Mailed Out

i mailed out these items this past week along with some heart inchies and my art banner. the birds are for a chunky bird swap. turns out i didn't resize my birds well and they came out about 1/2" short from top to bottom and side to side. jeebus. so mine will just have to be the runts in the flocks people receive. i forgot to scan them or photograph them before mailing. fortunately for me, roc, the hostess, scanned them. i love it when people help other people! i also worked on my monochromatic blue inchies last night. i'm a fan of my bunny. :) i think i might have also gotten the settings right on the scanner so it picks the colors up well and doesn't fade them.





tonight is critical mass! although, one of it's main ringleaders, travis, won't be there because his roller derby girlfriend went into labor today.

tomorrow is nick and i's one year anniversary. he's making plans for it. the only plans i've made is i need to pack up my house in preparation for the move to zachary. ugh. but softball on sunday, soccer on sunday, and kickball on sunday. work and then play.

love and boxing

so nick and i's one year anniversary is on saturday. we've been going over gift ideas for each other. nick asked me if i'd like a new boxing stand for my heavy bag. i know: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww!!! i've got one now under my house that is just too big and tall to put anywhere. so it's been sitting under my house unused and unloved since i moved in last september. nick knows that i miss boxing and i miss having it around. plus,i've got a horrible pavlov's dog reaction to hearing anything by rage against the machine and not having something near me that is punchable. so his gift idea was getting me something more compact that i can leave on his back porch. so today we started looking at options and whatnot. i found the dreamiest boxing set up ever! of course it was $1000. he said that that would just have to be my engagement ring. all i could think of was trying to explain to my girlfriends that my engagement ring is actually the tools i need to get back into the ring.

all of the research got me back into the boxing world of sweat enhancers, jump ropes, bloody noses, and exhaustion. but it's not just these things that i think of, but also the smells of the gym and the bags. the sense of pride and confidence, sizing up other people that are checking you out always wondering "what if ___ were to fight ___?" i miss the stupid signs about the size of the fight in the dog and "more sweat means less blood". to think i left that behind in a chapter of my life long since closed and stored away. playing roller derby had it's similarities to boxing: the smells, the egos, the physical pain. but, it was a team support and you learn to rely on the strengths of not only yourself but the other people on your team. in boxing, it's just you versus them. if you don't win, it's because you didn't win not because your jammer was having a bad night. if you won, then it's because you were the better person in the fight. period.

soooooooooo... hopefully, this weekend i'll get my bag back up!!! i'll play some rage ("with the sure shot, sure to make the body drop")!!! and get me a nice work out/tension evaporator!!!

Marvels

some people are well aware of my love for the circus. not really the circus today, but the vintage circus life. the idea of traveling around in a caravan from town to town, working along side of amazing acrobats, dancers, and wonders just makes me want to create a time machine so i can do this for myself. i love the artwork and the posters that were used as advertisements to lure the everyday farming family into a dark tent to see something that they would tell people about ages to come. sometimes these things were illusions or hoaxes, playing on the unknown and the strong imagination mixed with the suspension of disbelief. today i stumbled on a website that pays homage to these wonders of nature, these "freaks" and "oddities". the author, J. Tithonus Pednaud, writes mini documentaries on the lives of the people. how the marvels they've received are strange genetic mutations and what led them to displaying themselves for profit. it's really quite fascinating. www.thehumanmarvels.com

check it out!

http://justanotherhangup.blogspot.com/2009/05/may-tote-give-away-treasure-island.html

she is giving away and adorable purse made in amy butler fabrics! the window to win this purse closes tonight at midnight!

