Beads of Courage

The piece you see above is my submission to this week's Diva's Challenge #221. The Diva herself had organized a fun run to raise money and awareness for a program called Beads of Courage. In this program, kids who suffer from chronic illness receive a bead every time he/she completes a treatment or for testing. Please check out the main website here. There are so many ways for people to get involved. There are fundraisers, you can donate beads, you can participate in the "Carry A Bead" program. 

When I saw the challenge, I knew I wanted to create a necklace and I went through my list of patterns and chose Blooming Butter (the center piece), Jujubeedze (the first set of beads), Cruffles, and Jetties. I decided to keep the beads black/white with purple shadows. 

I'm really thankful to the Diva for letting us know about this great program! Have a great Tuesday!

Fauxbonichi Update For May

It's been a month since my last fauxbonichi update. As a quick overview, fauxbonichi (fauxbo) is my planner/journal that I use to:

1.  Keep me organized - important dates, daily to-do's

2.  Focus on my goals for the year.

3.  Help me capture my day.

4.  Another opportunity to draw.

The image you see above is my May 31 pages.

For the month of May, I went from a composition book, using one page per day to using the MiquelRuis gridded journal with two pages per day. I created my month view pages:

I even used my label maker for days of the week and the actual days. As you can see, I did a good job of keeping track of my goals (the colored squares), but lost steam drawing a highlight of each day. But I do love having the month view pages to get an overview for the month.

I also created a page for weekly menu and a page for weekly goals.

I know why I created the weekly menu page. I wanted to be able to make a grocery list based on what I planned. It sounded good, but I just couldn't (wouldn't) get it done. And don't even ask me what I was thinking for the weekly goals. Perhaps it was for weight loss and excercise. I just don't remember. So for the month of June, these pages did not make a return appearance. 

What I did use everyday were these pages:

In the Facebook Group, Fauxbonichi Journalers, we have daily prompts either to draw, journal, or techniques to try. These are great fun to do, especially for those days when you have very little inspiration. It was nice to have the prompts handy.

My daily pages had the same basic format from the previous month; the header for the date, goals, and weather and footer for appointments and to-do's. Here are a few sample pages.

I enjoyed the prompts. They gave me a starting point for color choice or choosing a daily quote or choosing a color scheme. I tried incorporating washi tape (the decorative tape), but for the most part, I don't really know how to use them. I'm not sure how much washi tape will be used in June.

Towards the end of the month, I scrapped the header/footer system.

I think the freestyle method of documenting my day is really my style. I enjoy it, I like the unpredictably of not knowing how my pages will look. I think this is going to be my June style.

The month of May had wonderful celebrations...my birthday, my nephew's graduation, end of year celebrations for my kids. It also had at least two days that all I did in my journal was to write my frustrations and negative thoughts. And that's what fauxbo is for, documenting my days, help me process my thoughts and feelings. That's why it's so valuable for me. Unfortunately, some of my pages are starting to come loose from the glued binding. I think that because I glue two pages together and because I use a wet medium, the pages come loose. I certainly could tape the existing pages but now will have to consider whether I will be using another journal. 

Here's my June month view.

I added a cover page along with a page for the daily prompt for June.

 I think my June pages are more creative than my May pages. Hopefully, I can add more meaningful journaling too!

Meet Chance César

I have been working with a LGBT Young Adult author, Mia Kerick, to create promotional graphics for her new YA release, Love Spell. The graphics I've created are part original art and part digital manipulation of stock photos purchased. This is something new for me, creating art around a character. I was at first nervous about creating them, not knowing exactly what to expect. But as I begin to create them, the more ideas I had for more graphics.

The main character, Chance, is a gender fluid teen which means he doesn't strongly identify himself in either binary gender system. And as the top graphic shows, sometimes he feels like a boy, sometimes as a girl. In this story, Chance, with the help of his best friend, Emily, tries to get the attention of his love interest, Jazz. On the surface, Love Spell is a romantic comedy full of teenage lingo and made up words. But when you dig deeper, you see a story of a teen struggling with identity, family issues, friendships, the future. 

The art and graphics I created are based on quotes from the book.

These are my original art work.

These are graphics I created from purchased photos and digitally manipulated.

This was a totally fun and creative experience for me. And I learned so much from this book. 

