A Monthly/Weekly planner to die for… big squares to write in, all from Blue Sky!

On January 3, 2012January 2, 2012 By Barbara StroudIn HOMELeave a comment

Egg Press Heartflower planner BlueSkyImg — Image from BlueSkyImg.com

It’s not easy finding the perfect monthly/weekly planner, you know, one you’ll stick with all year long. Last year my parents bought me the Barnes and Noble monthly/weekly planner which was VERY nice. I used every little bit of it for this blog, had notes scribbled all over. This year I read the reviews and saw how everyone mentioned that the monthly view that was always spread out on two pages was now squished onto one page, what?!! I went to the store to see for myself. They were right. Whew, crisis averted! Glad I read that review! So I headed to Target, and in 0.3 seconds found the planner of my dreams (ok, I like paper, I like to write AND I like to organize so I get excited about things like this…). It’s made by BLUE SKY IMAGES, and the one I purchased is called the EggPress Heartflower Monthly/Weekly Planner. It’s a great size 8.5″x11″, nice big squares to write in and a lined area in each monthly view for notes specific to that month. After the monthly view is the two page weekly view, which is fantastic. Also there are tabs for the monthly view which is AWESOME… I made tabs for mine last year. So if you’re looking for a fantastic planner it sells online for $16+, I bought it at Target for $9.99.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Kyle Martin!

On January 2, 2012January 8, 2014 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

We ran across Kyle Martin, a fabulous artist from Wisconsin, with such a nice loose style, while looking at Daniel Corey’s blog during the Boothbay Regional Art Foundation fundraiser that both artists were involved with back in December. Kyle has a nice blog that you should check out if you get a chance! Here is a short blip from Blue Heron, where you can see Kyle’s work if you’re out and about in Reedsburg, WI:

Kyle is interested in observing and painting the effect of light falling on the landscape. His work is created outdoors, painted en plein air, taking direct inspiration from the subject. By using color to show atmosphere, he will often return to the same location to capture different moods of the same scene. His luminous paintings are created with active brushwork and broken color. Click HERE to see the rest…

I love running across new (to me) artists! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Happy New Year! I wish you the best…

On January 1, 2012December 31, 2011 By Barbara StroudIn THOUGHTSLeave a comment

I would like to wish you the happiest new year ever! I hope that your year is filled with all things good… health, happiness and friends throughout the year!

I would like to thank my wonderful husband (Fred Stroud) in advance for all his help in coming up with new topics, helping to find new artists to feature, he has been instrumental when a topic eludes me! We have a big time sitting around a roaring fire brainstorming new ideas. The past year has been an adventure and I/we look forward to 2012 with you along for the ride! Thanks for stopping by… Catch you back here tomorrow!

Image: Currier and Ives from MySunsetCoffee.com

POSTADAY2011 Challenge complete! THANK YOU WordPress!

On December 31, 2011December 22, 2011 By Barbara StroudIn THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Let me start by saying… HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE! Can you believe how fast time flies?? I want to send a quick Thank You to WordPress… Last year I decided to figure out what a “blog” entailed… why not spend some time each day and see what happens? Can’t hurt, right? After a lot of research I decided on a WordPress blog, and let me say… I’m happy I flew with WordPress! I created this blog on January 1, 2011, and planned to do several posts a week. Then I noticed WordPress had a POSTADAY and a POSTAWEEK challenge… Ok, now my interest is really peaked… a POSTAWEEK challenge really isn’t a challenge for me since I feel I can ramble on about pretty much anything, and doing so only once a week is too easy, but EVERY SINGLE DAY?? Eek, that quickly started to become a challenge. It wasn’t the topics it was the time it took to research and to figure out WHAT… once I have the WHAT I’m set! WordPress has a blog you can subscribe to that gives you ideas of a topic to write about each day, they ENCOURAGE you to write. I would have to say I am THRILLED with WordPress. They strive to be the best and to constantly improve the best of the best. I have contacted their support a few times, and they are wonderful, they respond quickly, and let me just say… they are called HAPPINESS ENGINEERS for a reason! Who couldn’t love that!

Keep it up WordPress… I’ll be with you next year! A big thank you to those of you who have spent the time to follow this blog throughout the year, I have met the coolest people this past year! I’m looking forward to next year… OK, y’all, have a wonderful New Year’s Eve… be safe, don’t drink and drive… call a taxi or have a designated driver! Catch you back here TOMORROW!

