mocha floats

that's

1/2 cup of espresso

(orI'll bet strong, cold brewed coffee would work too)

1 cup of milk

2 scoops of chocolate ice cream

caramel syrup to taste

all combined in a tall glass

try it.

it's good.

knitting works in progress

I seem to go through stages in my artsy endeavors. Right now I am not in a knitting stage. However, I have a couple of works in progress that I thought I'd share. If nothing else, this will bring them to my mind one of these days when I'm just sitting around wondering what to do. Ha.

Okay, so this scarf is actually done, but I'm working on a grey and black one just like it. (I also have made a green one for myself.) I couldn't help jumping on the absurdly ruffly scarf bandwagon

even though they're so popular as to be cliche. It's just so fun to see the specialty yarn turn into extravagant ruffles! Plus they knit up so quickly and easily, making for great gifts. This one went to one of my pink-loving girlfriends.

These fingerless gloves were supposed to be my Mum's Mother's Day gift. I became daunted when Sweet Pea pulled one of the needles out, and I had to pick up the stitches and try to figure how how to fix the pattern, so they're still not done. This is the first time I've used such small needles and sock-weight yarn. I'm loving it, but it's slower going than I'm used to. Maybe I'll finish in time for her birthday. Or maybe Christmas...

Now I feel like knitting. This is good. :)

recipe reviews

Oh, boy. This post has been photos-only in draft form for a long time. Let's see if I remember these recipe experiments well enough to talk about them.

The recipe: Easy Flan Recipe. When I lived in Brazil as a child, flan (called pudim in Brazil) was my very favorite dessert. I decided to try to recreate this childhood memory in celebration of my half birthday (I was so busy on my actual birthday that I didn't get a cake) last April.
The mods: Instead of baking several small flans in remekins, I cooked one big flan in my bundt pan. I increased the cooking time, and it was just fine.
My impression: This recipe was just as easy as its name promised, and it had all of the delicious rich, creamy, caramelly glory that I remembered so fondly. If you need an easy, make-ahead recipe that will wow anyone who eats it, this is your recipe.

The recipe: Ratatouille's Ratatouille over pink rice
The mods: As I recall, I followed this recipe fairly closely except that I didn't serve it with goat cheese, and I think the fresh herb I had was marjoram and not thyme.
My impression: Eggplant makes my mouth and throat tingle painfully. I don't know why I keep trying to eat it. Still, I truly enjoyed this recipe and may even make it again. Next time I think I'll use a small pasta instead of rice.

The recipe: Sweet Potato Salmon Cakes
The mods: I used three five-ounce cans of the salmon that is more like tuna instead of the single 14 ounce can that has skin and bones in it as well. I'm also not a mayo fan, so I skipped making the mayo.
My impression: I really wanted to like this recipe, but I was disappointed. My kids did not like these at all, and I ate them because I was hungry but didn't love them. They were a little dry (which was probably my fault for not making the mayo), and I didn't find the sweet fish taste amazing. Next time I'll probably stick to my normal salmon patty recipe and serve sweet potatoes on the side.

six months

My Baby Boy is six months old!

(And has been for a while.)

This month he...

eats

mama milk

sweet potato and squash puree

all sorts of interesting stuff he gleans off of the floor

cheerios and tiny pieces of blueberry

(I figure if he can pick up and eat tiny things off the floor,

it's a good idea to channel his interest in a healthier way.)

any cord he can get his hands on

(keeps me on my toes)

sleeps

in a pack-n-play now

(his crib was not sturdy enough for how busy he's becoming)

inconsistently at night

usually three naps every day

says

"mama"

(It's very distinct, and he's definitely referring to me!)

babbles long strings of syllables

has the jolliest laugh

still likes to sing himself to sleep

does

lights up the room with his smile

scoots all over on his belly

crawls on his hands and knees a little

gets up on his hands and feet and "jumps" with his feet

gets all excited when he sees me

scoots as fast as possible to get to me

tries to grab my leg when I walk past him

can already get himself out of the Bumbo chair

sits up by himself

bounces for long stretches of time in his johnny-jump-up

takes tiny steps while holding onto an adult's fingers

loves scratching on all the different surfaces he finds

clings to whoever is carrying him around

tries to get in the middle of what his siblings are doing

likes

being able to move around on his own

exploring new rooms

being the center of attention

making eye contact and "talking"

dislikes

pretty much the same as before

to a wild rose

I wish you could smell them

right through your computer screen.

birthday in a bottle 2

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday.

(How fantastic is it that we were friends

long before Ben and I were together!)

I thought she needed a little bit of birthday hullabaloo,

so I sent her some happy mail.

happy birthday balloon

bright pink nail polish

girly post-it notes (see the shoes?)

two pairs of earrings

tic tacs (because a cupcake would't mail well)

curly ribbon (not pictured above)

and a generous sprinkling of star confetti

I cut open a bottle, put all the goodies inside,

then finished the package with a sparkly pink paper band,

address labels, and tape.

Lots of tape.

Then I weighed it and stamped it

and stuck it in the mail.

Here's hoping it brings a smile to her face.

little tag blanket

None of our oldest three were enchanted with tags,

so I thought that those toys/blankets

with little tags sticking out all over were kinda cute

but pretty much useless.

Then Baby Boy came along.

He loves tags.

If a toy has a tag, that's what he goes for.

He feels them, chews on them, sucks on them...

He even discovered the long tags on the bumper in his crib,

pulled them into his bed,

and chewed on them until he gagged.

I felt like such a spoil-sport when I cut them off

that I decided to make a special little tag blanket for him.