:)

who doesn't want one of these?

this is for a monthly challenge over at AmusingMuses. for may, we're supposed to alter a given pattern and turn it into something special. this month's challenge is a cyclops bunny. why? it just is. so i started working on him yesterday and i couldn't think of what i wanted to do. then i found a leftover mustache from the packages of them that i bought for my team on cinco de mayo. there was only one left and i saw it as an omen to create this:



he is my charming and fetching Mariachi Cyclops Bunny! who could resist a one-eyed mariachi? i know i couldn't. especially if he was singing to me while i enjoyed a fresh basket of tortilla chips. i'm somewhat tempted to make an entire band. originally he was going to have a trumpet, but nick and i decided on a guitar. and nick decided it should be left-handed. i feel that he could use a little something up near his ears, but i don't want to make him a sombrero. it might overcrowd the simplicity i'm trying to achieve. we'll see.

my magician

so i drew this up earlier because i felt like drawing for the sake of drawing. i love vintage circus and vaudeville posters, mostly the men's hair from that time period. so i drew up this guy and i liked him. then i felt like he needed to be somewhere, so i gave him a rabbit, a stool, and a stage. he's pen and inked and shaded with pencil. but now i just don't know what to do with him. should i leave him just gray and off-white or give him a color or a bunch of colors? hmmmmmmmmmm.....

Fonzi

every night, i try to feed the dogs before 7pm, that way before we go to sleep we can let them out so they'll sleep through the night. fonzi doesn't care for this at all. he crawls out from under the bed and jumps down on to the wood floors. then, he paces. he does this until one of us gets up and lets him out to pee around 3am. when he's done, he returns under the blankets and passes out for the rest of the night. unfortunately for me, i have a hard time falling asleep so i lay there wide-awake sending evil vibes to him under the covers. i'd ignore him if i could, but this is what he sounds like:

i might hate mondays, but i love monday nights. nick and i don't have activities planned for monday nights and we generally use it to cook and hang out. so tonight i'm going to make rice pilaf and he's going to grill some seafood. i'm hoping for shrimp, but we're going to see what's good at whole foods today. so, since i've never made a rice pilaf, i did some internetting and found one that fits nick and i's taste buds. basically, anything with cumin and garlic will keep us happy.

Almond Rice Pilaf, Nick and Lauren style

2/3 c. Blue Diamond sliced almonds
3 tbsp. butter, divided
1 c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 sm. green bell pepper, diced
1 c. long grain rice
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. chicken broth

Saute almonds in 1 tablespoon butter until golden; reserve. Saute onion and garlic in remaining 2 tablespoons butter until translucent. Add green pepper, rice, raisins, cumin and salt; saute 2 minutes. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, cook 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand covered, 5 minutes. Stir in almonds. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

weekend recap:





friday night - the baton rouge alley cat bricklayer race went off without a hitch. dennis and i hung out at north gate because that was our post. when the racers showed up, i made them come up with a haiku before giving them their brick and telling them the next spot. nick won dead fucking last and got the placecard which he was happy about because it was our most favorite out of all the ones i made. we went to chelsea's for some food and beers.



saturday - went canoeing with the third row tailgaters, angie, scott, and bobbi. angie and i were fortunate enough to ride with scott and bobbi because they were sober at 9am. we drove out past franklinton, la and just inside mississippi to canoe along the tangipahoa river, i think. angie and i paired up and it was pretty rocky from the start, but we got the hang of it my the time the 6hour journey was over. we capsized twice on our own and once when travis jumped into our boat and flipped us over. the first time was bad because we hit a tree sideways and it threw us out and i went under the boat. i was under for what felt like a lifetime, but i kept telling myself to remain calm and that i'd find the surface. scott and boo saw us flip and paddled then swam to our aid. we lost some stuff, but my rugby shirt was found and angie's vikings coozie were saved. we got home around 9 and i was pooped out.

sunday - we got to sleep in before heading to nick's parent's house for a mother's day crawfish boil and swim. we finally got molly to jump in the pool and swim, she seemed to really enjoy herself. i think a few more tries and she'll figure out she can jump from the side of the pool and not from the steps. we had coffee and lemon raspberry cheesecake and then headed home. we went out to kickball pick-up/practice and ended up playing an hour of 4on4 soccer for an hour. then we played 4on4 kickball for another hour before heading to sammy's for "family dinner".

