The Sketchbook Challenge: How the Challenge Works

The Sketchbook Challenge: How the Challenge Works: "Here's everything you need to know about how the Sketchbook challenge works: The sketchbook challenge is a new project launching on 1/1/201..."

Spring fever

It's finally warm enough to start gardening again....today I planted yellow squash, eggplant, chilies, tomatoes and a bunch of flowers into a lovely container garden on my porch - I also hung my kitchy string lights for warm summer night reading.

Today Noel found a cool blue accent wall in a home on Apartment Therapy dot com. I was so smitten with the color (Behr's "Distance") that I went out to Home Depot and duplicated it on my living room wall. That, along with a white shag area rug, completely transformed my drab living room into a place I now love. Enjoy the pics (as much as Gracie is enjoying the new rug, I hope)!

Chili Rellenos

Ah, Noel made the most delicious chili rellenos for me on Sunday morning. I tried duplicating them tonight, but alas, a Gringa should leave the chili rellenos recipe to the experts (Noel's gramma walked her through it on the phone....go, gramma!)

The basic recipe is as follows:

Pan fry/grill 4 Anaheim Chilies until the skins turn black. When they cool, peel the skins off.

Slit a hole at the bottom, and slide pieces of cheese (I prefer Monterey Jack) inside.

Sprinkle with flour.

Roll the chilies in a mixture of 3 stiffly beaten egg whites, folded with 3 egg yolks, salt and pepper to taste.

Fry in vegetable oil on medium heat until browned.

Enjoy!

Portrait of a Lady

This is one of my favorite paintings by Gustav Klimt that I "ripped off" and made my own. I'm excited that perhaps my creative dry-spell is over (for painting, anyway). I'm planning to rope Noel into a fun project this weekend, so we may have more to show you soon. Come back, ya'll. Alisa

Slayer

A nod to Noel's favorite t-shirt. Acrylic on wood panel.

Found objects tin

We saw this idea in a book Noel had, and so we spent a couple of months finding random objects on outings...little pieces of wood, shells, metal bits, sea glass....a pleasing combination of textures and colors, I think!

Post cards

Now we're making post cards to participate in the on-line project, "Post crossings"...a great site where you can exchange post cards with interesting people all over the world! Here are some post cards that Noel and I made today!

candle holder

...on an unseasonably warm winter day, Noel and I strolled along Pritchard Park, an idyllic beach on Bainbridge Island, and found this great piece of driftwood. We both agreed it'd make a great candle holder, and we affixed a little "river" of sea-glass down the middle, with glass we'd collected from beaches around the sound.

Doggie party collar

Oh the shame of it all...but isn't little Gracie cute in what all fashionable dogs will be asking for this summer's poshest parties! Made from old fabric remnants and ribbon.

Frida and Diego costumes

A little dated, but I thought worth including. After some rummaging around in our closets, and a few choice items picked up at the Bargain Boutique (flowers and shawl), we transformed ourselves into Diego and Frida for Halloween, 2009.

Paris

Our Valentine's Day project. Inspired by a small wooden art piece hanging at a friend's new house, we decided to make something out of salvaged wood. We found these little stakes in a nearby vacant lot. Noel sanded and cleaned them, then we decoupaged on the luggage and trim. We hammered some mismatched, sparkly stud earrings in to the piece as a finishing touch. Sweet - and a great affirmation for our hope to travel to Paris some day (Noel for a second time).

Wallet and ID holder

Noel brought over the remnants of some shredded pant leg bottoms from her favorite pair of old pants. Together we designed a wallet, which has a pocket to hold bills, and two small pockets for ID and credit cards. Out of the remaining fabric, we made an ID/credit card/cell phone holder. Georgia O'Keefe and Judy Chicago would be proud.

Aviator Hat

Noel wanted us to make aviator hats for Christmas. We got as far as making one for her...The outer shell was made from a used denim skirt we purchased at Goodwill. The leather straps were recycled from an accessory. Well-designed and made, but in the end, a bit too snug with Noel's healthy head of thick hair! Our first shared endeavor, however, and we thought it turned out great. Since I have ADD, we could only complete one hat.