After having summer like weather the last few days, the temperature dipped a few notches; enough for me to look at the ripe bananas in the basket and think – banana bread! So, I spent part of the morning happily baking away:
Here is the recipe if you are interested. I don’t recall where I got it from, but I replaced the butter with apple sauce. I have gotten in the habit of making this switch – fresh apple sauce the better. You can click on the recipe for a larger version:
As you can see, I have been on a zentangle kick. So, what better to do my bird a week on – but a zentangle peacock!
When I have caught up with my zentangle challenge, I will only post a zentangle once a week :-).
For the blog hop list of artists, or if you want to join the challenge:
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At first thought, I was overwhelmed to think about which room to draw. There is so much going on in every room of our house. Then I got it – draw the Foyer!
To put it nicely, our home decor would be “eclectic”, except for the foyer. DH’s grandfather was an antiques dealer in Rome. He grew up amongst real European antiques, and now has a slight aversion to it. So, when we got back to the States, and I happened on this mirror/console in an antique store, I loved it, but wasn’t sure he would like it. I took him to see it, and he replied “if it sings to you, get it”. So, I did, and it now graces our foyer. It is flanked by four Canaletto prints that belonged to his grandfather (I did not attempt to sketch those).
Happy April! Wow, it feels like summer here already! The garden is starting to bloom all at once. The fragrance of orange blossoms are amazing – the family are on claritin:
What’s blooming in your garden?
This is another challenge I liked – drawing circles is kind of therapeutic:
Well, here we are – my daughter and I. We finally ditched our crutches. DH took this photo of us before our expedition to hit (or in our case, hobble around) the mall. I played with photoshop elements to “cartoon” ourselves, with less than stellar results. I recently had a conversation with my friend Lisa about botox – I think I am in dire need of one to fix the “marionette” lines on my face!
I really liked this challenge for some reason – drawing star tangles:
I was not sure what this title really meant. Is it “the bridge too far” from operation market garden, the act of overreaching? Well, I decided to do it on what came to mind when I first read the words to the theme:
When I was a child, there was a story that went with the Tanabata Festival about two lovers who were only allowed to come together once a year. The girl was the daughter of the sky king, and the boy a farmer. A great river separated the two, and on the 7th day of the 7th month, a boatman (the moon) would ferry them across to meet. If it rained, magpies would come together to form a bridge over which the two lovers could cross and meet. If you are interested, you can go to Tanabata for more on the festival and story.
Here are the credits:
Background: Irene Alexeeva Designs
Star Overlay: Mariscrap
Magpies & River: Google Images
Challenge #3 was to start the tangle by closing your eyes, and drawing the initial string:
Our dear dog Hiro’s favorite outside toy are empty water bottles. He helps himself to the recyclables outside, and runs like the wind (or flies on “wings”) around the yard with a bottle in mouth, the happiest guy in the world:
His light hearted personality, and contentment in the simplest things make him the best dog ever :-). Here are the credits:
Hiro Photo: Photo Art By Marie
Background & Elements: Irene Alexeeva Designs
Textured overlay: Fall3nAngel
Challenge #2 was to start the tangle with a two pencil string – putting two pencils together and drawing a scribble. Here is my tangle:
My initial strings ended up looking like a cursive “S”.
My grandparents were here in the U.S. during the turn of the century, but in early 1900’s they returned to their homeland. This is the journey my mother, sisters, and I made to join our father here in the 60’s:
I was literally a FOB back then :-). We sailed the Pacific on the Sakura Maru. An officer of the ship was assigned to dine with every family/group. I was only 7 then, but I remember thinking we had the most handsome officer at our table :-). For the first few days, the poor man had to dine with me alone, since my mother and sisters were seasick. Our Port Of Entry into the U.S. was Honolulu Hawaii. We arrived there on my birthday – what wonderful happenstance was that!
The digital graphics for this theme leaves a lot to be desired, but I really love the feeling it evokes. Here are the credits:
Mount. Fuji, Diamond Head, Sakura Maru, Hula Girl, Flags: All Google images
Polaroid overlay: Shadowhouse Creations
Lutka And Co.
Cutiepie Misfits
lutkaandco.com 