Image via tribulant.com

Artist to watch… Douglas Martenson!

On December 30, 2011December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist3 Comments

Douglas Martenson BedroomWindow — Bedroom Window by artist Douglas Martenson / Image: CourthouseGallery.com

This is a fabulous piece by artist Douglas Martenson, today’s Artist To Watch. I love how the light peeks through the fabric in the curtains, its fabulous! The artist shows his work at Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth, Maine. If you’re in the area, check it out… otherwise check out their website!

Here’s a blip about the artist from the Courthouse Gallery website:

I have been working from life directly and indirectly from images based on the studio, or the house that I rent with my wife and Daughter for several weeks each August in Blue Hill Maine. This gives me an opportunity to focus on Landscape elements such as light and how it falls, grand vistas, water, structures such as buildings and how they relate to their environment. I also create through the use of domestic spaces both in Philadelphia and in Maine and examination of the interior world consisting of objects and light that help the spaces take form to create a landscape of the interior. While the work has always been substantially representational, this focus has brought a quality of tone and brushwork to the fore. I hope through this examination I have touched on something which is universal.

Martenson, who since 1978 has made his home in Philadelphia , a Graduate of the Pennsylvania academy of the fine Arts, his studio is a three story row house located in the Dickenson square area of Philadelphia, the house he rents in Maine is an old farm house located on seventeen acres facing Cadillac Mountain. Martenson has been the recipient of many grants and awards including a Pennsylvania Council on the arts fellowship and several Individual creative opportunity stipends from the Pennsylvania council on the Arts, a Pew fellowship on the arts grant for study at the Vermont studio center in northern Vermont an a Cresson European Traveling Scholarship from the Pennsylvania Academy of the fine Arts. Martenson has exhibited widely and shown his works regularly in galleries in New York, Philadelphia and Boston.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

New Year’s Eve… make a wish!

On December 29, 2011December 20, 2011 By Barbara StroudIn THOUGHTSLeave a comment

NYearsEve MakeAWishWall — Image: timessquarenyc.org

I ran across something neat that is going on in NYC… The New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall. You can write a wish on a piece of confetti and it will be dropped at midnight… wishes have been collected throughout the year… AND if you aren’t in NYC, no worries, you can submit a wish online, they will print it on confetti and it will be dropped with the other wishes… How cool is that?? Here’s a blip from their site…

Your wishes for 2012 will be added to the confetti that flutters down in the heart of Times Square on New Year’s Eve!

Each year people from around the globe write their wishes for the New Year on pieces of official Times Square New Year’s Eve confetti. Whether it’s a personal goal, a dream for the future or doing something for the very first time, these wishes will be posted on the New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall located in the Times Square Visitor Center (7th Ave between 46th & 47th Sts).

The wishes are collected at the end of the year, and added to the one ton of confetti that flutters down at midnight onto the crowd gathered in Times Square in celebration of the New Year.

Virtual Wishing Wall

Can’t make it to Times Square? No worries, your wishes can still fall from the sky this New Year’s. Just submit your wish, your dream, your first, online. We will print it onto a piece of confetti for you, so that no matter where you are on New Year’s Eve, your wish will be part of the Times Square celebration. Happy New Year

Click HERE to go to the site… Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… ArtBoy68, uh, I mean, Scott Hamilton!

On December 28, 2011January 8, 2014 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist3 Comments

BarbaraStroud by ScottHamilton — My portrait done by artist Scott Hamilton

I ran across this blog a while back by artist Scott Hamilton (Artboy68), a VERY talented artist from British Columbia. I signed up to be a follower because I was intrigued at what he was doing, 100 portraits in 20 weeks. The blog is aptly titled “100 Portraits“, and I enjoy reading the comments back from people like me who have had their portrait done! I urge you to check out Scott’s blog, he’s very talented indeed! This sketch is 2 3/8 x 2 15/16 and he is sending it to me, what a special surprise. Click HERE for the link to this post…

I’ve met a lot of neat people through WordPress, people like Scott, but no one has done my portrait before, ha ha… THANK YOU Scott! I wish you much success, you are talented indeed… AND just so you know, I already had a draft started so that I could feature you, but I was waiting for you to do a SELF portrait… hint hint… maybe the 100th?

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe for a crowd… Chicken Sausage Jambalaya with Shrimp!

