Missing Your Mojo? Here are 5 “Keeper Ideas” for Kick-Starting Your Creativity . . .

Missing your mojo?  Here are 5 “keeper ideas” for kick-starting your creativity . . . (or at least they helped resuscitate mine :-)

1. Explore another artistic avenue

I recently took a class from the Brave Girl Club http://bravegirlsclub.com/ called Soul Restoration – Life changing & so healing & INSPIRATIONAL.  Awesome is all I can say! 

One of the many wonderful things about the class is all of the cool art technique videos that are included.  (You can also find some of them on Youtube so check them out.)  One of my favorite new techniques is draw with hot glue and then paint over it. 

Here is an example:

I also tried some new stamping techniques to make these embellishments

2.       Listen to music that feeds your soul and makes you happy!  Some of my recent favorites . . .

I Lift My Hands by Chris Tomlin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of4fvzKnId0&feature=related

Always Enough by Casting Crowns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83dNFrDIuJc

Lest you think that I’m a spiritual giant . . . thanks to my tween daughter and her younger sisters my list also includes Taylor Swift &

Disney songs like Mulan’s I’ll Make a Man Out of You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTqIsB98a1E

3.       Check out some layout sketch books or on line.  (Check out my friend Janet’s sketches on Kitchen Keepsakes here is June’s http://www.freewebs.com/kitchenkeepsake/apps/forums/topics/show/4998414-june-sketch-challenge )

Here is a layout of my daughter opening gifts at her birthday party that I completed thanks to a sketch.  I love that the sketch helped me to capture all of her many facial expressions!

4.       Dig out some photos of an event that has sentimental value for you.  Thanks to a sketch and inspiration provided by the photos, I finished this LO highlighting some costumes that I made last year for my girls.

If the coloring is off on the photos change them to black and white like I did with this LO.

5.       Dig through your stash and get out those special embellishments that you’ve been saving "for something special".  

Here are some embellishments that I LOVE from the pages above: 

Isn't the little origami bird the cutest!

 I was really intimidated by the idea of trying to scrap the mystery scavenger hunt from my daughter's Nancy Drew birthday party The Case of China Town and the Missing Jewels, but these adorable Asian stickers & the chop sticks got me through :-)  (Check out my mom, Nancy, that dressed up as Nancy Drew in the bottom right hand corner . . . she is an awesome Nana :-)

Sugary candy and pumpkins made this simple LO sparkle :-)

I have been holding on to this bamboo bangle for years knowing that it would make the perfect embellishment for the right page.  I originally envisioned it as a frame but I like the way that I finally used it on this recipe page for Hawaiian Chicken Salad.

Mental black holes that suck our creativity sometimes find the best of us, but hopefully these simple hints will help you get back on track.  Above all, feed your soul with things that you find beautiful and nurse yourself liberally with chocolate and good coffee (like the vanilla/hazelnut blend that my friend brought me back from Hawaii :-)

Alice In Wonderland Scones & they're Gluten Free!

As promised I am continuing the series on the Gluten Free tea party items.  I am happy to report that I successfully converted one of my favorite pre-GF recipes for scones & they tasted just as good at the original version.  HOWEVER, I am also so excited to share the following LO for you that I just completed to feature the recipe.  The following LO was created for the April Sketch challenge over at Kitchen Keepsakes  http://www.freewebs.com/kitchenkeepsake/.  Janet created the awesome sketch.  You can check out her wonderful blog at http://stellaruby.typepad.com/never_knowing_where_ill_b/ .  I also have to give credit to Amy Bender from Moonsplash Designs for the creative inspiration.  She has an incredible alter “Alice” project on her blog that you MUST check out! http://moonsplashdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/03/labor-of-love.html

So, without further ado . . . here is my layout:

I am never very good at listing the items that I used in my LOs but since I just returned from the CK convention yesterday I do know the names of most of the supplies J

Red Paper by K & Company, Rusty Pickle: Primitive Hearts, Letters by Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess, Stickers by EK Disney & Adorn It Timeless.

Now for the recipe:

Gluten Free Scones

2 c GF flour mix

¼ c sugar or Splenda

¼ t salt

½ c firm butter, cut in 8 pieces

1/3 to ½ c butter milk

½ c dried cranberries, raisins or fresh berries

2 t grated orange peel

1 ½ t cream of tartar

¾ t baking soda

1 T GF binder

milk

Mix dry ingredients & cut in butter with pastry blender until mix looks like fine crumbs.  Stir in buttermilk so dough leaves sides of bowl.  Stir in fruit of choice.  Drop about 1/3 c of dough 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 10 to 15 min until light brown.

May substitute raisins or fresh blueberries for cranberries & cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice & vanilla (w/raisins) or lemon peel (w/blueberries) for orange peel.

If you want to make these with regular flour use 2 cups of flour instead of the gluten free flour mix & eliminate the gluten free binder.  Either way, they are excellent!

Need a good Gluten Free Flour Mix?  Here is the one that I used for this recipe:

Gluten Free Flour Mix

2 c white rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

1 T gluten free binder

Mix & store in airtight container for up to 1 year.

