Merry Christmas

For those of you celebrating, I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas! 

Every year on Christmas Eve, our synagogue hosts a peanut butter and fluff sandwich making day for our local food bank. We have participated in it the last three years. It's always fun to get together with other families making sandwiches. 

We took with us 6 large PB, 12 fluffs, and 12 loaves of bread. We ended up making 20 loaves worth of sandwiches.

We had a wonderful time!

I don't celebrate Christmas at home, my family will celebrate with my side of the family when we visit them in Arkansas. It is now my sister and mom. When dad was still with us, I used to bake variety of cookies for him and mom. His favorites were these Cream Cheese-Lemon Bows.

These are delicate and sweet. You put the dough in a pastry bag and pipe a bow shape before baking. The cream cheese and lemon give these cookies a sweet/tart combo. 

Here is the recipe (From Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies)

1 cup unsalted butter, soften

3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup of granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp lemon zest plus 2 tbsp lemon juice

3 cups of sifted all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp coarse salt

Powdered sugar for dusting.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F.

2. Put butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium until creamy.

3. Place the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a large fluted tip. Pipe 3.5 inch bow. If you don't have a pastry bag, I would roll the dough into a 1/2 round rope and create a bow shape. You can use the end of a fork to create grooves (which makes the powdered sugar stay put)

4. Bake cookies until golden brown about 12 minutes. Once the cookies are cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

I hope you give these cookies a try!

Christmas Tradition

Every year on Christmas Eve, our synagogue, Temple Chai in Phoenix, sponsors a community wide event to make peanut butter and fluff sandwiches for a local food bank that freezes all the sandwiches made. 

Not only is it a worthy event, it's also fun! There are so many families that participate and we get to meet new families. But the end of the event, we are covered in peanut butter and fluff. We usually make 10-15 loaves worth of sandwiches. 

Last year, I drew this graphics to commemorate the event. And so this is a Throw-back-Thursday and served as my art prompt for today which is "Christmas tradition". 

It should be a fun event!

I didn't blog yesterday but here is my art challenge piece from yesterday.

The prompt was snow and I thought the only way our house would ever see snow was if it were encased in a snow globe. That was my inspiration. Can you believe how warm most of the country is? Boston is warmer today than us in Phoenix! Crazy!

If you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas! 

Tangled Reindeer

When I created my art challenge for December, I tried to be mindful of certain things...holidays, weekends, special dates. And if you have noticed, I tangle on Tuesdays because it's Tangle Tuesday on Fauxbonichi Journalers group in Facebook. And so in creating my challenge, I looked for things I could tangle. Last week, it was a snowflake and week before was an ornament. This week, it's "reindeer."

In trying to look for new patterns to use, I went to Tangle Patterns. And though I realize it's not the most efficient way to look for patterns, I sometimes will look at the scrolling patterns on top of the page and just write down patterns I like. And when I have a few I've picked out, I go to the pattern page to look for instructions.

If you recall, I have a zentangle pattern book I created to store patterns. And because I had time this morning, I was able to create pattern cards of the patterns I used today.

My youngest got to do zentangle in her art class this semester and she's become interested in tangling so I created a mini book for her to tangle. 

It's a 4.25 X 4.25 book made from card stock. There are 48 individual square sheets in the book so it should keep her busy over the winter break.

I'm also trying to create a mini pattern book for her. She could use mine, but I think she will zentangle more if she had her own portable pattern book.

How about you? Are you ready to tangle?

Mandala Monday and the Week From Hell

Happy Monday! I know it's been over a week since I've blogged. And if you follow this blog regularly, you know it's happened before. But it was never because I wasn't creating daily, except this time. I went four days without creating a single drawing and on the fourth day, I drew something and immediately had to discard it. I could not get into a good mindset to draw.

Last Saturday, I drew this.

I had convinced myself that the prompt for that day was "stress relief" when in fact it was "favorite game." No big deal except that I tend to do this all the time. For example, I have attended meetings and birthday parties a week earlier even though I've had the correct date on my calendar because in my mind, the date was something else. I don't know why I do this. Regardless, the quote and the drawing was actually fairly prophetic for things to come.

And on that Saturday, my two older kids and I were getting ready for their finals. And you will think I'm crazy but I did over 100 physics problems for my daughter, not so she can just use my work to study. I know her. She is one who has to do it herself to understand how a problem is solved. I knew that she was stressed about the finals and my time was limited trying to help my son as well so I decided to work all the problems step by step so she can check her answers and get help if she got stuck. I would never do this for my son because he won't bother to do the problems himself, he needs one-in-one time, which he got at least for math and chemistry. The things we do for our kids.

On Sunday, I received devastating news about a friend and didn't feel creative at all. So for the first time in months, I didn't draw. And I stayed away from most social media. I tried to draw on Tuesday but I just didn't like it, so I kept trying until I got to this.

The prompt for that day was "snowflake" and I wanted to use zentangle patterns. And I got yo use the Lyra watercolor crayons I won in a giveaway (thank you, Felicia and Fauxbonichi Journalers group on Facebook). 