On December 27, 2011December 21, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe1 Comment

WF ChxSausJambalaya — Image: WholeFoodsMarket.com

A few years ago I ran across this fantastic recipe at Whole Foods…Chicken Sausage Jambalaya with Shrimp. It made a good bit and it was TASTY with a capital “T”! If you’re having a group over for New Year’s Day, this might want to be something you consider?? Here ya go…

CHICKEN SAUSAGE JAMBALAYA WITH SHRIMP

Serves 12

This one-pot meal is great for feeding a crowd of friends.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons safflower oil, divided
2 (12-ounce) packages pre-cooked spicy Italian chicken sausage, sliced diagonally
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 cups long-grain brown rice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
3/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1 (1-pound) bag frozen okra
1 (1-pound) bag frozen Whole Catch® Tail-On, Peeled & Deveined, 41/50 Cooked Shrimp
Hot sauce for serving

Method

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned. Remove from pot and set aside. Add remaining oil, celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook until softened. Stir in tomatoes, broth, water, rice, thyme, salt and cayenne. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 35 minutes, stirring now and then. Add frozen okra and reserved sausage. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add frozen shrimp and continue cooking until heated through. Taste and season with more salt or cayenne if desired. Serve with hot sauce.

Nutrition

Per serving: 320 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 90mg cholesterol, 460mg sodium, 34g total carbohydrate (4g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 23g protein

Artist to watch… Ulrich Gleiter!

On December 26, 2011December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

Can’t you just FEEL how deep this snow is? How cold the temperature is? Perhaps smell wood burning from a nearby fireplace? Today’s artist to watch is Ulrich Gleiter who was given this advice… “Paint two small plein air sketches every day. Nothing else will train your sense of color better.”

ULRICH GLEITER was born in Saarbruecken, Germany, and studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in Germany before moving to Rus- sia to study first at the Suricov Institute of Arts in Moscow and then at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. In 2010 he received the Best of Show award and First Place in the Quick Draw Portrait Competition in the Plein Air Rockies 2010 in Estes Park, Colorado; the Award of Excellence in the Wyoming Plein Air in Cheyenne, Wyoming; and the Frank Bette First Prize in the 2010 Alameda Plein Air Paint out in Alameda, California. He will be mounting a solo exhibition of his work at Gallerie Ines Schulz in Dresden, Germany, in the fall of 2011, and will participate in the Door County Plein Air Invitational in July 2011 and the Plein Air Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado, in August 2011 For more information, visit his website at www. ulrichgleiter.com.

HERE is a good article from Plein Air Magazine about Ulrich…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y’ALL!

On December 25, 2011December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Today is Christmas, and I wish you the merriest! Good tidings to you…!

The only old Christmas photo that I could find was teeny tiny. That’s the Fidler family when we lived in St. Clair Shores, MI. Christmas was always a magical time!

To my family… I MISS YOU GUYS… MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

To all of you… I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and I thank you for checking in with me! Have a wonderful day and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!

Christmas Eve…

On December 24, 2011December 19, 2011 By Barbara StroudIn THOUGHTS1 Comment

LettersToSanta — OperationLetterToSanta.com

A few fabulous images I’ve run across on the Internet while thinking about Christmas Eve. Believe me when I say that I know this is about more than Santa and gifts… but these are wonderful childhood memories… Wishing you a good night sleep, hope you’ve been good!

SantaChristmasEve — Image: SusanKOnTheWeb.com

Catch you back here tomorrow!!

Thank you to artist Dan Corey, an artist who knows the spirit of the season…!

On December 23, 2011December 13, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART1 Comment

I just want to give a big SHOUT to artist Dan Corey for being so very generous! First of all for being a part of a fundraiser for Boothbay Regional Art Foundation’s Art Scholarship Fund, where all artists who participated agree to sell their paintings for $100 with 25% going to the foundation (NOTE: Fundraiser is over BUT you are in luck… the paintings on Dan’s blog are still available UNTIL the day after Christmas and then they’ll be gone (or regular price)… Dan didn’t just include a painting or two, he included around 20 or so paintings (at the time I write this)! That is VERY GENEROUS! And… then he did a holiday giveaway, the first person to read his post and answer his questions won the gorgeous painting above. Let me say, I don’t normally win things… and I’m OK with that… BUT this was meant to be! I was checking his blog to see if he posted a new painting and saw that the giveaway had begun! The questions were posted! I got answers to the questions and responded as fast as my frozen fingers would type… and whew… I am HAPPY to say, we are the proud owners of the big holiday giveaway painting and we are THRILLED! So a BIG THANK YOU to Dan… we are loyal followers Dan, you are a fabulous artist as well as the nicest guy… we look forward to meeting you one day soon!