If you are interested in reading this book, here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Spell-Mia-Kerick-ebook/dp/B00XT3044W

Artful Food

I have three passions in my life. Art, music, and food. If you have been following my blog, you know about my art. Today, I'm talking food. Soon, you'll hear about my music. I guess this is the 'beyond' part of Art Journaling and Beyond

Before I talk about the dish, I want to describe a bit of my cooking practice. I do usua follow a recipe, though I'm never  overly careful about exact measurements or worry about whether I have all the ingredients. Sometimes this is a good thing, as I create my own flavors. But as you might guess, this method could produce inconsistent results. And though I was a chemistry major (my graduate degree in theoretical chemistry), I could never be an analytical chemistry whose precision and accuracy are well known. 

So here is the recipe I started with: http://pinterest.com/pin/4855512075309947/

It's a chicken dish and because I have other chicken recipes I love, I decided to go with beef. Typically, I use skirt steak but other cuts of beef are fine too, just make sure it's sliced thin. What I love about this dish is all the fresh ingredients.

And it's a perfect summer dish because the only thing warm is the beef. I usually use savoy or Chinese cabbage, shredded carrots, fresh basil, mint, and cilantro. I would love to add bean sprouts but I just can find any. I know some people will add rice noodles or mung beans noodles, but since we are doing a low carb diet, I use roasted spaghetti squash. For me, the key ingredients for this dish are basil and mint. I love this flavor combination and now I add them to my salads too. As a side note, I am now attempting to grow my own basil and mint.

The planters sit on my window ledge by the sink so they do have some chance of surviving my brownest thumb. Wish me luck!

For the beef, I add the classic Asian sauce (soy sauce or Tamari sauce, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar) while cooking. To this I add a bit of lemongrass (fresh, when I can find it, otherwise dried) and a packet of stevia. If I weren't on a low carb diet, I would add honey or sugar.

Because the sauce contains no sugar, it won't get that nice glaze when the sauce is reduced. But you can thicken the sauce as it cooks, just be careful not to dry it.

Now it's time to assemble. Shredded cabbage first, noodles or spaghetti squash next followed by carrots, basil and mint. I add the beef on top and sprinkle with crushed peanuts and cilantro. I make a Nuoc Cham sauce that is in the linked recipe. 

I hope you'll give this a try, I think you'll enjoy it!

Vietnamese Style Beef and Cabbage

(Serves 4-5)

Beef with Lemongrass

1.5-2 lbs beef thinly sliced beef (I use skirt steak, but other cuts can be used)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce or Tamari (this is what I use)

1 tbsp grated ginger (about 1 inch)

2 tbsp rice vinegar (make sure it's not seasoned rice vinegar)

1 tsp dried lemongrass (if you can't find this, you can omit it)

1 packet of stevia (or sugar to taste)

1 tbsp coconut oil (or any oil to cook the beef)

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients except for the beef and oil. If you use a cheap cut of meat, you can marinate the meat ahead. I think the rice vinegar helps to tenderize the beef. 

Heat a pan medium high and add your oil. Once the pan starts to smoke a bit, add the beef. Brown the beef (about 5 minutes). Add the sauce. I usually let the sauce reduce so that it just wets the beef.

The Vegetables

1 head of Savoy cabbage or Chinese cabbage, shredded

1 cup julienned carrots

1/4 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped

1/4 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

(Other ingredients you could add: bean sprout, rice noodles, spaghetti squash, green onions)

1/4 cup crushed peanuts

Nuoc Cham Sauce

1/4 cup water

2 lines juiced (the recipe calls for 3tbsp, but I like a bit more lime, so try it with 3 tbsp first and add more if you want)

2 tbsp fish sauce (if you can't find this, I suppose you can use soy sauce)

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar 

1 tbsp olive oil (optional)

Red chili pepper flakes to taste

Once the beef is cooked, you can assemble your bowl. Add the sauce and enjoy!! Let me know if you try this!

What's your favorite summer recipe!

