half (did not do this the first time...too much nori!).  Add a few spoonfuls of rice and spread it out, careful not to smush it too much!  Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.   Carefully FLIP the nori over onto the rice side.

Add your crab, cucumber, and avacado that you sliced. 

I forgot to take pictures of this next step..oops.

Next, you roll one side of your bamboo mat over the top of the sushi roll and keep rolling like this.  

*Note:  This link shows the sushi with the nori on the outside of the roll, we flipped ours so the rice is on the outside. 

You can see that I squished mine a little too much.  LOL I was happy with the steps so far!  This step was kind of fun!!

Slice up your sushi (make sure to cut off the ugly ends) and serve!   Pretty good for my first attempt!   It was delicious!  Make sure you have some chopsticks and know how to use them!!

Leave me some comments and let me know what you think!

I love linking up with all you creative gals, so that is why I am linking up this week with:

 

  

                                                                             

These are the days of our knives....

This is my attempt at trying to make our knife block look nice.  This was painted by me a few years ago.  It was supposed to look like an apple..LOL!  :)  Bleh

Enter....Spray Paint.  I think I have spray painted everything lately.  I actually took this picture before I decided to go with matte paint instead of satin. 

 

I had to cover up the Henckel brand logo to make it smooth.  My husband wasn't so happy about this though.  He is proud of his Henckel knives.  I just used some wood filler and smoothed it on with a great tool..my finger! lol  I did not have a putty knife handy.

 

I used another great tool that I had available...a piece of cardboard from a 12 pack of soda...to scrape off the excess.  That is just how I roll!   Let it dry for about 15 minutes.

 

After it was dry, I sanded it smooth with my sanding block (I think 220 sand paper block).  I also used my palm sander to sand the entire block.  Make sure to wipe away any dust with a cloth after sanding.

Spray LIGHT COATS of spray paint over the entire thing.  This is what happens when you get in a hurry and try to paint it on too much..YIKES!  So..after that dried, I had to re-sand and then spray it again.  I sprayed about 2 coats.  Let it dry for 20 minutes.

While it was drying, I went outside to water my flowers and saw the most amazing sunset and HAD to get a picture!  Beautiful!!

 

After it was all dry, I got my sanding block and went to work distressing the edges.  I heart the distressed look!    

 

I thought about how I was going to add some flair.  I got out my paint and brush and tried to paint on a monogram...WRONG.  I can now see why everyone is soooo fond of vinyl lettering.  I could not paint a W for the life of me.  It looked terrible, so I wiped it all off.  I do not have a Cricut (I know, I know...maybe Santa will bring me one!), so I did the next best thing.  I went to my computer, grabbed some scrapbook paper, and printed off an outline of a W and cut it out.  

TIP:  These little nail scissors work great to cut out small letters.

Next, enter my two best friends....Mod and Podge

 

 

I put down a little matte mod podge and placed my letter.  I let it dry for a few minutes and then went over the whole area with mod podge. 

 

The letter looks white in this photo, but it is the green/tan color of the scrapbook paper in the above picture.

 

AFTER!!!  I really think this is one of my favorite projects.  It was so easy and made a HUGE difference in my kitchen.  I smile every time I walk past it.  The granite tile...not so much.  That is another subject all together.  Those grout lines irritate me.

 

Here it is with some of the knives back in the block (the rest were in the dishwasher)!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment, I read them all! :)

I AM LINKED TO.....