it was a nice, fun-filled weekend that has left me sore and sunburnt. i didn't get to work on any art projects though. :(

oh, other stuff

on wednesday i received my acceptance letter into the Transition to Teaching program offered by Advance Baton Rouge. i am currently accepted, but everything is still riding on the results of my PII test scores. i still have another 2 weeks before those come in. grrrrrrrrrr.... in the meantime, i have school orientation next tuesday. which means i have to miss our game against the Sloppy Joses and let emily take my place as captain. we've lost three games so far and i really hope we can win this one.

tonight, is the BR Alley Cat Bricklayer race! i'm manning the checkpoint at North Gate Tavern. i figure i'll just hide out inside the bar and wait for the little bikers to show. i've got to give them some sort of challenge before just handing them over a brick or two. i made the spoke cards last night for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Dead Fucking Last. angie took them to have copies made and get them laminated. i really hope that the copy turned out well because i wanted to scan them and save them. i hate that she took 'em while i was in the shower because i didn't get to sign them earlier because they were still wet. oh well. she didn't know any better.

this weekend holds the bike race, canoeing tomorrow, swimming/crawfish boil with nick's family for mother's day, and some kickball practice for the upcoming little rock tourney. after work today i'm going to find me a new swimsuit because mine are boring and only for lap swimming. so whooohoooo!!!

yay friday! let's get historical!

musings

earlier today i was looking up pictures of dirigibles for my D postcard. i came across this website that has a wonderful collection of russian propaganda posters. i really love the colors that they used and they're all so bold. i've no clue what they say, but i'm sure it has a lot to do with socialism and communism. i'm not sure what the owner of the sites ideas or politics are because it's written in french. so i merely just copied some of my favorite posters.

the earlier ones (on the left) from around the 1918s still have that art noveau feel to them. the colors and the bold the black lines that outline the main focus of the piece. also, the thick black borders around it that also sort of melt into the picture. the font itself is straight out of an art noveau book.

then as we start getting into the cubist periods, the work gets bolder and begins to square off. the colors become more complimentary and less true-to-life. also, the artists being playing around with perspective lines and they become more exaggerated like in the one with CCCP written in the bottom right corner.

i really like the color choices going on. obviously, there's a strong use of the red, but i like a lot of the white. the images are all bold and they portray strong people which falls into their socialist view of life.

the letter C ah ah ah

this is my C postcard for the swap over on amusingmuses. i hate that my scanner
just doesn't do it any color justice. it's really blue and vibrant and there's glitter on the stars
and around the border. if i change the settings on the scanner to get a higher resolution it takes
all f-in' day and then it takes even longer to try and resize it. oh well.

i know it's summer, but i'm thinking of knitting for some reason.

i have actually started working on something like this, but i'm using a lion brand peacock blue yarn. this shibori felted scarf is stolen from the craftypeople blog. it's kind of sea-like, kind of polka-dotted, kind of blobby. i dig it and will someday finish the one i started.

this adorable bunny scarf was made by craftster member blackoctopi. i love the color!!!
i want to wear it and pet it.

okay. this one that i actually have made. i made this for my cousin paul for christmas this year. it's made out of two types of japanese noro wool. i absolutely loved making it! i looked online for the yarn, but it was all about $15/skein. i looked up to see if i could find it somewhere local. turns out that 1) baton rouge has a yarn shop 2) i found it there for $9/skein 3) there are way more colors and lots than i originally thought. woot. i started making me one, then stopped, and now it's 80 outside and will be until november. so i'm tooooo pressed for time to make it happen.

okay. these fish hats would take me a bajillion years to complete, buuuuuuuut i want one so bad! this is from thelma egberts over at knitty.com. AND the pattern is free! i'm just not one to work with double pointed needles, not to mention making something other than a scarf. the pattern actually calls for COUNTING! ugh. thelma has picture with her kids (?) wearing this wonderful hats. it's like mr. limpet is trying to eat their heads. here's the link for my future reference:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter08/PATTfishy.php

this is from kayte terry at craftstylish. it's just bits of ticker tape yarn and some water-soluble stabilizer. all that and a whole bunch of patience to sew a grid. i could do that. i think. the patience part, not the sewing. :)

churros

i made a trial batch of churros last night and they didn't turn out all to wonderful.
i mean, nick and mike at them all, but i thought that they were heavy. i'm thinking
that this is a result of using too much butter, so i'm updating the recipe and will
try again this afternoon after work. here it is:

1 cup water
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter
1 cup white flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, depending on taste

preheat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of vegetable oil in a 10 to 12 inch frying pan to 375 degrees F. in a separate dish mix the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

in a 3 qt. sauce pan add the water, brown sugar, salt, and butter and heat to a good boil. remove from the heat and add the flour. stirring in the flour will take some muscle. mix it in until well blended.

in a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla together and then add this mixture to the flour mixture. stir until well blended and all the egg is completely mixed in.

fill your decorating tool (piping bag with large star tip) with the dough.

test your oil by placing a small amount of dough in it. the dough should bubble up right away or that means the oil is not hot enough and a soggy churro is on the way.

once the oil is hot enough, squeeze some dough (with decorator) into the oil about 4 inches long.

you should be able to cook 4 or 5 churros at a time. cook them about 1 minute and turn them over with a slotted spoon. cook an additional minute or two.

emove the churros with the slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel-covered plate to absorb excess grease.

while still warm, roll each churro into the dish with the sugar and cinnamon until coated.

note: i made a chocolate sauce to go with mine. i took a 4oz bar of chocolate and melted it down with 2 cups of milk and a tablespoon of cornstarch to help thicken it up. i also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

ideas for this one

Over at ornamentea.com they have this TV set bezel and i keep going
back to it wanting to buy a bunch and make something
but i keep chickening out. ugh!!!! i hate it when something unique comes along and i turn
into a crafting wallflower.

ooooooooo

I really really really want to make this necklace!!!
it seems like i could craft it out of black shrinky dinks and then
attach with a total of 4 jump rings.

today is cinco de mayo

Projects:
i have recently joined the site amusingmuses. i was invited by a member of the AFA website and i'm so excited! the new forum is full of really talented people and new and exciting projects. they do a lot of postcards (4x6) and shapes (birds, mermaids, bunnies). my latest project is the May Contest for creating a cyclops bunny rabbit. i just got the template today and can't wait to start on it! i've also been working on an alphabet postcard series. i'll attach my A and B cards. what happens is we create one every week and are assigned someone at random to send it to like you would a postcard. so my goal is to get one of each letter and create a book at the end. i think it'll be awesome!

Musings:
today is cinco de mayo and we've got a lot of plans for tonight's kickball games. the drunk skunks will be playing against the drunk drunks! it will be me versus my boyfriend. my sister versus her boyfriend. two equally matched teams! i'm so excited! but, since it's a mexican holiday and all, emily is extremely excited about tonight's festivities and not so much the game. we're thinking of bringing out her hot dog cooker thingy (this is close to it: http://www.ginnys.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=33908&referrer=XJ1997&code=XJ1997&source=k200165&link=j27608492&sid=gc_58259585) and seeing if we can't use it for tamales. why not? i also made a trial batch of churros last night. they were pretty good. i follwed the recipe on foodnetwork's website. i'll probably try something different for tonight's game.

this passed weekend was Michael's wedding. it was really nice and i think good times were had by all. the church was beautiful! it was in the Irish Channel of New Orleans. it's actually on a street corner with two other Catholic churches: one was French, one German, and one Irish. their wedding was in the German church, St. Mary's Assumption. http://www.flickr.com/photos/60196620@N00/2451767946/ i couldn't have found a church more suited for them and their love of the Catholic faith. everything was well done and ran smoothly. i was nervous with my mom being there and all the other families, but everything seemed to move along with little turbulence.

on sunday, nick and i headed home and spent the day being lazy. i was really tired and felt sick all day, so i tried to nap here and there. then i couldn't sleep at night. oh well. we were supposed to go to the zoo, but i suggested just going home instead.

i sent out an email yesterday wondering what the status was on me and the LRCE's alternative certification program. i was told that letters were being sent out yesterday, so hopefully i'll get the letter in today. i'm nervous because i feel that i will be accepted, but it all comes down to how well i did on the praxis 2. i feel deep down that i failed it. but i've still got another 3 weeks or so until i get my results back.