Merry Christmas to you (and Raquele)! The same to the rest of you folks! Check out Dan’s blog, it’s a treat!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

THE world’s best Christmas cookies (and most beautiful!)

On December 22, 2011December 17, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe3 Comments

I don’t lie when I say these are the best tasting cookies ever! These have been a ‘tradition’ in our family since we were little kids… and we make them every year… they make beautiful cookies to hand out as gifts to neighbors and friends. If you’re going to do that then you need to (at least) double the recipe, this makes a fair amount depending upon the size of your cookie cutters…

I featured this recipe back in February as Valentine’s Day cookies… but the recipe came out of a magazine many years ago (1960’s) in an article about the best Christmas cookies… Here’s the recipe…

CHRISTMAS BUTTER COOKIES

Sift 2 3/4 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

In mixer bowl add 3/4 cup soft butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Beat until fluffy and light. Slowly beat in flour mixture. CHILL ONE HOUR.

Flour your work surface and roll out dough. Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

YIELD: 4 dozen (IF you don’t eat the dough… good luck to ya!)

FROSTING

Mix 1/4 cup butter, 4 cups (1 box) confectioner’s sugar, 1/4 cup scalded cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Blend until smooth. Scoop into separate bowls and add food coloring (hint: yellow and blue mixed makes an awesome ‘grinch’ green). Scoop colored frosting into Ziplock bag (I use freezer) and snip a little off the corner. Squeeze onto cookie to decorate! If you need the frosting thinned a bit more, I have great luck just using light cream, add a little at a time until it will easily come out of the bag to decorate.

100_5410 — Fred's end of the cookie lineup, LOTS of frosting, his are the ones everyone wants to eat!

100_5415 — The fun part is the decorating!

Catch you back here tomorrow!!

Artist to watch… David Scriven Crowley!

On December 21, 2011December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist4 Comments

DavidScrivenCrowley Talbot — "Talbot" by artist David Scriven Crowley

David Scriven Crowley is today’s Artist to Watch! My husband and I first ran across him on a trip to Rockland, Maine… we ran across his intriguing gallery on Main Street and fell in love with his Jack Russell, (I believe her name was Daphne), what a character! David is a very talented artist full of amazing stories, if you get a chance and are in the area, stop by and say Hello! Or… stop by his website to check out his work…

Here’s a blip from the artists website…

My work is about emotion, the profound sense of a mandate so demanding and so compulsive that the need to make something MUST be satisfied. Even if the lack of time, the lack of funds, and the market do not support the idea, the emotional desperation for a project to be realized is so compelling as to force itself into fruition. These concepts manifest in many forms, usually complete (in my head), before they are begun. The process is, however every bit a part of the creation and through the development of the work, small changes of direction may occur. Usually, these deviations are subtle, but may at times alter the direction of the original idea. The ideas are spiritual, political, social, environmental, humorous, or may simply be about beauty.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Joe Fidler… and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

On December 20, 2011December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

This is a two part post… the first part is a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad. He’s the best… then, the Artist to Watch… !

Hey dad, I’m wondering how you are old enough to have a daughter my age, ha ha! We wish you the happiest birthday ever… You’re the absolute best! Miss you so much!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, deeeaaaaar Daaaa-aaaad!

Happy Birthday to you… and many more!

My dad can do ANYTHING… some of the hobbies he’s had that quickly come to mind are… photography/developing photos in our basement, wine making (long time ago, wonder how that turned out?), rock polishing/jewelry making, canoe building, watercolor, oil, pen and ink, woodworking (beautiful jewelry boxes, lamps, wooden bowls, ornaments, you name it…), stained glass making… the list goes on and on… the man doesn’t get bored I can tell you that! A few years ago I gave him a sketchbook for Christmas, and told him one day when he filled it up with doodles, thoughts, etc he could pass it back (nice gift, eh?)… Perhaps this may have been the most stressful gift he’s ever received, ha ha… He gave it back to me less than two years later FILLED with gorgeous sketches, pen and ink and watercolor… I am sharing a few with you. He’s too talented. He needs a website ;)