What's in the back of your Closet?!!! Yarn, Yarn, and more Yarn.

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I figured out around Christmas Eve/Christmas Day that my 2 rubbermaid totes containing my yarn stash were hiding in the back of my bedroom closet.  'Course I couldn't just shove them aside to forget again.  I had to take every last skein and ball and remnent out and sort the darn things.  Found an afghan that's about 90 % finished that I had started out of my scraps.  I couldn't figure out as I stared at the darn thing what crochet hook size I had used, so I set it aside.  So, there I was looking at this pile of yarn surrounding me in the living room floor thinking to myself, "You haven't made an Afghan in like forever!  You're not doing anything right now other than watching tv."  Then I thought Christmas is over there's no one to make one for, when I realized I have 2 friends with birthdays on the same day, Dec.30th.  I knew that my new buddy, Kristy would appreciate a handmade afghan so I started putting colors together and balling up half started projects: chocolate brown and a purple, blue and green variagated, and the granny square commenced... I love to make big granny square afghans because they can be made quickly and are not complicated... you just have to remember what size hook you're using or you end up with something ruffly, which could be cute if that's what you're going for.  I ended up needing additional skiens and I knew that I wouldn't be able to find these two specific colors so I went looking for a good solid color that would blend nicely with the purples of the variagated yarn.  The varigation has a slight blue color as its changes from purple to green and I discovered Caron's Simply soft in Ocean.  Its a dark green blue teal color that doesn't come across in the photos, I so wish it did, because it is gorgeous when crocheted.  It turned out to be perfect with the other colors!  I also wanted to do a fringe, 'cause I love fringe on blankets, but Kristy has a small boy and I didn't want him to get caught up in it so I found a pattern for crocheted bobble trim, which I think is super fun.

Here's a good site for basic granny square instructions: 

http://www.wikihow.com/Crochet-a-Granny-Square

Instructions for the bobble edge trim:

http://anothervegetarian.blogspot.com/

yummy color!

Close up of my bobble stitch edge trim

Here is the finish afghan.  I'm happy to say that she loved it. Especially the Caron Ocean it's her favorite color.  It was even kitty tested and approved for napping.

Journaling withdrawals

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I hadn't realized until I was sitting in at the table across from my scrapbook friend, Debbie that since about October my "me" time at the art table with my art journal open in front of me has been zilch, nada, nothing!  No wonder I've been a little grumpy. Well, work may have something to do with the stress and not just withdrawals from not having paint permenantly affixed to my fingertips.  I was looking forward to a day with the girls catching up from our Holiday hiatus, but due to the frigid weather the rest of my chicks decided to stay home.  So, it ended up being just Debbie and myself!  Tables all to ourselves! woo hoo. I wanted to work on Project Life but didn't have any pictures printed or prepped, so I packed up the art supplies sparingly.  I've gotten quite a few new art supplies in my travels in the past few months, but haven't used them so I packed those so to challenge myself in using them.

One of my favorite techniques is to layout Distress Inks on my craft matt and add a little water to use them like water colors; which is what I did here. I then started stamping a few of my favorites.  The Star is a die cut from Tim Holtz that I had tested with white card stock and used Distress Inks to colorize it.

The Jar is from Little Yellow Bicycle and the fairy is from Hot of the Press, Inc.  The little stars are from the Martha Stewart all over the page star punch.  I'm in love with the Prima Washi Tap stamps, with a little shading and some white ink they really pop.

I added a little bit of doodling here along with a quote from Shakespeare, " Though she be but little, she is fierce."




On this side I started with the doodling along the wire and then added the flower, which is from the Indie Bloom Collection by BasicGrey.  I colorized it with my copic markers. I had my circle template with me so I drew a circle around the flower in pencil and used it as a guide for my text.  It reads, "Bold Bloom * Flower of Beauty True."  I later added the bee and I colored it with copics as well.

It was a well spent Saturday playing and catching up with my friend.

How do you get back in the art/craft groove?

Practice sketches! Potential journal fodder.

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Monday Munchies - My Addictive Hot Stuffed Pepper Recipe!