I love black and while photography, especially when it is of scenery and/or kids.  Viewing the image in black and white somehow makes time stand still and the vividness of the moment is caught at its fullest.  The moment has passed but the memory and the emotion remain.

One of my favorite tricks for creating black and white “memory moments” is to pair photos with quotes or verses.  I am by no means a digital expert but I like the way that my images turn out & here is how I do it:

1.       Using Microsoft Digital Image Starter (download it for free here: http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-Digital-Image-Starter-Edition-2006/3000-12511_4-10508408.html ) open the image. 

2.       Resave your image so that you preserve the original.

3.       On the left side of the screen under the “effects” menu you can select to change your photo to black and white.

4.       Crop your photo utilizing the “Crop canvas” tool in the “format” menu.

               5.    Finally, add a white edge by selecting the “soft” tool under the “edges” menu.

               6.    Under the “add something” menu you can choose to add text or even another photo to create a collage.  

Here are some fun examples for inspiration:

Both images were taken on a hike one fall afternoon.  All three of the girls piled into the tree and so I had to take a photo.  Later they were having so much fun walking like the "Wizard of Oz" and the "Monkey's" that they didn't notice that I took the photo.

Crop at the Kitchen!

Kitchen Keepsake is cookbooking at its finest! Come and find your creative culinary muse!

The designers have cooked up some fun challenges, games, and prizes!

All challenges will be posted on Friday, April 29th and will be due on May 4th.

We hope you'll join us in the kitchen and get those creative juices flowing!

www.kitchenkeepsake.com

Please join me and the other cooks in the Kitchen for this fabulous crop!

Food, Family & Foolin' Fun!

So to celebrate April Fool’s day I created the following challenge on Kitchen Keepsakes http://www.freewebs.com/kitchenkeepsake/

Scrap one of your family’s foolhardy food foils, and check out my family’s funny story below!
So what is a funny food story from your family? I know you have one . . .:-)

Extraordinary Message of the Day

Just received this incredibly powerful & encouraging word today via the Brave Girl’s Club daily messages & I had to share.  Check out this INCREDIBLE site (and sign up for the daily messages yourself if you’d like) at www.bravegirlsclub.com

Dear Extraordinary Girl, You can do amazing things with the simplest things. You can have so little and be so happy. You can take small amounts of time and perform life-changing acts. Is it time to simplify? Is it time to pare down your life to the handful of things that mean the most to you and let the rest go so that you can give the very best of yourself to the very best thing, instead of being spread in a too-thin layer all over the place? Your heart knows when it's time, and you will have the strength to do it. And best of all, you will see enormous changes happen in your life when you let the unimportant things go and embrace the things that quiety sustain you and bring you joy. It may not look like the most glamorous life, but it is one filled with joy, peace, and harmony; one where laughter is a welcome and frequent companion; one where worries are few, where long meaningful conversations are many; one that is waiting for you when you are ready to take the steps to get there. Simplify today, one little thing at a time. You can do it. xoxo "A little bird told me" - your Daily Truth from The Brave Girls Club - www.bravegirlsclub.com

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Gluten Free Quiche

As promised I am continuing my highlight of recipes to host a gluten free tea party.  Today I will share the incredible, oh-so-yummy recipe for gluten free pie crusts & quiche.

The crust takes some work because the recipe utilizes several mixes BUT it is well worth it.  The following recipes come from Gluten Free baking with the Culinary Institute of America  by Richard J Coppedge Jr. – This book is AMAZING & I recommend to everyone that is beginning the process of going GF.

Pie Crust

This crust is INCREDIBLE! It has a slightly different consistency than bakery crusts (strange to say but it is a tad bit tougher) – but it tastes like a crust from Marie Calendar’s or something.  No kidding!  Even my gluten eating guests liked the crust better than the traditional version.

12 T Butter, cold

2/3 c Flour Blend #2

¾ c Flour Blend #4

2/3 c Flour Blend # 5

2/3 c Water, cold

Cut butter into small chunks & blend into flour mixtures with a pastry blender or two knives.  Add water & combine until smooth.  Refrigerate unwrapped for 1 hr.  Roll out, place into pie pan, dock with a fork & bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 min.

Quiche

1 Gluten Free Pie Crust

¾ c meat of choice

2/3 c shredded cheese of choice

2/3 c chopped veggies of choice

4 eggs

½ c milk

½ c heavy cream

Mix ingredients with a whisk & pour into baked crust.  Bake 30 to 35 min at 350 degrees.

Flour Mixes

Flour Blend # 2 (contains a little protein & fiber from brown rice)

1 ¾ c white rice flour

1 ¼ c brown rice flour

¾ c potato starch

1 c tapioca starch

Makes a total of 4 ¾ c

Flour Blend #4 (this is a stronger mix & is higher in protein)

1 ½ c white rice flour

1 ¾ c Tapioca starch

2 ¼ c Soy Flour

Makes a total of 5 ½ c

Flour Blend #5 (very strong, high in protein)

1 ¾ c white rice flour

1 ¼ c Tapioca Starch

1 ¾ Soy flour

½ c Whey powder

Makes a total of 5 ¼ c

Here is a LO featuring this recipe.  I created it for Janet’s monthly sketch challenge on Kitchen Keepsakes http://kitchenkeepsake.webs.com/ .