It is about 6 1/2 inches square and is bristling with tags!

One side it's soft, blue flannel.

And the other is brown waffle-knit

that I upcycled from an old t-shirt.

It's always gratifying when your handiwork

is just as much of a hit as you hoped it would be.

A quick note about the variety of ribbons I had in my stash to use: Bits of ribbon pop up all over, sometimes in surprising places. Keep your eyes open for them and don't sneeze at small pieces; they can come in handy. To illustrate I numbered the ribbons and will tell you where I got each piece.
1. This used to be a useless drawstring on a pair of my shorts. I pulled it out because it was annoying me and added it to my stash because it is cotton and has a cool texture.
2. Came in a "goodie bag" of notions I picked up for a few cents at a local thrift store. It was only about 8 inches long and was wired. I had plenty of it for this project, though. (And I pulled the wires out.)
3. I think I actually bought this one at Joann's for Sweet Pea's nursery. This project used up the last little bit I had of it.
4. Left over from Ben's coworkers' Christmas gifts.
5. One of the popular baby gifts here in the United States are these little outfits packaged into gift sets by the company that makes them. They often use see-through bags tied with real fabric ribbon with nice prints or textures to finish off the look. I save these ribbons and use them for projects like this.
6. More baby gift set packaging.
7. Partial spool of ribbon I picked up at the thrift store.
8. Found in the bargain section of a local store. ($0.13 for a mini-spool of ribbon? Yes, please!)
9. Huh. There is no #9 on the picture. Ooops. I guess my brain leaped to a nice, round number. :)
10. Very cool train ribbon that came as part of the packaging for scrapbook supplies.

Disclaimer: I AM NOT ADVOCATING HOARDING! Please, don't just compulsively keep random bits of supplies you'll never use. If you cannot honestly project using, say, the ribbons that came on your baby gifts within the next six months don't keep them. However, DO look for supplies and inspiration in unlikely places. You might be surprised at what you find.

anniversary quilt

I've been holding off on posting about this

on the off-chance my in-laws randomly looked at my blog.

It's being given to them today, though,

so I think I'm finally good to talk!

Last month my sister-in-law and I

spent an intense four days making this quilt

for Ben's parents' anniversary.

She collected family photos and notes from the four kids,

artwork and hand prints from all the grandkids,

the family crest, and a favorite verse.

We printed all of these treasures onto fabric,

and incorporated them into a pretty awesome quilt.

(Even if I do say so myself.)

We are so proud of our accomplishment.

I can't wait to see the video

of my in-laws' reaction

when they open it!

weekend art

I ended up having a very artsy weekend.

It was lovely, and I now I want to share what we made.

A very stereotypical "Christina" piece

for my art teacher friend

who requested a larger version

of my little quotation

for hanging in her classroom.

This little piece is also a gift.

This one's going to a fellow blogger/contributor to Made.

The quotation is hers,

and the rendition of Montana dusk is all mine.

The next few pieces were inspired

by the beautiful Beth's (creator of Made)

challenge to make messy art.

"unfinished" set of two coordinating art journal pages

I had some fun using up the paint leftover from my dusky art

to make these two wild pages.

This piece was inspired by the paint left over

from Brother's messy art (see below).

Of course my children had to get in on the painty fun too.

They loved my idea of making paint blobs

and blowing on them through straws to make them spread out.

I really like Little Man's autumnal color scheme here.

Brother tried straw-blown paint blobs

and splatter painting.

Too fun!

Sweet Pea enthusiastically did her own thing

with what appears to be her favorite color: purple.

Benjamin abstained from the messy paint art,

but he did make lots of beautiful music.

This post has been full of Made references
(you'll have to bear with my enthusiasm).

Click here to get the full scoop on Made.

art journal

One of the things I love about my art journal

is that its pages are small (about 6"x6").

These small pages make it easier

to fit small sessions of art-making into short amounts of time.

They also make it easier to let go of my uptight perfectionism

and boldly try new things.

(For some reason it's much harder for me to let go

when I'm staring down a big, blank space.)

In short, it's a little safe haven

were I am brave and just have fun

with my art.

One of the ways I do this is by incorporating

whatever art supplies my kids have out.

The following two pages are experiments in wax resist

that were made on a rainy day

when they had their crayons and coloring books at the table.

I've been a little slow jumping on the washi tape bandwagon

simply because it seems like such an extravagance.

(No local stores sell it, so I have to pay shipping too.)

Last week I finally got some, though.

Well, Benjamin got it for me.

'Cause he's sweet like that.

 I love it just as much as I thought I would!

I think it would make great a great stocking stuffer.
Just sayin'...

While I was melting the boys' crayon nubbins

to make new heart crayons last week,

I decided to try some encaustic painting.

Okay, so technically encaustic painting uses

bees wax and powdered pigment,

but I figured that melted crayon wax

would make a fine substitute this time.

 My first try turned out pretty cool!

Melted crayon wax is hard to work with,

but the texture is amazing.

 My second try, well, lets just keep the 

brave and fun concepts in mind

because it's sure not great art.

For my third attempt I got a different paintbrush,

and it turned out pretty cool too.

And then there's this thing.

I sat down with my pens to make a

"one thing at a time" doodle

while focusing and organizing my thoughts.

But OF COURSE,

I didn't listen to my own advice

and jumped up to do something else.

When I came back, I discovered that my little Sweet Pea

had decided to edit my art.

Too funny.

I finished the words

and then added some of my own embellishments

around hers.

linking up with Jen's In the Studio again today