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    Good Monday Evening Blog Readers! Boy do I have a treat for you!  If you caught my post Gettin' Daft Punk'd! I talked about gettin' back in the gym and being harder, better, faster, stronger; which includes making healthier meal choices.  That post even generated this comment from Neverness, "...does this mean no more stuffed peppers? :( "  O Contraire Mon Fraire!!! I don't think so these Stuffed Peppers are super delicious and come in at 424 calories a pepper! One pepper and I'm stuffed!!!

Addictive Hot Stuffed Peppers!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef ( I prefer 80/20)
• 1 med onion, diced
• 2 gloves garlic, minced   
• 1 packet Old El Paso hot and spicy taco seasoning
• 1 10oz can of Rotel habanero & tomatoes 
• shredded cheese, to taste (optional)
• 4 large bell peppers
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Saute onions and garlic, when onions start to become translucent add meat and brown together.  Stir in taco seasoning and 1/4 cup water.  Do Not follow the directions on the seasoning package if you spicy stuffed peppers, if you want your peppers mild, then add more water or just use a mild taco seasoning mix. Let mixture simmer and reduce. While your filling is simmering prep your peppers.  When I purchase peppers I look for peppers that will sit level.  If you end up with one that leans or rocks, you can level it out by trimming the bottom.  Cut the top off and scoop out the seeds and interior flesh.  If I miss any seeds I leave them in, but for a mild flavor rinse out any seeds lingering inside. When filling is almost done, add the rotel and shredded cheese (if using) and let it melt. I place the peppers in baking dish and then fill evenly.  Bake for 45 minutes, the last 10 minutes I top the peppers with a little more cheese and let it melt.  I serve with sliced avacados on top.

saute onion and garlic

brown meat

with Taco Seasoning

Yummo!

Clean Plates all around.

My Favorite Art Journaling YouTube Subscriptions

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Happy Memorial Day!!!

Finished up the last two week's Journal Pages, check them out! Wasn't quite sure if I liked them as I was working, but now done I'm enjoying the effect.  It's not my normal style, as these pages are on kraft paper and not very sturdy.  I'll be posting on my 2013 Hand Made Art Journal where I'll talk about that a little more in depth.  If you caught my Blog Post this past week, Pin-Spiration My Top 5 Art Journal Pin Boards, I promised to deliver my top Favorite Art Journaling YouTube Subscriptions! Well.... Wait no longer...

life soul muse copyright Lettie Cox

5. Roben Marie Smith - she's got several Watch the Process Videos that are very nice along with several iPhone tutorials that have come in handy.

4. Milliande - I've been fascinated by her breathe of work since I first picked up a journal and a paint brush.

3. RachO113 - I like watching RachO113 work as there are times I've gone, "oh I've done that" but then she gives it a little twist that's just amazing. She has videos on art journaling and mixed media.

2. Donna Downey - I realized a little while back that I've got a couple of her books on Scrapbooking sitting on my shelf, but I wait impatiently for her Inspiration Wednesday Videos.  Mostly for her journal play where she uses new materials and techniques.  She's got a fun and quirky personality that shines through her videos.

Copyright Lettie Cox

1. France Papillon - My current favorite!  She has a Journal on Monday series right now that is fun and educational.  

Honorable Mentions

YellowMelle - found Yellow Melle recently and these videos are short, sweet, and pack a whole lotta punch.
Imperfect Impulses - also a new discovery for me.  This is Aaron's channel, one of the few Art Journaling males out there.  Funny and entertaining!  worth checking out. 

that's it for today RBM readers, but stay tuned for my favorite blogroll list!  If you know of some really good art journaling YouTube videos that I need to check out, Leave me a comment!  So long RBM fans, where ever you are!!!

Pin-spiration - My Top 5 Art Journal Pin Boards For Pinterest Users...