Girls, Girls, Girls

I

If you were expecting Mötley Crüe version of Girls, Girls, Girls, I bet you are disappointed. Sorry. But I am featuring three art journal spreads featuring three girls. The quote from above comes from my friend, Mel, who is a wonderful resource for inspirational quotes. And when I saw this on her timeline on Facebook, I knew I needed to draw her. I had a difficult time trying to decide how to draw her. The image that kept invading my mind was that of young Mother Theresa. The quote is meaningful to me because I strive to be her. It has been difficult lately to remain optimistic. I'm trying.

Mel is also the one who introduced me to the poet, Tyler Knott Gregson. I've done another post about using his poems. I now follow him on Facebook and Instagram and try to save the poems that speak to me. He now writes a daily haikus that are beautiful.

"Through the shower steam

I swear I saw you grinning

and staring at me."

-Tyler Knott Gregson

"See with brand new eyes

and find the whole world shining

so much awaits us."

-Tyler Knott Gregson

There are so many more poems that I have saved to draw. I should try drawing male faces in the next series, but I love drawing female faces! Do you have a favorite poet? How does he/she affect you?

Challenges

This week's Diva Challenge involved just one pattern. The pattern is called All Boxed Up and it's a fun pattern to play around with. Here is how to draw All Boxed Up. It's a simple pattern but there are so many iterations of this great pattern. So I played around with different combinations, turning the pattern as I drew, shading certain parts.

As I was playing with the pattern, I recalled that another challenge I signed for had me drawing a chevron. This is a fun challenge where you draw or color an index card everyday. In one of my practices, the way the pattern was shaded, it looked like a zigzag pattern.

Take a look at the index card before it was colored or shaded.

It looks nothing like the finished product you see above! I love patterns like this where it can be transformed into different 'looks'.

I hope you will give Zentangle a try. It really is relaxing once you get going. Have a great Tuesday!

Practice Makes Perfect Isn't True

We've all heard the saying, "Practice makes perfect." Or, "Practice makes your good better and your better best." And for the most part, I find that to be true. The more time I spend on the piano better my Fantasy Impromptu. And my former gymnast daughter will tell you that in order to master a skill, you need hours of practice to develop muscle memory. So imagine my shock over the weekend when my second attempt at something resulted in less than satisfying result, not just once but three times!

As you may know, I'm working on several journals. The one that I work on everyday is my Fauxbonichi which serves as my planner and memory keeper. This past Friday, my Fauxbonichi page looked like this:

I loved the way it looked so I wanted to something similar in my art journal and I had a quote in mind for that. And this is how it turned out.

It certainly isn't bad, but to me the second version lacks depth, and personality. I used the same art supplies, the paper for the second version is even better than that of the first. And the more I played with the second version, the less I liked. 

On Saturday, I had another artsy Fauxbonichi entry.

The flower on the bottom is actually a tip in which just means, you can turn that flower over and it would reveal hidden journaling. I do this when I have something private either about my feelings or it's about my kids. I really liked the way this turned out so I wanted once again to recreate it in my art journal. The first picture in this post is my recreation. Once again, I don't like my recreation as much as the original. It's lacking something, just couldn't pinpoint what it was.

And then on Sunday, I decided to make a soup I had made once before. The recipe is found here  I remember that kids and I loved it, it was flavorful, a bit spicy, a bit creamy (without using heavy cream). It is supposed to be cooked in a crockpot but I made it on the cooktop. I used the same recipe, made the same recipe adjustment, used all the same ingredients. But it wasn't the same. Had I added something else the first the I made it?

It was delicious. We ended up adding a bit of sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese to the soup and it was good. But it just wasn't the same.

By Sunday night, I was a bit frustrated. How is it that my second attempt would produce what I consider inferior, three times? Why couldn't I at least recreate the original? I think the answe lies in losing some spontaneity and creativity when I try to recreate something. Sometimes you get an inspiration and you put it on paper and it works. But that inspiration gets lost when you try to do it again, especially making minor adjustments. At least in my art examples, that was the case. Now about my soup...I must have added something else the first the I made this soup. I need to make a note somewhere when I alter a recipe.

So I think in my three example, I wasn't practicing a skill, I was trying to recreate an original and lost the inspiration somehow. So I should continue to play Fantasy Impromptu.

This week, I will be sharing more art pieces I've been working on along with some art graphics I did for an LGBT Young Adult author whose new book came out today. I hope you'll come back for that! Hope you have a terrific Monday!