By Thursday, I was getting back to normal. It was the last day for my high schoolers and was excited for my son because he and his friends were watching all 6 Star Wars movie getting ready to watch the new one on Friday. And Thursday's prompt was "light" and I knew I wanted to draw a Star Wars light saber.

And then my husband started to feel pain in his lower back, so painful at times that he couldn't get up. We called our doctor and initially diagnosed diverticulitis and promptly sent us to the lab for CT scan. The scan showed it was not diverticulitis but instead, kidney stones. It was evening by the time I got to finish my page.

My artist friend @itchyello does these amazing paintings of nebula and galaxies so I modeled my sky after one of her paintings. 

From the weekend..

The kidney stone passed without much excitement on Saturday and on Sunday, I finally got to see The Force Awakened. My kids did well on their finals and we are now enjoying the winter break. 

And back to Mandala Monday instead of me whining about my week.. Here is the blank if you want to save and color for yourself!

And here's a close-up of one I colored.

As you can see, I added some details and embellishment on mine. Don't be afraid to add things when you color! Sorry about the whining and have a great Monday!

Fruit Cake or Japanese Christmas Cake?

Today's prompt is "holiday food". And since I've already drawn latkes in my journal, I decide to go with another holiday food. 

Even though I grew up in Shinto/Buddhism traditions of Okinawa, Christmas was celebrated by most Japanese. For us, it was a secular holiday with gifts and festive decorations. One of the Japanese traditions of Christmas is to eat the Christmas cake which is a sponge cake layered with whipped frosting and fresh strawberries. 

My stepfather who grew up in Pennsylvania loved another Christmas favorite, the fruit cake. Every year, he looked forward to receiving one from his co-workers. I love most baked goods, but I just couldn't get into fruit cake, even when it was home made. 

I have a friend in England, who makes the traditional Christmas cake (fruit cake), but on this, I think I'd like the Japanese version is better (I hope he is not reading this post!)

I was reading about the traditions of Japanese Christmas cake and found that in the 80's, people used the cake to refer to women over 25. The cake is eaten on the 24th and by the 25th, the cake is stale. And unmarried woman over 25 were thought not worthy of marrying. How terrible! Today, when more and more woman are working and delaying getting married, this insult has lost is sting. Yay! I, for one, would have been way past the expiration date as I didn't get married until I was 34! Ha!

And if you use emojis often, you know there are two cakes; one a whole cake with candles and strawberries and the other a sliced strawberry cake. Both are referencing the Japanese Christmas cake.

So if you are looking for an alternative to fruit cake, try a strawberry short cake for Christmas!

Gingerbread Snowflakes - Art and Recipe

Today's prompt is "cookies". Our favorite cookies this time of the year is gingerbread. I've made these many times as gifts for friends and family and they are as delicious as they are pretty.

It's been so long since I've baked and I'm out of practice icing the cookies. But these are just for my family so I don't think they care if the icing is not up to par with Martha Stewart.

Speaking of Martha, the recipe comes from her Holiday cookies magazine.

Here is the recipe:

Gingerbread Snowflakes

6 cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup (2sticks) butter, softened

1 cup dark brown sugar

4 tsp ground ginger

4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground pepper (I omit this)

1 1/2 tsp course salt

2 large eggs

1 cup unsulfured molasses (most jars come in 12 oz. so I use only 6 oz and sometimes I add corn syrup to make 1cup)

Royal Icing

Sugar for dusting (I use Wilton's sugar sprinkles)

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder into a bowl.

2. Put butter and brown sugar in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until fluffy.

3. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Add flour mixture. Divide dough in thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. About an hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 in thick. Cut out shape and refrigerate for 15 minutes (I usually omit this)

5. Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes.

6. Put icing into a plastic bag (if you don't have a piping bag, use any plastic bag and cut the corner slightly. Pipe designs on cookie and sprinkle with sugar.

Royal Icing

1 pound powdered sugar

5 tbsp meringue powder (I use Wilton's)

Mix with scant 1/2 cup water. If too thick, add water a little bit at a time. If too thin, keep mixing.

I hope you try these!!

December Art Challenge Day 8 & 9

This has been a busy week! As the fall semester comes to an end, there are concerts, parties, exams, projects and all the holiday events! This week for us is all about Chanukah. In my last post, I painted my youngest's menorah. On Monday, I drew my other daughter's menorah.

On Tuesday, the prompt was "ornament". So I drew several, the main one being a tangled ornament using the pattern African Artist. The "gems" are very popular in the zentangle community these days so I wanted to try them.

Today, the prompt was "holiday toy". So of course I drew dreidels!

You usually play the dreidel game with chocolate gelts (chocolate coins). You start with each person placing a coin in the pot. One person spins and depending on which Hebrew letter the dreidel lands on, you win, lose, take half, or nothing happens. 