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*Warning*

*must have Pinterest account to view links in this post except for the Pinterest Link*

I'm sure that 85% of the digital/social media main streamers have heard of or seen Pinterest.  Facebook even has a box on the left side of your profile that if connected to Pinterest will show all your friends what you like or have even pinned from Pinterest.  I must admit that in the beginning I was addicted!  You just can't stop.  If you're creative in anyway: like to cook, paint miniatures, like steampunk, or enjoy looking at comic books there is something for you on Pinterest! Your profile is made up of boards.
Your boards can be anything that interests you. I've got 33 boards that range from Art Journaling to Yoga.  When you sign up you get several pre-made boards, but never fear you can create your own and even have secret ones that no one else sees...  You find something you like you pin it, from Pinterest or from the interwebs.  You can even follow others that like the same things you do.  Check out Pinterest its pretty cool or even better follow me by Pinning this post!




 I like to browse through to see other's art journal pages and be inspired to try a new technique or use a product in a different way.

Current Journal Page in Progress! copyright Lettie Cox

So here are my top Art Journal Boards that I follow.

Journal 1 by lgmcat

Art Journal by Mercedez Herranz

Mixed Media/Art Journal Love by Christine629

Journaling by jlonginc

Journalising

If you have fear of the blank page or looking for a direction to art in check out Pinterest!  Later this week I'm going to post my top favorite YouTube subscriptions for Art Journaling so stay tuned RBM Blog fans wherever you are...

Gettin' Daft Punk'd! 3 Free Fitness Apps up for appraisal. A phone app review...

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I'm so very pysched today! I was able to accomplish something that I didn't think I could EVER do. 


Butttt... before I get to that... a little fitness history per se... went from tree climbin', bike ridin', roller skatin', tennis playin' super tom-boy to ultra geek/nerd girl when puberty hit and I've never recovered.  I transformed into a total nerd and forgot about being outside.  My time was invested in books and movies and maybe a little dancing to Madonna or Van Halen.  Or perched in front of my uber cool TRs80 with cassette drive. Oh Yeah! Not to mention playing on the Atari 2600!  That is until my mom gave it away.  GRRRRRR! That's okay 'cause I eventually got a Saga Genesis and ran Sonic all over the freakin' place until the system died two days after getting it.  Sent it back and what did Sears send me instead... a Super Nintendo!  Move over Sonic;  Hello Link! Sonic might be a uber fast hedgehog and super cute, but Link is a fey with a super sexy green hat.  Yeah! Baby! And then... and then came Dungeon's & Dragons 3.0/3.5. (thank you, Neverness... I did resist or tried too...) I've played my share of elves, half elves,and halflings. Ultimately I was one kickass "primative gun" toting gnome. After a brief hiatus then came dun, dun, dun... 40K's Warhamer Fantasy & Dark Heresey where I've annoyed Da Masta Cheef with my Sister of Battle, Secunda... so much fun that... I've got a Wood Elf that can take down Dragons with a bow in Skyrim.  Wanna be badass in Borderlands.  Those character's had more strength, dexterity, and charisma than is even possible in real life. They are so bad-ass. They were all the me that I wanted to be and wasn't.  I've gotten a lot of game/life achievements since then. My working hours are spent in front of a computer or dealing with overly dramatic employees. I've logged several thousand hours on the 360 sitting in my husband's comfy chair. Or standing in front of the stove making something really tasty to eat.  Oh yeah, I love to eat... let me say that again... I love to eat good food.  That said, twice! I made some effort a few years ago, but when my workout buddy had a life changing event and moved away my motivation just fizzled out.  

I've found my motivation again and working hard at getting Daft Punk'd: 

HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER! 

- From their Discovery Album.

I have two fitness goals that I'm currently working on:

1. Couch to 5K - an 8 week program

2. Relearning to Bilaterally Free Style Swim.

I got myself back into the gym in February just to get used to moving again.  I've found 3 iPhone/android apps that have assisted me in making progress on my fitness goals.  I've tried several like:  Calorie Counter by Fat Secret and FitDay Mobile by bulletin solutions.  The three that I've stayed with are:

a. Endomondo

b. My Fitness Pal

c. C25K by Zen labs

 A. Endomondo - Free
     Endomondo tracks the duration, distance, and calories of your workout.  It has workouts from Badminton to Windsurfing.  You can choose what you're doing and it does the rest.  It will also track your routes for comparison if you have GPS enabled on your phone.  It will give you your average speed, max speed, hydration level, total ascent/descent, some weather info and min/max altitude. It keeps track of your workout history for you and you can also join community challenges.  You can also add gear to help you track your Heart Rate like the Jawbone Up. (I would love one of these bad boys, just sayin')  The Up is a bracelet style body monitoring system.  It will track your sleep patterns, how much you move, and how you eat. Also, it will connect to my next app... My Fitness Pal.  They make regular updates to the app, but the one drawback that is a little frustrating is I ran yesterday, it didn't track my distance quite right.  I know that has to be due to GPS and running in place so I can handle that until they fix it. And when communicating with My Fitness Pal it logged it as Walking 2.0 mph, slow pace.  Which I tell you was not the case.

 B. MyFitnessPal - Free
     It does all sorts of cool things for you.  From the apps home screen you get your daily summary: daily calorie goal, +food consumed, -exercise, and your net calories.  All at a glance! You can add friends to help you with your fitness agenda, to give encouragement

or challenges or fuss when you've missed a day or two.  It has a food dairy, with an extensive database for foods or you can add your own.  Build your own recipes to determine calorie content of your favorite breakfast muffin.  I use this feature alot!   You can track your weight or measurements and it will give you a graph showing your progress.  It will even give your nutrient details.  It was a shocker how much sugar is in things, random supposedly good for you food. This part of the app helped open my eyes to things that I was eating on a normal basis.  There are so many good things about this app that they far outweigh my one issue....1...  You can access your app data from the MyFitnessPal website. You can add to your diary, track cardio/strength workouts... whatever you can do on your phone you can do on the website, but there are adds and sometimes those adds will mess with Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, which on some days is annoying.  That's my only complaint... yeah adds.  chrome crashes hello! phone app...

C. C25K by Zen Labs - Free
C25K is an eight week program designed to get you from your couch to a 5k race. It is also a free app.  Zen Labs is a supporter of Breast Cancer awareness, which is totally cool in my book.   SAVE THE TATAS!

Before you begin you get a Motivational Quote, which I enjoy.  I save these away to use in my art journaling.  Exercise tips for lifting weights, walking, or running.  It will also give you a blurb on another of Zen Labs free apps or some of their pro apps like for abs and legs.  What the app does is start you out week 1 day 1 with a warm up walk and then alternates you for 60 secs of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for like 20 minutes. Once completed it moves you to week 1 day 2 and so on. So, you can see from the screen shoot that I've got check marks in the boxes for Week 3 Day 2 and Day 3. I've completed those.  The other cool thing is that I start Endomondo first and then I start this app and use both at the same time to track what I'm working on that day.  

You guys remember what I was saying at the beginning of this post... I'll refresh your noggins...

I'm so very pysched today! I was able to accomplish something that I didn't think I could EVER do. 

Sweet Victory - with sweaty flushed cheeks!

Even in high school I was never able to run the mile for Phys Ed without walking 95% of it. I made it to week 3 day 2 of this app before it KICKED MY TOOKUS all over the gym. I've actually repeated week 3 because when i got to Week 4 Day 1: 3 minute run, 90 sec walk, 5 minute run, 2.5 minute walk, 3 minute run, 90 sec walk, and 5 minute run. I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE! I never made it to 4 minutes before my chest felt like it was gonna 'splode!!! I DID NOT complete that day. It defeated me that day. So after running through Week 3 again, which this app so conveniently lets you do and recommends it as well.  Yesterday, May 14, 2013, I, the non-runner, finally killed that 5 minute goal and the 3 minute and came so close to killing second 5 minute. If you wanna learn to run I highly recommend this app.  Just gather up 30 seconds of courage and do it!

When I'm not on the treadmill I'm in this pool.  I was on the swim team when I was a little girl and in the intervening years since then I've forgotten how to swim correctly.  Face down breathing out full tilt!  Its great to be back in the water.  There are days when the 'ole lungs don't work the way I think they should. Running is helping alot with my endurance.  The more I progress running the more I'm able to do in the water.  Very nice symbiotic relationship there.   

Anyways, if you're interested working on your fitness and/or eating habits check out these apps, I highly recommend them!

I've been working in my 2013 Mo Bigger Art Journal: