Saturday, November 26, 2011

You Can Paint on Porcelain

It's not as tricky as it sounds.

Mug Painted in Iceland
 We can paint on porcelain, crockery, terra-cotta, metals,
ceramics, glass, and more!

Find your design,
be inspired with anything from embroidery patterns to tattoos.
You can play with it a bit
or, for gift-giving, keep it just as you found it.

Your local craft and/or art store will sell
Porcelain paint.




Plate Painted in Japan

(Pebeo is easy to find, and it comes in many colors
and applications, like markers, tubes, and jars.)

Any heat-stable surface is ready for painting with this medium.
Once your design is transfered,
place your piece into a preheated 300°F oven
for 30 minutes.
It is now as permanant as baked enamel!


Kid's mug

They're nontoxic and safe for common detergents,
as well as the top rack of your dishwasher.

If you decide to use a brush, it's recommended that you use
a natural fiber in order to avoid brush marks.


 With supervision this is a good project to do with the kids,
a great opportunity to teach them about giving, creating, resourcefulness and self-sufficiency.

Cross-Stitch Lettering on Variety Plates

  
Japanese-Style Painted Bowls





 


Painting on Terra-Cotta

Painted Serving Platter, Bloomingdales





 








Painted Tile/Coaster

Painting tile








Painting on Glass
 



 
  I've posted a few black and white images below for you,
to help you and inspire you with your search for designs and ideas.



Painted Plates: Play With Your Food

Whether traditional or whimsical,
fancy or funky,
think of your recipient and have fun!

This can be for holiday, wedding, graduation, birth,
house-warming, anniversary, anything that is special and
celebrated in your family.

I can't wait to get started!
I have my first tube and a couple of porcelain ornaments.
It's been fun to research along with you,
now I'm ready to begin.
I'll post my finished product soon!

Matryoshka Doll



Chinese Dragon


Swedish Dala Horse

Bird in Flight
Lotus Blossom Henna Pattern


Celtic Claddagh Symbol

Moravian Lamb


Love Birds

Embroidery Chicken


Pineapple, Symbol of Welcome

Two Hearts as One



Fluffy Chic, for Baby

Oak and Acorn, Symbol For Strength


Madonna and Christ


Treble Clef



Butterfly, Nouveau Style

Robots
Spring Dogwood Blossom



Happy porcelain painting, friends!




Homemade Christmas Gifts, Keeping it Simple For Everyone

Mulled Cider Sachets


6 Star Anise
12 Cinnamon Sticks
1 Tbsp  Allspice Berries
1 Tbsp  Whole Cloves

Divide between three bags



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Honey Skin Cream With Herbs


2 tsp each dried mint, sage, & rosemary

1/2 oz beeswax
2 ozs lanolin
1/2 cup carrier oil*
1 tsp honey

1.  Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over combined herbs.  Steep 10 minutes.  Strain through fine sieve.  Allow liquid to cool.  Discard herbs.

2.  Melt beeswax and lanolin in heatproof glass over simmering water.  Add carrier oil, stirring.  Add herbal infusion by teaspoonful, stirring until well blended.  Remove glass from water.

3.  Add honey to tepid cream and stir carefully until blended.  Let cool completely.

4.  Stir cream thoroughly and transfer to clean containers with tight-fitting lids. 

Makes approximately 10 ozs.  Will keep about 3 months.
* Carrier oil: Sweet Almond oil, Jojoba oil, Sunflower oil, Canola oil


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Body Scrub



2 cups Epsom Salts
1 cup carrier oil  (like sweet almond oil)
8 drops essential oil(s)
1 drop food coloring (optional)


1.  Stir together Epsom salts and carrier oil.

2.  Add essential oil, 1 drop at a time.  Add food coloring.  Stir until even throughout.  Spoon into clean jars.


Can also use this recipe with organic cane sugar.
Replace equal parts Epsom salts with organic cane sugar.


 

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12 - 16 unsprayed scented geranium leaves, wiped clean

1 pound butter, room temperature
1 pound sugar
1 pound flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 pound eggs, separated
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream


Preheat oven to 325°F.
Grease your pans and line with parchment.
Arrange leaves, tops down.
Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar, 2 - 3 minutes to light and fluffy.
Sift together flour and baking powder.
Add egg yolks, one at a time, slowly to the creamed butter.
Alternate with flour mixture.
Beat in vanilla, then cream.
Batter will be thick.
Transfer to large mixing bowl.  Set aside.
Place egg white in medium, non-reactive bowl.
Whip to stiff peaks.
Stir in about 1/4 with rubber spatula.
Fold in the remaining whites.
Carefully spoon batter into prepared pans,
running a knife blade through batter a couple times
to remove air bubbles.
Bake 40 - 45 min. until toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool.

I've adjusted the baking time to accomidate the small ceramic pans.
Ceramic requires longer times, but the smaller amount requires less.
A little investigation, and a careful eye will help.
Do not open the oven while pound cake is baking.


National Listening Day

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
— Winston Churchill



"If speaking is silver, then listening is gold."
— Turkish Proverb



Ear - Our Hearing Organ


lis * ten     (lis' en)
1. To make an effort to hear something.  2. To pay attention; heed.  3. An act of listening.




Give advice; if people don't listen, let adversity teach them.
- Etheopian Proverb
 
 

Hearing in the Brain


"The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously."
— Hubert Humphrey



"Listening looks easy, but it's not simple. Every head is a world."
— Cuban Proverb




Heart and Soul - Hearing Deeply

Who speaks, sows; Who listens, reaps.
— Argentine Proverb


Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.
- Indian Proverb


 


My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this:
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak
and slow to become angry
James 1:19



Sunday, November 20, 2011

Great American Smokeout

Happy Joe Lucky Comic Strip

You'll like it. Women like it.

Because the noise alone isn't enough.



Promoting youth and beauty!



Geez, that looks like a stinky room!



Smoking and exercise go hand in hand.






"Happy Birthday Dad, we know your A B Cs!"




Doctors prefer Camels for our soldiers.



Ooh, that's sexy!



Sneaky Granny



"Gee, Dad, you always get the best of everything!"



Throat protection



She looks familiar!



Cuz if you're gonna smoke, it's gotta be pretty



I know I'd rather be thin with a raspy voice, stinky house, asthmatic kids, yellow fingers...




You can prove there's no unpleasant aftertaste!



"Ooooo!"



She likes a smokin' hot fella.



Aparently, pipes are like astrology.



"You need this throat protection!"



Facts up in smoke



"Blow in her face and she'll follow you anywhere."



Well, if doctors smoke them...



no comment



Quite the comparison.



Athletic smokers. That's realistic.



Start'em right from school.



"Mighty easy on the throat."



"An army man must keep fit.

Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet."



"To keep a slender figure

Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet."



Phillipss Milk of Magnesia

Minimize the After-Effects.



"I like what you like"


Miss America smokes Lucky Strike!



Forever and ever...


well, maybe not.

About Me

My photo
As long as I'm on this journey, rambling through life's exhilarating highs and trudging heavily amongst it's incapacitating lows, I might as well share whatever may be gleaned from my little bits of wisdom and my many missteps. No room for judgment from this broken mama. I'm writing from my heart: raw, open, messy, but saved. And I'm still thanking God!