The letters nun, gimel, hay, shin now represent the phrase, "A great miracle happened there," which refers to the miracle of the oil. The story goes that a small rebel group called the Maccabes drove the oppressive Seleucids out of Jerusalem (this is more than a century after Alexander the Great). They were re-dedicating the temple to G-D and lit the menorah but only had enough oils for one night. But miraculously, the oil lasted for 8 nights. The menorah is a candlelabrum which normally has 7 candle holders. The menorah for Chanukah has 9 holders, 8 representing the miracle and one to light all the candles. I hope you enjoyed a mini-Chanukah lesson.

Weekend Art and Mandala Monday

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine was a busy one trying to get ready for Chanukah and starting my job search. Yes, after many years of being a stay-at-home mom, I'm going to try to join the work force again. Wish me luck!

Speaking of Chanukah...

This is my youngest's menorah. Each night, we light a different menorah starting with the kids'. I'm going to be drawing another one later today.

Here she is lighting the candle. And it wouldn't be Chanukah without latkes!

And since it's Monday, it must be time for some mandalas. The first one was inspired by the pattern on a fleece I used to make my daughter's blanket (which was one of the Chanukah gifts).

And here is the template.

This one was fairly simple to create once I realized the octagonal structure. And using only a compass and a ruler, you can create the octagonal base. Remember geometry? 

And speaking of geometry, I worked on another Islamic geometric art watching this YouTube tutorial. 

It's not complicated but very easy for things to go wrong. The backbone of this looked like this.

It's a series of squares and one hexagon. The ending pattern looks like this.

I apologize for the wobbly lines. You can either color this or add more details inside. I chose to add more details following some of Lex' designs.

Not quite happy with my work, so I know I will be working on this again. But I love how you can create different designs from one "backbone"! I hope you will give this a try!! 

December Art Challenge Day 4 - Warm Drink

Did you have any doubt that it would be coffee? But I have a new-to-me recipe. From what I have been reading, it's supposed to be popular among the healthy conscious folks.

The recipe is simple..

8-10 oz. brewed coffee (I use my Keureg)

1 Tbsp coconut oil (organic, if you don't mind the price)

1 tsp butter (the recipe called for butter from grass-fed cows, but I just had the Kroger brand)

Sweetner of your choice

The key is blending it, not stirring. I used my Braun hand blender. It makes a frothy, creamy coffee. Delicious! And if it's healthy, that's just a bonus. I drink several cups of coffee a day so I won't do this every time I have a cup, but I can handle one!

The health benefits are certain not proven. Moreover, you are adding quite a bit of saturated oils at a time. And though I think this is delicious, I wouldn't get crazy about this.. 

On a different note, my November art video is up. Hope you enjoy it along with a bit of Chopin.

December Art Challenge Day 3 - Weather

I must admit this is not my weather, which happens to be a golden sun-lit cool morning turning into a warm mid 70's afternoon. So why the snow? 

Author F.E. Feeley has been writing a series of poems about four sisters representing the four seasons. I already painted Autumn which you can see here  And this is Winter. I drew this in my journal as you can see above but this is what I sent him.

I tried to get rid of the center seam with my PS Touch on my iPad and added the poem.

Snow is beautiful to look at. When we lived in Michigan, I loved looking out the picture window in the living room and watching snow fall. 

(That baby now is 12!!)

But I detest being on the road with snow and ice. I remember when we lived in Connecticut driving home from Boston one evening, our SUV spin on black ice. My son was only 6 months old and I finally felt earth shattering fear. We were fine, the SUV spun but no other cars were around and we continued home.

And then there was a drive home from Arkansas to Houston, Texas on Christmas Day when we hydroplaned off the highway on an icy and wet highway. This time, we ended in a soggy grassy shoulder and once again we were lucky that no other vehicles were involved. A very nice Arkansas State Trooper helped us get a tow truck and let us stay in the cruiser until the car was towed. He even took us to a motel and luckily the car dealership was nearby. 

So yes, I'm glad to live in a part of country where we don't have to worry about snow and icy roads. But I can admire it from a distance and in my art. 

Author F.E. FeeleyAuthor F.E. Feeley

Art Challenge Day 2 - Elf

Today's challenge is Elf. I know the all the craze about Elf on the Shelf and I have seen some really creative photos of them. And I've also seen Mensch on a Bench for us Jews. Fun, but way too much work for me. 

Another elf I considered drawing is Hermey from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie. Yes, I still watch it every year with or without the kids. 

So the elf that drew is from the movie, "elf" with Will Farrell and James Caan. And the scene is when Elf is eating spaghetti with syrup and candy and is barf-worthy but kids always love that scene wondering how Will was able to eat the concoction. 

We don't celebrate Christmas unless we visit my sister and mom, but we love  so many of the Christmas movies and songs. Which movie is your favorite holiday movie?

December Art Challenge

As you know, I've participated in several art/doodle challenges. But December is tough for me because as much as I love all the Christmas things, I don't celebrate Christmas. So I created a generic art challenge for this month that hopefully everyone can participate.

If you would like to participate with me, I'd love to see what you create. You can use the tag, #abyartchallenge on Facebook, G+, Instagram, or Twitter or you can send me an email! 

I look forward to what you create!